A Defining Moment of Hope for The United Methodist Church

Warning: this is going to be a super nerdy post.

Something remarkable just happened in The United Methodist Church—something that many of us have been praying and hoping for. The Council of Bishops announced yesterday that all four constitutional amendments approved by the 2024 General Conference have been ratified by our annual conferences. Every single one. (You can read more about them here on the Council of Bishop's Website.)

That means this isn’t just a policy update—it’s a resurrection story.

For years, our denomination has wrestled with questions of identity, inclusion, and connection. We’ve experienced heartbreak, division, and loss. And yet, through it all, the Spirit has continued to move. This news is a tangible sign of that hope—of a people who refuse to give up on one another, or on the belief that God’s grace is big enough for us all.

With overwhelming support—over 91% in favor across the board—the church has said “yes” to a future that looks more like God’s kin-dom:

• Yes to regionalization, where we can faithfully contextualize ministry around the world while remaining united in mission.

• Yes to inclusiveness, affirming that gender and ability are never barriers to belonging.

• Yes to racial justice, boldly naming and confronting racism, colonialism, and white supremacy as sins we are called to dismantle.

• Yes to education and formation, equipping those called to ministry to serve with wisdom and courage in every context.

Each “yes” represents courage—the courage to hope, to trust, to believe that God is not finished with us yet.

For those who have stayed and prayed, for those who have advocated and wept, for those who have wondered if renewal was still possible—this moment is a glimpse of resurrection. It reminds us that transformation in the church, like in our lives, rarely comes all at once. It comes through faithful persistence, through listening and learning, through the long labor of love that refuses to give up on community.

Hope takes root again in The United Methodist Church.

Not a naïve hope that everything will be easy, but a grounded, nervy, resilient hope—the kind that gets up in the morning, rolls up its sleeves, and says, “Yes, God, let’s keep going.”

Because this is who we are:

• A people of grace.

• A people of courage.

• A people of hope.

And today, that hope feels just a little stronger.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” —Isaiah 43:19

If you are United Methodist how do you feel about these changes?