Clergy from across the connection gathered at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg in their robes and red stoles, and the delegates who had spent the week bent to the sacred work of legislation and discernment turned to a moment of consecration for the Church's new bishops. As directed by the “Book of Doctrines and Discipline,” eight bishops were chosen to lead the connection through the 2026–2032 sexennial. Of the eight elected, five will be consecrated for the episcopacy, as the remaining have served previously in the role. Each will be set apart in the historic manner, taking up a ministry described not as an office to be held but as a sacred trust — to shepherd the Church, guard the faith, teach sound doctrine, equip the saints, and lead the people of God in the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe. The five reflect the breadth of a truly global Church: Luther Oconer, Jonathan Lee, Lyndol Loyd, Jerry Kulah, and Paul Lawler. Their episcopal areas gather annual conferences from across continents, and as general superintendents they serve across nations, languages, and cultures. All of the bishops’ new terms of service begin November 1, 2026. The service was also a moment of gratitude. Before the new bishops were consecrated, the conference gave thanks for those who have provided episcopal leadership through the Church's formative years and who are not continuing in the role, honoring their faithful and selfless service to a young denomination. It was one of those leaders, Bishop Jeff Greenway, who brought the Word — and with it, a charge to those about to be set apart. Today, and all the rest of your days,” he said, “are not days for pride or self aggrandizement, but rather days to humbly die to yourself, so that the life of Christ may continue to be formed in you.You are still the same person you were the day before you were elected. May God give you the grace to humbly live into your new role and responsibility. Over the gathering hung the words of the Wesley Covenant Prayer, offered as the posture of every leader being set apart: “Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will... I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.” It is the heart of episcopal leadership — not Where do I want to serve? but Where is Christ calling me to go? The Church is invited to pray for these bishops, their families, and the people and places they have been called to serve — that they might lead with humility, teach with faithfulness, and shepherd with love. In this, the beauty of holiness is not merely a theme but a calling, taken up anew. 

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,” the delegates sang beneath the hall of the Sandton Convention Centre, and only when the last verse faded did Bishop Jeff Greenway call the body to order. What followed would prove to be among the most consequential mornings not only of this General Conference, but of the Global Methodist Church's young life–the adoption of the Articles of Faith. Its centerpiece was a labor more than two decades in the making. Introducing Petition 1441, the Rev. Dr. Matt O'Reilly reminded the conference that when Methodism's predecessor bodies merged in 1968, they set the Articles of Religion and the Confession of Faith side by side without reconciling them — “a crack,” as he described it, in the church's doctrinal foundation. The petition before the delegates completed the work left undone: a single successor document, the Articles of Faith. O'Reilly was careful to name that it belonged to no one author, inviting a writing team, review teams, an online survey, a commission, and a legislative committee to stand in turn. “This is why the Articles of Faith belong to the Church.” A single amendment, offered by the Bishop-elect Paul Lawler, strengthened the article on Holy Scripture, declaring it “true in all it affirms, entirely trustworthy, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.” Recalling the painful past, Lawler warned that “sound and robust doctrine alone will not renew the Church — but doctrine on fire will.” When the vote met a clear required three-quarters threshold, the hall rose and broke, spontaneously, into the Doxology. Upon passage, O’Reilly notes the Articles, "articulate the faith once for all delivered to the saints," place the church alongside faithful Protestant believers, and declare "the distinctive contributions of our Wesleyan Methodist heritage." The body also attended to some of the ordinary business of a global church. It elected the Rev. Lamar Oliver as General Conference Secretary, refined the constitution and connectional finances, and adopted a Plan of Organization and Covenant to guide the Church until the next General Conference — to be held somewhere in the world in 2032. Stretching deadlines across six years rather than two, the plan also gently recommended that future delegates hold passports and be able to meet online, a quiet acknowledgment of how far this connection now reaches. By the lunch recess, the delegates had done in a single morning what most churches never do in a generation: declared, in one voice and by three-quarters majority, what they believe and why it matters. They turned then toward the afternoon's final legislative actions and consecration of bishops — the beauty of holiness moving, as it had all week, from the page into worship, and from Johannesburg outward to all the peoples of the world.

