 New Map of United Methodist Mission Activity |
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by Elliott Wright |
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The global reality of The United Methodist Church is dramatically shown in a new mission map introduced here at the denomination’s 2004 General Conference. A rich gold color indicates those countries in which The United Methodist Church is at work, and most of the land masses—some 125 countries—are gold. Around the earth, the Church is present through annual conferences, congregations, institutions, missionaries, relief and refugee programs, and other relationships. Delegates and visitors to the General Conference were offered free copies of the map at the global ministries display, measuring 33”x23”. Each congregation will receive one copy on request for nominal postage and handling. Other copies are available for $3.00 each. The United Methodist Church includes organic conferences in large parts of Africa, much of continental Europe, and the Philippines. Four conferences today exist in Russia and United Methodism is making footholds in former Soviet states. The worldwide membership of The United Methodist Church is ten million, with some 8.2 million in the United States. The Church has mission partner relations with autonomous Methodist Churches in the almost all of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. Dozens of fraternal delegates from the autonomous Churches were presented to the 2004 General Conferences. These ranged from Argentina in South America to Hong Kong and Japan. United Methodist-related schools and medical facilities exist around the globe, and the Church has educational ministries in China. Mongolia is a new mission area. For the first time, United Methodism in the Ivory Coast was represented at the General Conference. A former autonomous Church in the West African nation last year became a United Methodist mission. It has approximately one million members.
Date posted: Apr 30, 2004 |
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