Four leaders from the Northern Illinois-Wisconsin Episcopal Area joined United Methodists from around the world Oct. 20 to 24 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for the Council of Bishops’ first-ever Leadership Gathering. Centered on the theme “Emboldened by the Spirit: Imagining a Church Yet to Be,” the gathering brought together bishops, clergy, lay leaders, young adults, theologians and denominational leaders to prayerfully consider the future of the UMC.  

Throughout the week, participants explored the realities facing the church and considered how United Methodists might respond faithfully and creatively. 

The gathering included worship, presentations, and hours of conversation in small covenant groups. Participants identified challenges facing the denomination, including a tendency to prioritize institutional maintenance over mission, uncertainty about discipleship, limited involvement of younger generations in decision-making, the lasting wounds of colonization, and the need to better support young people navigating global crises. 

Working within five areas of focus (discipleship, leadership, impact, stewardship and accountability) participants developed recommendations for the church’s future. Ideas included expanding innovative approaches to discipleship, strengthening mentorship and leadership development, deepening global partnerships, collaborating across congregations and conferences, and directing resources toward mission rather than institutional preservation. Participants also emphasized the importance of empowering young people, welcoming diverse voices, and aligning church structures and resources with its Wesleyan identity and calling. 

The conversations and recommendations were intended not as a final blueprint for the denomination, but as a starting point for continued reflection and action. Participants were encouraged to carry what they learned back to their congregations, conferences and communities. The Council of Bishops plans to share a report based on the recommendations with the wider church by January 2027. 

The gathering also underscored the importance of moving from conversation to action. Participants expressed hope that the experience would help United Methodists ask difficult questions, make room for voices that have often been overlooked and work together across cultural and geographic differences. The future of the church, they recognized, will be shaped not only by denominational leaders but also by the ministries and relationships nurtured in local congregations and communities around the world. 

Four leaders represented the Northern Illinois-Wisconsin Episcopal Area: Rev. Jeremiah Cottrell-Duebner, a local pastor serving northeastern Wisconsin; Rev. Violet Johnicker, ordained elder serving in in Rockford; Eugene Williams, NIC co-lay leader; and Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer, NIC Director of Connectional Ministries. Bishop Dan Schwerin selected three representatives in consultation with the cabinets, while Rev. Grandon-Mayer was selected by the gathering’s planning team as one of 50 additional thought leaders from across the worldwide connection.  

In the reflections below, Rev. Violet Johnicker and Eugene Williams offer two local perspectives on the gathering and what its conversations may mean for the church moving forward. 

Rev. Violet Johnicker 

We gathered to give thanks for all that God is already doing and to dream about becoming more open to the movement of the Holy Spirit. On Thursday, we practiced the Korean prayer tradition of Tongsung prayer (통성기도), in which people pray loudly and simultaneously. Rev. YoungHak Lee invited us to close our eyes and open our spiritual eyes to see those God sees who are suffering, and to ask where the church was when they were in pain. Did we comfort them? Did we meet their needs? We repented for the times we had failed and covenanted to do better, seeing as God sees and serving as Jesus served. 

There was a theme of innovating while getting back to basics: holding together personal piety and social holiness, remembering that evangelism and justice are both our calling, embracing intergenerational ministry, blessing lay leadership and creative expressions of church, and affirming our baptismal vows. We named authoritarianism and anti-immigrant ideology as evils we are committed to fighting through our ancient practices of feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and welcoming the stranger. Living as Jesus taught combats loneliness, builds community, and disrupts oppressive empires. 

Here’s the most important thing I’m bringing home from Calgary: the Holy Spirit is, right now, empowering United Methodists around the world to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. We must learn from one another to share God’s love in ways that transform a world deeply in need of grace. 

The offering we bring home is a first draft, and your edits are needed. Will you join this conversation with openness? Will you share your perspective, stay at the table through difficult dialogue, trust that you are loved as you are, and love others with the radical compassion of Jesus? I am so proud to be United Methodist and inspired by the vision of the church yet to be. 

Eugene Williams 

To hear more perspectives from the gathering, watch a short video featuring reflections from the four Northern Illinois-Wisconsin Episcopal Area participants and Bishop Dan Schwerin. 

Recordings, resources and additional information about the Leadership Gathering are available at ⁠ResourceUMC.org. Readers are also encouraged to explore the below articles from the denomination that offer additional insights into the gathering, its conversations, and the possibilities for the future of The United Methodist Church. 

• “Imagining the Future of The United Methodist Church” posted by Council of Bishops - The United Methodist Church 
• “Gathering offers 16 ideas for church future” by Heather Hahn, UMNews 
• “Gathering begins to imagine church yet to be” by Heather Hahn, UMNews 
• “Gathering explores new practices for church” by Heather Hahn, UMNews 
• “Ideas for the future church start to take shape” by Heather Hahn, UMNews