Final morning worship at the 2026 General Conference of the Global Methodist Church began with praise carrying the accent of the whole Church. "There is no one like Jesus," the room sang, one language folding into another until the refrain rose in the cadence of African worship and the delegates were on their feet. It was a fitting picture of the theme framing these days together, the beauty of holiness. After a recap video carried the delegates back through the week's worship and deliberation, the service settled into Scripture and prayer — and here, too, the global character of the Church was unmistakable. A delegate read the Great Commission from Matthew, the risen Christ sending His disciples to “make disciples of all nations,” then prayed twice, once in English and once in Xhosa, asking that those gathered be made ambassadors of peace. Members rose again for a song of praise in Luganda, brought from Uganda, confessing a caring Lord who sustains his people. The second lesson, Colossians 3, was read first in the King James Version and then in French — the same summons, in two tongues, to set the mind on things above and put off the old self for the new. The preacher for the hour was Simon Mafunda, director of GMC Africa, who has helped plan and organize the Global Methodist Church's annual conferences across the continent. A layperson in the Zimbabwe Annual Conference and a General Conference delegate multiple times over, Mafunda has served as a lay leader for fourteen years and will soon begin studies at Asbury Theological Seminary as he prepares for ordination as a deacon. He and his wife, Hannah, have been married thirty-five years and share a passion for ministry among marginalized children. Mafunda took as his theme a phrase that sounds, at first, like a contradiction: “We die to live.” To truly live, he said, a person must first die — not to self-improvement, but to self-surrender. He anchored the claim in Paul's confession, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” and drew out its cost with plain honesty. What dies is pride, selfish ambition, and the desire to have one's own way. “This is not merely changing our behavior,” he told the body. “It is a change of ownership. Before Christ, I belong to myself. After Christ, I belong to him.” Yet Christ does not leave his people empty, he was quick to add; the cross is always followed by resurrection, and the old self is exchanged for a new heart and a new purpose. That new life was never meant to be kept safe on a shelf. “Jesus did not save us merely to keep us safe,” Mafunda said. “He saved us to send us.” To a conference preparing to scatter back across the world, he pressed the point home: “The Christian life is not a waiting room for heaven. It is a mission field.” As the message closed, Mafunda turned Isaiah's vision into an invitation. God is still asking “Whom shall I send?” he said, into unfamiliar languages, into persecuted and war-torn places, into neighborhoods and workplaces where indifference reigns. This call is not for the qualified but for the surrendered. Bishop Jeff Greenway offered the closing prayer, inviting all present to give as much of themselves as they knew to as much of Jesus as they could understand, trusting God to make up the difference.

sixth morning of the General Conference began with Charles Wesley's “And Can It Be” rising in a hall filled with delegates from across the globe, carried by a refrain naming the geography of the gathering — from Africa to Asia to the Americas — grace extending to each one, glory returning to Christ the King. The hymn that has stirred Methodist hearts for nearly three centuries was, that morning, unmistakably the song of a global Church. From praise, the assembly moved to prayer. A clergy member led the room in intercession in Korean and English, inviting delegates into Tongsung Kido — the Korean practice of praying aloud together — each person calling on the name of the Lord in his or her own native tongue. The prayer echoed Scripture at every turn — the wonder of Psalm 8, the confession of Isaiah's unclean lips, the vision of Revelation's multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue before the Lamb. Its most quietly striking line was also its most Wesleyan: the Global Methodist Church, the one praying confessed, "is not ours, it's Yours." The Word was read as it was prayed — in Gujarati, English, and other tongues — around two texts that would anchor the morning: the Great Commandment of Matthew 22, to love God fully and one's neighbor as oneself, and the promise of Ezekiel 36, in which the Lord vows to remove a heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. Rev. Mark Sorensen, senior pastor of The Woodlands Methodist Church, welcomed by Bishop Scott Jones who had once appointed him, preached on holy love and the transformed heart. He confessed a conviction from the singing itself — how easily believers sing the words on the screen while ignoring their own hearts — and pressed the assembly not to flinch where God begins to press. His counsel became a refrain: stay on the physician's table. Sorensen grounded the theme in the soil beneath them. On December 3, 1967, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first human heart transplant. Yet centuries before any surgeon dared it, he reminded them, God had promised through Ezekiel to do what no surgeon could — replace a hardened heart entirely. What the Lord offers is not repair but renewal: “God's work in us that becomes God's love through us,” a phrase Sorensen returned to repeatedly as the Wesleyan conviction that Christian perfection is nothing less than perfect, holy love. He let it land through testimony — a woman who, after years of a hardened heart toward a family member, found grace at work, a relationship long closed beginning to open. “Grace doing heart surgery,” he called it. He closed with Michelangelo's Pietà , damaged by a vandal's hammer and painstakingly restored: God does not discard the marred masterpiece but restores it to what the Artist intended, until his love becomes visible through his people. Nearly sixty years ago, South Africa showed the world that a human heart could be replaced; may the Church leave South Africa, he prayed, showing what happens when a heart is transformed by holy love. If the morning had one question, it was the one the sermon pressed home: what does the Lord do with a hardened heart? That was Sorensen's focus from first word to last — not flawless performance but perfect, holy love, the miracle Ezekiel promised and Barnard could only imitate. And the answer had already been rehearsed in the room. The conference had come not to polish its own performance but to be met by grace and to let it do the heart surgery only God can perform — trading stone for flesh, one delegate at a time. That was the morning's prayer as much as its preaching: that a Church drawn from every tribe and tongue would leave South Africa with softened hearts, its love made visible, and scriptural holiness carried across the globe.

