Zimbabwe added as 2nd General Conference site

Key points:

• For the first time, organizers plan for The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly to take place across two locations.
• The decision to extend the bar of General Conference comes amid increasing travel restrictions in the U.S. 
• The choice of Harare, Zimbabwe, also makes good on an earlier promise. 

Faced with increasing U.S. travel restrictions, General Conference organizers have added Harare, Zimbabwe, as a second site for delegates unable to meet in Minneapolis in 2028.

That means for the first time in history, The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly will meet across two locations. And for the first time, part of General Conference will take place on the African continent, where the denomination is rapidly growing. 

The Commission on the General Conference chose the second site after long deliberations spread across its Oct. 26-27 online meeting. 

Holding the May 8-16, 2028, assembly across two sites was always going to be a logistical challenge, acknowledged the Rev. Andy Call, the commission’s chair. 

“It’s just more monumental now,” Call, who is also lead pastor of Church of the Saviour in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, told UM News. “We’re dealing with two continents and a seven-hour time difference. At the same time, the commission made the decision to include the most people possible.”

In extending the bar beyond Minneapolis, organizers faced a choice between Winnipeg, Canada, and Harare. Both locations had advantages and drawbacks. 

While Winnipeg is in the same time zone as Minneapolis, Canada also has seen mounting travel restrictions. 

That was evident at this month’s Leadership Gathering when 46 of the 281 chosen participants could not obtain the required visas. Those absent included multiple bishops and almost all Congolese participants, who were blocked because of the current Ebola outbreak. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the nation with the second highest number of United Methodists, after the U.S. 

But the residents of Congo and most other African countries do not need a visa to visit Zimbabwe. The selection of Harare also makes good on an earlier promise. Before COVID disrupted General Conference plans, organizers initially planned to hold the 2028 assembly in the Zimbabwean capital. 

Zimbabwe, unlike Canada, also has a strong United Methodist presence. Bishop Gift Machinga, who leads the church in Zimbabwe, enthusiastically accepted the commission’s request for Harare to be a host site. 

Last year, the commission chose Minneapolis as the main site for the next General Conference, making good on another promise.  

Minneapolis was the original host of the 2020 General Conference until the COVID pandemic forced the event’s postponement and eventual move of the 2024 legislative assembly to Charlotte, North Carolina. By heading to Minneapolis, the commission expects to take advantage of credits with the city that will help with cost savings. 

Organizers plan for the coming General Conference to have 708 delegates — with 46% from the U.S. and 54% from Africa, the Philippines, Europe and concordat churches that have close ties to The United Methodist Church.

Ensuring delegates receive the necessary visas has always been a challenge for General Conference organizers. However, the second Trump administration has made obtaining visas more challenging and more arbitrary. 

In August, a federal judge struck down the U.S. State Department’s ban on immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, but that decision does not apply to travel visas. In some cases, the U.S. State Department requires people to pay bonds of up to $20,000 before issuing a travel visa. But even that tends to be applied at the discretion of the officer conducting the visa interview. 

With these challenges in mind, General Conference organizers have been considering adding a site beyond Minneapolis since late last year. 

Still, the choice of Harare over Winnipeg was not unanimous. Multiple commission members also described the decision to meet across different locations as a “heavy” one. The commission was very clear that they do not want either location to be seen as lesser. Before Harare was chosen, Call had committed to opening General Conference at the location beyond Minneapolis.

The goal is for both locations to operate concurrently, allowing delegates to work together in real time. The exact venue in Harare is still to be determined, but now planning can get underway in earnest. 

“We are working with the Immigration Law and Justice Network to get some guidance on the visa application process,” Call said, referring to the United Methodist legal aid ministry. “We’re going to make sure that we’re doing the best we can to get as many people into Minneapolis as possible and at the same time, not have a segmented group in Harare.”

At this point, the commission will be doing this work with new staff. Emily Allen officially became interim General Conference secretary in July after the Rev. Aleze Fulbright decided to take a new appointment in her home Indiana Conference.

The commission also is still in the process of hiring a new business manager after Sharah Dass stepped aside in September. The business manager usually oversees the visa process for General Conference.

In the meantime, delegate elections are already well underway. So far, 18 of the denomination’s 141 annual conferences have certified the election of delegates. 

In other actions, the commission:

• Voted to give delegates and staff $30 per diem to cover breakfast and dinner. Lunch will be catered at the Minneapolis site. Meal arrangements for delegates in Harare are still to be determined. 
• Affirmed having eight legislative committees in addition to the Standing Committee on Regional Conference Matters outside the U.S., a committee that meets between General Conference sessions and acts as a legislative committee during the assembly.
• Heard an update from the standing committee, which plans to bring to the coming General Conference a proposal for what in the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s policy book, binds all United Methodists and what can be adapted by the newly formed regional conferences.

Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.