We United Methodists know that diversity in unity is crucial. Our way of being the body of Christ is connectionalism—unity in doctrine, mission and discipline, but diversity in many of the ways we express that unity. We are a global church with congregations in more than 40 countries on four different continents.The Kansas East and Kansas West conferences are finding a new way to express that connection. Kansas West has voted to enter into a covenant relationship with the Zimbabwe East Annual Conference. The Kansas East Conference has formed a partnership with the Haiti District of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas.
When numbers represent worship attendance, membership, participation in Sunday school, youth involved in UMYF, offering totals or time spent in hands-on mission with the poor, they are more than just numbers. They represent real human beings and their journeys on the way of salvation. Leaders—both laity and clergy, administrative councils, cabinets and bishops—should pay close attention to the numbers that indicate our missional effectiveness.