Some of a General Conference's most consequential work makes the least noise. After the anticipation of Wednesday's episcopal ballots and the celebrations that followed, Friday's legislative sessions at the Sandton Convention Centre turned to a quieter but no less important task — electing the clergy and laity who will carry the ongoing work of the Global Methodist Church through its councils, commissions, and committees. These are the bodies named in the “Book of Doctrines and Discipline” that steward the life of the Church between general conferences: a majority of church members, clergy and laity together, entrusted with doctrine and discipleship, finance and mission, ecumenical friendship and the good order of the connection. What follows is a brief explanation of each body, with the unofficial results of Friday's elections placed beneath — a picture of a Church naming its stewards for the 2026–2032 sexennial. With the official daily journal still to come tomorrow, these results are shared as a first, unofficial account — a way to bring the news to the Church now rather than hold it back. The Connectional Council serves as the Global Methodist Church's chief missional and administrative body between sessions of the General Conference. Functioning as the denomination's leadership team, it helps guide the Church's direction, implement its vision, and coordinate ministry efforts at the general church level. Delegates elected four clergy and four lay members, with the Council itself choosing its officers and the Connectional Council adding a further four members for balance and expertise. Clergy: Luciano Pereira da Silva (Panama), Gabriella Kopas (Central Europe), Jessica LaGrone (Trinity), and Henriette Okele (Democratic Republic of Congo) Laity: Gene Floore (Alabama Emerald Coast), Juliet Jere (Malawi), Sheela Shankar (India), and Tammy Stott (North Carolina) The Connectional Council on Appeals serves as the highest judicial body within the Global Methodist Church. Its purpose is to ensure that the actions, legislation, and governance of the Church remain consistent with the” Book of Doctrines and Discipline,” the foundational guide for doctrine, polity, and practice in the denomination. Delegates elected four clergy and three lay members, along with an equal number of alternates. Clergy: Steven Bell (Trinity), Daniel Fulton (Mid-South), and Richard Jones (West Plains) Clergy alternates: Ebenezer Belleh (Grain Coast), Elliot Chikwenjere (Zimbabwe), Paul Idi (Northeast Nigeria), and Sungwon Nam (Korean-American) Laity: Ron Enns (West Plains), Beatrice Iliya (Northern Nigeria), and Vicky Johnson (Trinity) Lay alternates: James Bannister (South Carolina), Martina Lukic (Central Europe), and Gideon Salatan (Covenant Philippines) The Conferences Commission exists to support the strategic growth and organization of the Global Methodist Church around the world. It makes recommendations to the Assembly of Bishops, the Connectional Council, and the General Conference regarding the creation, restructuring, or modification of annual conferences — the regional bodies through which the Church carries out its work. Delegates elected six clergy and six laity, with no additional members to be added. Clergy: Clark Atkins, Jr. (Trinity), Johnathan Lee (Upper Midwest), Michael Morrissey, Jr. (Mid-South), John Howard (North Carolina), Wilton Odongo (Kenya), and Alban Amour Gonda Yagozo (Central African Republic) Laity: Kirsten Mains (Great Lakes), James Massaquoi (Grain Coast), Brayan George Mwakalinga (Tanzania), Pauline Ntombura (Afrika Makarishi), Lori Smith (Mississippi-West Tennessee), and Mickey Wheeler (Mid-Texas) The Discipleship, Doctrine and Just Ministry Commission guides how the Global Methodist Church fosters discipleship and ongoing spiritual growth across every level of the Church, developing programs, classes, bands, and other small-group resources that support formation in Christ. It was this commission, chaired by Dr. David Watson, whose work produced the proposed combined Articles of Faith that is being taken up this week. Delegates elected ten members — five clergy and five laity — with the Connectional Council able to add up to five more. Clergy: Kenneth Collins (Mid-South), Martin Longanga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Suzanne Nicholson (Mid-South), Dennis Obadiah (Southern Nigeria), and Virgilio Olonan (Covenant Philippines) Laity: Pau Ayi-Bonte (Eastern Russia-Central Asia), Elena Melnikova (Central Russia), Krista Pettit (Northeast), Kathy Rohrs (Allegheny West), and Nolizwi Stofela (South Africa) The Ecumenical Relationships Commission strengthens the Church's ties with the broader body of Christ, bringing recommendations to the Assembly of Bishops and the Connectional