Reports, elections and worship highlights from the Council of Bishops’ online Fall Meeting, Nov. 2 to 6, 2026, with links to videos and resources. The week’s main actions are in the news release.
Reports and elections
- University Senate. The bishops elected two members of the University Senate, the church’s educational advisory body: Dr. Hugo Magallanes, associate dean for academic affairs at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, and Dr. Mark Miller of Drew University. Miller fills the seat left by the resignation of Bishop Mike McKee.
- Connectional Table. The Table told the bishops on Nov. 5 that it has issued a statement, “From Calgary Onward,” affirming the leadership gathering and committing the Table to engage its recommendations once the bishops develop them. The statement is also available in French and Portuguese. The firm EffectX is evaluating the church’s program agencies and connectional structures, with a final report expected in April 2027. Bishop Carlo A. Rapanut, the Table’s new chair, succeeds Bishop Muyombo, who led it for four years.
- Ecumenical relations. The report from Bishops Hope Morgan Ward and Rosemarie Wenner included an update on the dialogue with the Episcopal Church from Bishop Sandra Olewine, the dialogue’s co-chair. She said the dialogue has entered “what we pray will be the final months of preparation” for the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., July 3 to 8, 2027, where delegates are expected to consider a full communion agreement with The United Methodist Church. The World Methodist Council met in San Salvador, El Salvador, in August, and the United Methodist-Catholic Dialogue is preparing a final document on migration and baptismal identity. More: Council of Bishops Ecumenical Ministries.
- Korean Methodist Church. Bishop Tracy S. Malone, the Council’s immediate past president, reported that an Oct. 13 to 14 joint mission consultation in South Korea marked 141 years of shared mission and produced a new covenant between the General Board of Global Ministries and the Korean Methodist Church Board of Missions. “I do believe that it was a meaningful step forward in renewing our longstanding relationship,” Bishop Malone said.
- Immigration. Bishop Minerva Carcaño reported that the Accompañamiento Congregations initiative trained 124 people from 27 U.S. annual conferences in Atlanta, Oct. 12 to 14, toward a goal of 270 congregations serving as trusted allies to immigrant communities. Resources: Migrant Accompaniment guide and Global Migration on ResourceUMC.
- Creation care. Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank reported on creation care training for bishops. Nineteen bishops attended in real time and 11 more registered.
- Building Beloved Community. The Rev. Brian Milford of the United Methodist Publishing House reported that 7,264 copies of the Council’s book, Building Beloved Community: The Courage to Love in the Face of Tyranny, were in circulation as of Oct. 28. The book is now available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, in print and as an e-book from Cokesbury.
- Chaplaincy endorsement. Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, chair of the United Methodist Endorsing Agency, told the bishops that the agency represents more than 500 United Methodist clergy serving beyond the local church, in 12 categories of endorsement that include the military, hospitals, prisons and counseling centers. Every endorsement comes through the agency, not through individual bishops, she said. She and the Rev. Dr. Kent Lundy, the agency’s director of endorsement, will invite U.S. bishops to 30-minute conversations so that bishops and conferences “do not do harm or unintentionally cause blocks for clergy seeking and serving in endorsed ministry and mission positions.”
- Collaboration and accessibility. Dr. Ashley Boggan, general secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History, presented the general secretaries’ collaborative report, including work on the Sand Creek Massacre memorial and a shared resource hub on ResourceUMC.org. Bishop Delores Williamston led a disability awareness moment.
Memorial and worship
- Memorial service. On Nov. 3 the Council held a memorial service remembering Mrs. Janet Lewis, spouse of Bishop William Lewis.
- Day 3 worship. Bishop Sandra Olewine preached from Isaiah 65 on the petition “Thy Kingdom Come” and called the bishops to remember their baptism. “In the name and likeness of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to bear the love and grace of God into the world,” she said.
- Day 4 worship. Bishop Robin Dease preached on “Thy Will Be Done,” telling the bishops, “The first task of a bishop is not to lead others. It is to surrender.” The sermon also described the Lord’s Prayer as something entrusted from one generation to the next.
- Day 5 worship. Bishop Knut Refsdal of the Nordic-Baltic-Ukraine Episcopal Area preached from Revelation 7:9, John’s vision of a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language. “Diversity has not disappeared. It has been reconciled,” he said. “The challenge is not to make our differences smaller. The challenge is to make our fellowship larger.”
Watch the meeting
Videos from the meeting are collected in the Council of Bishops Fall Meeting 2026 playlist on YouTube.