This is the speech I made today at Annual Conference in favor of the regionalization amendments.
I am Steve West, pastor of Jacksonville First UMC. I am passionately in favor of the constitutional amendments before us, and I urge each of you to vote for them.
For years, a number of us worked tirelessly to preserve the unity of the Church—not uniformity, but unity rooted in our shared faith in Christ. These amendments are the next step in making that dream a reality.
My personal journey began in 2017 when I became aware of coordinated plans of some not only to leave our denomination, but to block ANY proposed plan for unity on their way out. I began to speak out, because I believe Christ calls us to do better than that. I still do.
They said regionalization would never work. That African delegates would never allow it. That conflict would perpetually define us. That the church would implode.
But I was at General Conference in 2024, and I saw something different. I saw a church finding healing and daring to hope again. I saw the Spirit moving, granting vision. I saw a church choosing to love our people instead of loving our issues. And I saw African United Methodists saying yes, this IS how God is calling us to move forward.
This moment will prove naysayers wrong—not out of spite, but because we have a bigger vision. A vision that says our unity is in Christ. A vision that’s not about thinking alike but loving alike. A vision that reflects the beautiful, contextual diversity of a truly global body called the United Methodist Church.
These amendments are how we move forward. They give us the framework to live into the decisions we’ve made. They preserve unity by creating room for regional diversity.
Central conferences want to be part of this new future. They’re choosing community over control, collaboration over coercion. And they’re trusting us to do the same.
Today, every vote matters and is counted toward the aggregate total across the world. So this is your moment to be part of the new thing God is doing.
But more than proving the doomsayers wrong, let’s prove John Wesley right. He coined the phrase “agree to disagree.” He preached on what he called a "catholic spirit," where unity in fundamentals was crucial, while differences in less essential matters could be accepted. And he said, “If your heart is as my heart, then give me your hand.”
Friends, the vision is clear. The Spirit is moving. Let’s finish what we started. Vote yes—for all the regionalization amendments—and let’s be the kind of witness in the world Jesus prayed for in John 17.
