General Conference Commission Projects 2026 Delegate Allocation
In order to guide annual conferences in electing delegates to the 2026 General Conference, the General Conference Commission has released its projections of how many delegates each annual conference will have. The official number of delegates for each annual conference will be set in February 2026, based on the number of churches and pastors on January 1, 2026.
Most delegates will be elected at annual conference meetings beginning in April, so it was necessary to provide preliminary guidance for how many delegates each conference should elect. Conferences will want to ensure they elect enough alternate and reserve delegates in case their official number increases a year from now.
This preliminary allocation sets the number of delegates at 420, which is at the high end of the acceptable range established by the Connectional Council. The allocation is based on estimated church and pastor numbers submitted by each conference superintendent.
The big story told by these numbers is the shift in the number of delegates between the U.S. and other parts of the global church, particularly Africa. In 2024, African delegates made up twelve percent of the delegates to Costa Rica. In 2026, African delegates may make up one-third of the delegation. This means the U.S. share may go down from 84 percent in 2024 to 61 percent in 2026, resulting in the loss of some delegates by some U.S. annual conferences.
This shift is larger than originally anticipated, as eight more African annual conferences are in development than expected when the number of delegates was set at 380-420. In addition, the number of churches and pastors in the four Nigerian conferences is greater than expected, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (now split into six annual conferences) has also experienced unexpected growth.
While Africa had only five annual conferences in 2024 at Costa Rica, they could have as many as 27 annual conferences represented in 2026. However, it is questionable whether all these annual conferences will be able to organize and have their convening conferences by the end of this year. The number of African annual conferences will probably be less than the 27, which will reduce the total number of delegates. Individual congregations throughout Africa will also need to go through the official registration process, which may further reduce their numbers.
The same is true of Asia and Latin America, both of which are projected to add two annual conferences each.
The General Conference Commission will recommend the final allocation of delegates to the Connectional Council based on actual official numbers, rather than estimates. That final allocation in February could see some delegate numbers shifting slightly up or down.
The preliminary allocation of delegates is posted on the Global Methodist Church website here.
As annual conferences elect delegates, alternates, and reserves for the 2026 General Conference, we can surround the process with prayer, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide the election of gifted leaders to help our denomination move forward in mission. We can also rejoice at the rapid growth of the Global Methodist Church in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. If all of the projected annual conferences come on line, the Global Methodist Church will be found in more than 27 different countries. We are becoming more global by the day!
Reverend Thomas L. Lambrecht serves as the General Conference Secretary for the Global Methodist Church.
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