The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to a land I will show you.
Genesis 12:1
I know we are in the season of Lent, and this should be a message with palm branches, crosses, and empty tombs. We celebrate Christ and his resurrection and all He does for us. But today I feel like I am calling you a little like Abraham. Because of all God does for us, we need to respond to Him by following to a country we do not know and a time we are not completely certain. We need faithful Christ followers willing to be our Conference delegates to General
Conference 2026.
Let me share what we know and what we do not know about the upcoming Conference.
We know that the General Conference will be held in 2026 but we do not know the exact dates. The best guess is that the Conference will meet the last days of August and the first weeks of September 2026.
We know the location is someplace on the Continent of Africa. We do not know which country. The General Conference was hoping to meet in central Africa but with the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and unrest in Nigeria, those places seem less likely. It is more likely that Conference will meet in a place like Kenya or South Africa.
We do know that we need 5 laity delegates and 5 clergy delegates, 1 lay alternate delegate and 1 clergy alternate delegate. Theses delegates are required to attend the General Conference and participate in pre-conference meetings. We are also encouraged to have reserve delegates who are willing to attend the conference but are not required unless called upon to take the place of a delegate or alternate. We would like to have at least 3 lay and 3 clergy reserves.
If you are willing to serve and place your name into nomination, please fill out the Nomination Form. Please submit your form by May 10, 2025, so that we may prepare the slate of delegates for the election at Annual Conference this June.
The Upper Midwest Conference has budgeted funds to cover most of the costs of the delegation but there may be some personal expense as well.
Thank you for your willingness to serve our God in a place we do not know and a time we are not quite certain. If you have questions, please contact me and I will do my best to answer what I know.
