Danny Peck talks about Worldwide Regionalization in the United Methodist Church

Danny Peck will discuss the worldwide regionalization of the United Methodist Church at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 18, in the Sanctuary at Soapstone United Methodist Church.

Danny Peck is the Soapstone Director of Family Ministries and he served as a lay delegate to the UMC General Conference. Elected by the North Carolina Annual Conference in 2019, Danny met monthly for four years with other NC lay and clergy delegates to prepare for the worldwide gathering held in Charlotte, NC, in April 2024.

Since the General Conference, United Methodist voters on four continents have ratified a major restructuring that aims to give the denomination’s different geographical regions equal decision-making authority.

The Council of Bishops announced on November 5, 2025, the ratification of the restructuring – known as Worldwide Regionalization – by a vote of 34,148 to 3,124, a 91.6% majority.

To be ratified, a constitutional amendment must first receive at least a two-thirds majority vote at the General Conference. Then each amendment must receive the approval of at least two-thirds of the total vote by lay and clergy members at annual conferences worldwide. The denomination has more than 130 annual conferences around the world, including our North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Under the restructuring, the U.S. and the central conferences – eight church regions in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines – each become regional conferences. Regionalization is the opportunity to de-center the church so that it isn’t a U.S. – dominated church, but that United Methodism in every region is a unique expression of the church.

The constitutional amendments provide a framework for how the different regions of The United Methodist Church can work together moving forward. They also spell out certain things each regional conference can adapt to its context.

Danny will talk about the impact of regionalization and what it may mean for our conference and our church.