Healthy Growth & Emerging Priorities

We recently had a wonderful Annual Conference as pastors and lay members from across the Upper Midwest Conference gathered in Sioux City, Iowa for fellowship, encouragement, worship, and growth.

During the conference, I shared several conference statistics and how they compare to the previous year:

• Membership – 21,337 (+1.5%)

• Average Worship Attendance – 10,628 (+11%)

• Baptisms in 2025 – 442 (+3%)

• Professions of Faith – 531 (+11%)

It is encouraging to see growth in each of these areas because these numbers represent people being reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must continue inviting people, making disciples, and going into the world with the love and grace of Jesus.

At Annual Conference, we also adopted three priorities that will help guide our shared ministry together:

1. Raising the next generation of leaders

2. Developing Wesleyan leaders

3. Cultivating a culture of multiplication in every congregation

These priorities will help shape how the conference aligns its resources and ministry efforts in the years ahead.

We must continue investing in the next generation of leaders. God has placed many young people in our churches, and we need to encourage them to allow the Holy Spirit to shape and equip them for service in the body of Christ.

We also want to reengage our Wesleyan roots. As we lean into the grace, holiness, and transforming power of God, we can lead with the mind of Christ and faithfully carry the gospel into our communities.

As we pursue these priorities and reach more people for Christ, we pray that God will continue forming us into a multiplying movement of disciples who make disciples.

I encourage you to share with your congregation how you saw God working through Annual Conference and invite them to join us next year.

Please also mark your calendars for June 10–12, 2027, as we gather at Aldersgate Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Our schedule will conclude on Saturday, which will be a change from previous years. (These plans remain tentative pending the election and assignment of bishops at General Conference.)