Wespath is pleased to announce that Reverend Laura B. Kigweba and Reverend Neal Christie have joined Wespath and will support the agency’s efforts to engage the world-wide United Methodist Church (UMC) in conversations about faithful stewardship of money and resources.
Rev. Kigweba is a provisional elder in the Baltimore-Washington Conference and has served the UMC for over 10 years. She is former director of grassroots organizing at the UMC’s General Board of Church and Society. In that role she worked extensively with leaders in the Zimbabwe Episcopal Area, Kenya and the Philippines, focusing on climate and environmental justice. Rev. Kigweba joined Wespath in January as Manager of Sustainable Investment Stewardship and Church Relations.
Rev. Christie is an ordained elder with full membership in the Greater New Jersey Conference and affiliate membership in the Baltimore-Washington Conference and has served the UMC for over 35 years. He has worked at local churches and as a conference staff member. In addition, Rev. Christie is a former Church and Society senior staff member. He was lead curator of the UMC’s engagement process around the Revised Social Principles. Rev. Christie will serve as a consultant for Wespath.
Wespath hired Rev. Kigweba and engaged Rev. Christie to heighten the agency’s responsiveness to feedback it received last year. In September 2025, Wespath hosted a gathering focused on Paragraph 717, the section in The Book of Discipline that outlines how Wespath and other UMC bodies should invest in alignment with UMC values. The gathering was designed as a kickoff for a connectional conversation around revising Paragraph 717 at General Conference 2028. Discussions with attendees made two things clear: the Social Principles should remain a central reference point and Wespath needs to invite more voices from outside of the U.S. into the discussion.
This feedback prompted Wespath to both reflect on how to incorporate these suggestions and to re-evaluate the scope of the work. In addition to developing a collaborative process that aims to develop widely supported Paragraph 717 legislation, Wespath is now also seeking to have a conversation with the world-wide UMC about what it means to be a faithful steward of money and resources in alignment with the Social Principles.
Rev. Kigweba and Rev. Christie bring deep expertise on the Social Principles to Wespath’s process. Additionally, while Wespath has experience engaging the world-wide UMC on topics relating to investments and benefits, the additions of Rev. Kigweba and Rev. Christie will help Wespath facilitate more robust outreach and conversations with United Methodists in Africa, the Philippines and Europe.
“I feel so lucky to have Laura and Neal join our team,” said Jake Barnett, Wespath’s Managing Director of Sustainable Investment Strategies. “They bring a wealth of experience to their roles and will help us hear the perspectives, aspirations and needs of United Methodists in the U.S. and outside the U.S.
“Their connections around the globe will be hugely beneficial, but I think their ideas, principles and inclusive nature will have an even bigger impact on what we accomplish together.”
If you would like to stay abreast of Wespath’s ongoing efforts to engage the UMC on being a faithful steward both in the U.S. and in non-U.S. regional conferences, you can sign up to receive emails focused on those efforts here.
About Wespath Benefits and Investments
Wespath is a not-for-profit agency that has been serving The United Methodist Church (UMC) for over a century. In accordance with its fiduciary duties, Wespath administers benefit plans and, together with its subsidiaries, including Wespath Institutional Investments, invests nearly $28 billion in assets on behalf of over 100,000 participants and over 150 United Methodist institutions (as of December 31, 2025). Wespath invests in a sustainable manner that seeks to achieve positive financial, social and environmental impact while upholding the values of the UMC. Wespath maintains one of the largest faith-based pension funds in the world. For additional information about Wespath, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
This content was originally published by Wespath; republished with permission by ResourceUMC on February 18, 2026.