Liberia Episcopal Area

Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. presides over an executive meeting of the Liberia Conference at which he appointed a special committee to discuss the conference’s future after the 2024 General Conference. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Church separation takes center stage in Liberia

Though there are advocacy groups on both sides of the disaffiliation debate in the Liberian Conference, its bishop said he “will remain a United Methodist until otherwise ordered.”

Mission and Ministry

Priscilla Legay Jaiah-Gilayeneh, director of the Ganta Mission Station in Liberia’s Nimba County, displays a pig farming T-shirt during the dedication ceremony of a new butchery plant in Ganta City. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Butchery plant empowers pig farmers in Liberia

Through partnership with the North Carolina Conference, Liberian United Methodists share benefits with their neighbors.

Theology and Education

The United Methodist Church’s episcopal residence in Monrovia, Liberia, will be turned over to the United Methodist University’s Graduate School of Professional Studies. Photo by E Julu Swen, UM News.

Episcopal residence decommissioned for educational use in Liberia

The property will be used by the United Methodist University’s Graduate School of Professional Studies.

Church History

In 1858, Francis Burns was elected as the first Black bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He served as a missionary bishop in Liberia. Image originated from an engraving by J.C. Buttre; photographed by Matthew Brady, courtesy of GCAH. Colorized version from Francis Burns United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ask The UMC: Francis Burns, first Black bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church

The Rev. Francis Burns, raised as an indentured servant, became the first Black bishop in The Methodist Episcopal Church as Missionary Bishop of Liberia in 1858.

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