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Countries
Global Ministries partners with United Brethren churches in 16 countries. These countries can be divided into two categories: National Conferences, and Mission Districts.
National Conferences
A national conference consists of all of the United
Brethren churches in a single country. A national conference operates
according to its own governing documents--constitution, bylaws,
etc.--and has its own elected leaders. The basic requirements of
a national conference are:
- It consists of at least five churches within that country.
- It is a legally recognized entity within that country.
- No other United Brethren national conference exists in that
country.
- It is organized with a constitution and other governing documents.
- Its governing documents, teachings, and practices do not conflict
with the Confession of Faith, Core Values, Constitution, and
Bylaws of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
Every four years, the national conferences choose representatives
to General Conference, which is the international fellowship of
United Brethren national conferences.
These are the current National
Conferences:
- Canada
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Philippines
- Sierra Leone
- United States
Mission Districts
A mission district is a collection of churches in
a country which are not yet organized into a national conference.
Instead, those churches are under the supervision of a national
conference. For example, Global Ministries of the United States National Conference currently oversees mission districts in Haiti, India and Macau. Any of those mission districts could seek status as a national
conference.
A mission district can apply to become a national conference
if it meets the requirements. Here's the procedure:
- The churches in the mission district vote to
seek membership in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ,
International.
- They develop their governing documents and
submit them to the international Executive Committee for
review.
- The General Conference approves, by a two-thirds vote, the
request for membership.
These are the current mission districts:
- Costa Rica (oversight by Nicaragua)
- El Salvador (oversight by Honduras)
- Germany (oversight by Sierra Leone)
- Guatemala (oversight by Nicaragua)
- Haiti (oversight by Global Ministries [USA])
- India (oversight by Global Ministries [USA])
- Macau (oversight by Global Ministries [USA] and Hong Kong)
- Thailand (oversight by Hong Kong)
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