Council concerning the denomination's participation in councils and networks of Christian bodies, as well as covenants or potential unions with other churches — the very work embodied this week in the covenant signed with the Korean Methodist Church. A bishop chairs the commission; delegates elected four clergy and four laity. Clergy: Samson Muzengeza (Zimbabwe), Debo Onabanjo (Allegheny West), Sakiusa Vakadewatabua, Jr. (Heartland), and Vatroslav Zupancic (Central Europe) Laity: Bridget Douglas (Great Lakes), Kankolongo Johnson (Democratic Republic of Congo), Debbie Smalley (Alabama Emerald Coast), and Elena Sokolova (Northwest Russia-Belarus) The Finance, Administration, Pensions, and Benefits Commission exists to support faithful stewardship, integrity, and transparency at every level of the connection. Appointed by the General Conference and reporting to the Connectional Council, it provides financial oversight, legal support, and guidance in matters of retirement, benefits, and recordkeeping. Delegates elected ten members, with the Connectional Council able to add up to five more. Clergy: Harrison Bell (Alabama Emerald Coast), Vivian Kinnear (Trinity), James Noble (Mid-Texas), and Matthew Seel (Mid-South) Laity: Sherry Austin (Great Lakes), Olandor Boyce (Grain Coast), Lyndsey Clark (North Carolina), Sam Gregory (West Plains), Joy Perry (Allegheny West), and Luvo Thwethwa (South Africa) The General Conference Commission is responsible for planning and coordinating every aspect of the Church's General Conferences. It determines the number of legislative committees, oversees the assignment of materials to delegates, and recommends updates to the Plan of Organization and Covenant for Our Life Together. Delegates elected sixteen members, at least half of them laity, with the Connectional Council able to add up to eight more. Clergy: Mbingeleli Diko (South Africa), Mike Grant (Allegheny West), Joy Griffin (North Georgia), Ben Huebner (Mid-Texas), Charles Puno (Mega Manila), and Nicolas Munongo Sukisa (Democratic Republic of Congo) Laity: Elizabeth Fink (Trinity), Dana Gilliam (North Alabama), Ephraim Ibrahim Jen (Southern Nigeria), Inna Kim (Central Russia), Bridget Kirk (Heartland), Muriel Nelson (Grain Coast), Walter Oduke (Kenya), Giftson Rajan (India), Stacy Taylor (Northeast), and Mandy White (West Plains) The Global Episcopacy Committee oversees the election of bishops, provides human-resources and administrative support for their ministry, and processes concerns in keeping with the Church's Judicial Practice and Procedures — the body that guided this week's historic episcopal elections. Its nominees were chosen by the Connectional Council, as prescribed by the “Book of Doctrines and Discipline,” and delegates elected six clergy and six laity, each by a sixty-percent vote. Clergy: Jason Burnham (Trinity), Robin Parr (North Georgia), Chris Ritter (Great Lakes), Joanne Turmalip Valenzuela (Mega Manila), Aaron Opa Yankee (Grain Coast), and Kira Yufereva (Central Russia) Laity: Don Bourland (Mississippi-West Tennessee), Patrick Chibhagidhi (Zimbabwe), Brad Folsom (South Georgia), Tyson Heins (Heartland), Sarah Maher (Allegheny West), and Ievgenii Semashko (Bulgaria) The Kingdom Advancement Commission — officially the Evangelism, Church Multiplication, Missional Mobilization, and Disaster Response Commission — equips and supports local churches, annual conferences, and the general church in fulfilling the denomination's mission, working through three focused subcommittees. Delegates elected eleven members — six laity and five clergy — with the Connectional Council able to add up to six more. Clergy: Failuma Afeaki (Western States), Wes Griffin (North Georgia), Patrick Magaqa (South Africa), Laura Saffell (Allegheny West), and Martin Kasongo Wakubatwa (Democratic Republic of Congo) Laity: Diana Briselli (Northeast), Bill Brown (Heartland), Robby Kalitongi (Zambia), Elena Lyovushkina (Southern Russia), Mariela Mihaylova-Siderova (Bulgaria), and Angelo Perez (Covenant Philippines) The Ministry and Higher Education Commission is responsible for implementing standards across all forms of ordained and lay ministry within the Church, including certifying the educational programs that train lay ministers, deacons, and elders. Delegates elected ten members — five clergy and five laity — with the Connectional Council able to add up to five more. Clergy: Daniel Gildner (Allegheny West), Kora Mujinga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Thadius Sales (Northeast), Leslie Tomlinson (Mid-Texas), and Brian Ebel (Mid-South) Laity: Diana Cabauatan (Covenant Philippines), Jane Finley (North Georgia), Leesa Judd (South Carolina), Kelvin Kofi (Eastern Russia-Central Asia), and Catherine Sullivan (Trinity)