General Conference

Jan Lawrence addresses Reconciling Ministries Network’s convocation held July 24-27, 2025, at First United Methodist Church in downtown Madison, Wis. Lawrence is retiring after serving as Reconciling Ministries Network’s executive director for nearly a decade. Many United Methodists credit her with helping to lead the denomination to a new day. File photo by Joscie Cutchens, UM News.

LGBTQ leader retires after pivotal changes

Jan Lawrence kept United Methodist advocates organized after the denomination strengthened bans against LGBTQ people and helped lead the way toward the longtime bans’ repeal.

Church History

The Methodist Church’s 1956 General Conference meets from April 25 to May 7 in the municipal auditorium in Minneapolis. On May 4, the first Friday of the legislative assembly, the delegates voted to make women eligible for full clergy rights. “Now it is up to us to prove in clear and deep witness to the whole church our consecration and our loyal devotion to the work of the Kingdom of God,” said Margaret Henrichsen, a General Conference visitor, after the vote. In 1967, she became the first U.S. woman appointed district superintendent. Photo courtesy of Archives and History.

Why the 1956 women-clergy vote matters

Seventy years ago, the Methodist Church supported full conference membership for women clergy — a decision that would have a resounding impact when The United Methodist Church formed in 1968 and even today.

General Conference

Emily Allen, a veteran lay delegate from the California-Nevada Conference, delivers a report during the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. on May 3, 2024. Allen has been elected to serve as the interim General Conference secretary beginning July 1. She will lead the planning of The United Methodist Church’s international legislative assembly, scheduled May 8-16, 2028, in Minneapolis. Photo by Larry McCormack, UM News.

Bishops elect interim General Conference head

Emily Allen will lead the planning of The United Methodist Church’s international legislative assembly, next scheduled in 2028.

General Conference

Planners shorten GC2028, discuss Minneapolis

Organizers are pressing forward with holding the 2028 United Methodist General Conference over eight days in Minneapolis. The group is also taking steps to protect delegates amid heightened immigration enforcement.

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