Our Vision: A Church that is truly for all.

Join Us for Our Pre-Conference Meeting!

As previously announced, we are holding a pre-conference gathering at Peoria University UMC on Wednesday, June 7, at 7 pm. An agenda is in the works, but we definitely plan to spend some time hearing from some of those running for election to the IGRC Jurisdictional Conference delegation. We hope you will take the time to join us for our first big in-person gathering since 2019!

Volunteers Wanted for Annual Conference

Friends, our IGRC for Unity team is going to be looking for friendly faces to volunteer at the #BeUMC table at this year's Annual Conference. We are passionate about staying in the UMC and seeing it grow into a healthy model of the ministry of Jesus. If you would like to volunteer for a 2-hour shift, please send an email to Eric Swanson at eswanson@pekingrace.org to sign up and share your time (& smile).

Need someone to talk to your church? Click on this box to email us!

We have people who are willing and ready to talk to your church if there are talks of disaffiliation going on. Let us know if we can help!

A Seminarian's Reflections on the Future of the UMC

from Erik Slingerland

IGRC for Unity Communications Coordinator, Certified Candidate for Ministry (Elder Track), Lay Delegate to Jurisdictional Conference

After taking time away from seminary for health reasons, I recently completed the classes that essentially finished the first of three years of courses in pursuit of my MDiv. degree at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. I find that older (not old!) friends from the IGRC are often interested in my seminary experience and how it relates to the future of the United Methodist Church, so instead of a devotional this week from Rev. Robb McCoy, I offer these thoughts.


The future UMC is inclusive. To be frank, LGBTQIA+ inclusion seems to be a non-issue among many students. Wesley is an inclusive seminary: I have had several openly LGBTQIA+ classmates, a Queer Theology class has been offered each academic year for the past few years, there are signs posted near restrooms that affirm gender diversity and point to the gender-neutral bathrooms that are available on campus for any who feel most comfortable using those, and after several years of inactivity, the student group centered around LGBTQIA+ inclusion in Christianity recently restarted, with some members joining local United Methodist congregations to be part of the Washington, DC Pride Parade in a few weeks. Although having students from different backgrounds means there is disagreement on some things, for most of the people I know (including United Methodist, ELCA, PC(USA), and Unitarian Universalist peers), favoring LGBTQ+ inclusion is almost assumed among students. The future of the church indeed seems to be pointing toward inclusion.


The future UMC is unafraid to ask tough questions. One of my classmates left the UMC to join the Episcopal Church last year. They recently shared that they wrote their final paper for Systematic Theology about the role of the episcopacy in the UMC and the issues they see with the system, especially in relation to the slow progress toward LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Other students who are, to my knowledge, strongly United Methodist, expressed their interest in reading that paper – not to criticize it, but to truly listen and see where there may be room for improvement in the UMC! Not to mention that asking tough questions, whether about theology or ecclesiology, is naturally a part of seminary. There are relatively few places in the United States where you can find United Methodist, Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist, ELCA Lutheran, PC(USA), and non-denominational Christians gathered together to talk about how to be the Body of Christ. Leaders should be unafraid to ask difficult questions and implement change, and it seems like the seminary environment has the ability to equip church leaders who are ready to do those things.


The future UMC is mission-focused. Mission to the communities that churches are in is seen as critical to many students. One friend of mine plans to become an ordained elder in the UMC after she graduates, but she took the time to do a year-long internship with a local non-profit to get experience that could be applied to local church ministry. Another person I know is passionate about justice in a variety of ways, but especially in terms of ensuring all people have access to enough food – so much so that since graduating, she has launched a faith community centered around food. Wesley Theological Seminary also has a program, the Community Engagement Institute, that helps students who participate to play major roles in reaching people outside the walls of a traditional church building. Graduating Fellows of that program presented what they did during their time in seminary a few weeks ago, and hearing about those projects was rather inspiring for me. Bishop Will Willimon also emphasizes the role of mission in his 2022 book Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next, where he notes that decades of studying the UMC’s decline in membership has found that “the single most influential factor in the life of a Methodist congregation is its external focus.”



Finally, the future UMC is hope-filled. While I do know of fellow young adults who have left the UMC in recent years, there are many of us who are not leaving. There are plenty of people in a variety of life stages who are entering ministry in the UMC, not because it’s a perfect system, but because it still resonates with them. Whether it's Wesleyan theology, the focus on justice throughout the history of Methodism, or something else entirely, there are plenty of people who see the positive potential of the UMC in the future. Yes, disaffiliations are understandably a prominent topic of discussion throughout the UMC connection right now. But there’s a recognition among my peers that there is life beyond this challenging time for the UMC. Up-and-coming leaders see the amazing things that God has done in the UMC and can do in the future of this denomination and want to lend their gifts and graces to that vision. Christ, who can grant us hope for the future in our personal lives, can also help lead us into the future as a denomination, as the Body of Christ, as we work towards bringing God’s glorious kingdom here to Earth.

IGRC for Unity
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