Constitutional amendments and United Women in Faith

How do amendments made to the United Methodist Constitution affect our organization?

by Tara Barnes

Though big changes happened at the 2024 United Methodist General Conference and last month with the ratification of amendments to our church’s constitution, the only changes made to the paragraphs governing United Women in Faith in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church were those we requested ourselves: to make the size of our program advisory group more flexible and allow deaconesses and home missioners to work remotely. No plans, changes, or resolutions passed that directly change how we operate or organize.

We are heartened that the resolutions we submitted on behalf of women, children, and youth have become official statements of The United Methodist Church, naming gender equity and racial and climate justice as kin-dom building work we all engage in together.

In addition to our own work, we are named by the General Conference as collaborators in the work of gender equity, children’s advocacy, and racial and climate justice with such partners as Global Ministries, the General Board of Church and Society, General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, Caretakers of God’s Creation, Metodistas Asociados Representando la Causa Hispano/Latina Americana, the Peace Committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church, and others.

As the official laywomen’s organization of The United Methodist Church, how the church expresses and engages in its mission to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world affects how we shape our statements, actions, and practices. We take seriously our call to ensure women’s voices are included in the church’s decision-making.

How constitutional amendments affect United Women in Faith

The 2024 General Conference passed amendments to the United Methodist constitution, which were ratified in 2025 by voting members of the United Methodist annual conferences around the world. United Women in Faith supported these amendments and celebrate their ratification.

The following amendments to the United Methodist constitution were ratified:

• Worldwide regionalization.
• The addition of “gender” and “ability” to paragraph 4, article 4.
• Updated language regarding racial justice for paragraph 5.
• Changes to paragraph 35 that standardize and clarify who is eligible to vote for clergy delegates to General Conference.

The renewed call for racial justice reflects United Women in Faith’s longtime commitment to dismantling racist systems, and as the official laywomen’s organization of The United Methodist Church, we especially praise the naming of “gender” as well as “ability” as categories that cannot be used to discriminate against a potential member in one of our churches. The United Methodist constitution now declares that an individual cannot be denied membership or participation in our churches based on gender or ability.

Worldwide Regionalization is a move to de-center the United States in church decision-making by reorganizing from a “United States + everyone else” structure to one of nine regional conferences on more equal footing.

United Women in Faith is already organized as a U.S.-based, regional organization, practicing mutuality in mission with women around the world, so regionalization itself won’t directly change how we operate, but it is a call to continue to be intentional about our worldwide relationships with United Methodist women’s desks and organizations and our membership in the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women.

You can find a detailed breakdown of regionalization from our friends at Ask The UMC.

What happens now

The Council of Bishops will soon call together an Interim Committee on Organization to create a plan for organizing the U.S. Regional Conference. This committee will comprise 20-25 current U.S. delegates, with at least three delegates from each jurisdiction.

This committee will set a date and place for the first meeting of the U.S. Regional Conference, which will likely take place in late 2028 or early 2029.

In this new structure, delegates elected by annual conferences around the world, including the United States (and including members of United Women in Faith), will serve at the General Conference and their regional conference after.

For just this quadrennium, another U.S. body will meet before the General Conference as well: the U.S. Regional Committee. All U.S. delegates will come together to make recommendations to the General Conference regarding all legislation that affects the United States only (see ¶507 in the Book of Discipline). Each regional conference outside the United States will elect one clergyperson and one layperson to serve on this committee as well.

For the conferences outside the United States, it will remain mostly business as usual. They will continue to meet as a body after the General Conference and continue to have the ability to adapt the Book of Discipline for their contexts. These former central conferences are now known as regional conferences.

The denomination will now have one General Book of Discipline that applies to the worldwide church and nine regional books of discipline that can be adapted by each region. The Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters—now the Standing Committee for Regional Conference Matters Outside the United States—and Connectional Table are currently working on the general book, to be presented at the 2028 General Conference. The new U.S. Regional Conference, when it meets, will establish a U.S. regional book of discipline, which will help make the General Book of Discipline less U.S.-focused.

For the first time in our denomination’s history, we’ll have more delegates from outside the U.S. than from the U.S. at our General Conference in 2028. We truly are a global church, and hope for our future is palpable. These changes are to help move us to new ways of being together as the body of Christ. It’s an exciting time to be United Methodist!

Summary of what’s new

• A more inclusive constitution.
• Central conferences are now called regional conferences.
• A U.S. Regional Conference will now be established.
• Interim Committee on Organization that will plan the first meeting of the U.S. Regional Conference.
• For just this quadrennium, a U.S. Regional Committee will meet before the 2028 General Conference.
• General Book of Discipline.
• U.S. Regional Book of Discipline.

Summary of how this affects United Women in Faith

• More support for our work for racial and gender justice.
• Members serving on the U.S. Regional Committee before General Conference and at the U.S. Regional Conference after General Conference.
• A likely move out of the General Book of Discipline and into the U.S. Regional Book of Discipline.
• An opportunity to shape the future of the church.

Don’t miss that last part: Now is the time for members of United Women in Faith to ensure we are in the church’s decision-making spaces. Now is the time for our voices to be heard. The decisions we make now will help lay foundation for the future of our denomination. May we in The United Methodist Church make room for all who need us, and may we make room for the Holy Spirit to surprise us.

Tara Barnes is director of denominational relations for United Women in Faith.

Cover photo by Mike DuBose for United Methodist News.