General Conference roundup: Mission initiatives

This is the second of several posts presenting a roundup of General Conference actions related to the foci of this blog. This second post looks at the General Conference actions related to mission in The United Methodist Church.

General Conference celebrated the commissioning of 29 new missionaries and the consecration of 26 deaconesses and home missioners.

General Conference approved a name change for One Great Hour of Sharing to UMCOR Sunday to better reflect the purpose of the special offering.

General Conference recognized mission centers at Gulfside Assembly and the Lambuth Family Pearl River Church as Heritage Landmarks of the UMC.

General Conference approved a resolution calling for more ministries with migrants, along with several other mission-related resolutions.

While the General Conference rejected divestment from companies doing business in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, it did adopt a petition on behalf of Wadi Foquin, a Palestinian village threatened by encroaching settlements. Global Ministries supports mission work in Wadi Foquin.

Global health is a significant area of mission work for the church, but enough happened at General Conference related to global health that it deserves its own post. The next roundup, which will be posted later this week, will look at actions related to global health.