World Methodist Council

World Methodist Council
Logo
Abbreviation	WMC
Type	Communion
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Methodist
Scripture	Protestant Bible
Theology	Wesleyan
General Secretary	Revd. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto [1]
President	Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett
Vice-President	Joshua Rathnam
Members	39,793,197 (2014-2025)

The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body that represents churches within Methodism and facilitates cooperation among its member denominations. It comprises 81 denominations ^[2] in 138 countries which together represent the majority of Methodists worldwide, along with united churches that include Methodist traditions. Altogether, its members make up the ninth-largest Christian communion (see list of Christian denominations by membership).

The WCC has stated, since 2018, that its member churches represent approximately 80 million people. ^{[3] [4]} However, according to statistics released by the WCC itself in 2014, ^[5] the sum of the statistics of the member denominations themselves, as well as several independent sources, the number of Methodists worldwide is close to 40 million people. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

Therefore, the WCC is the ninth largest global Christian communion, behind the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Anglican Communion, World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Assemblies of God Fellowship, Lutheran World Federation and World Baptist Alliance (see list of denominations by membership).

Affiliated organizations are the World Fellowship of Methodist and Uniting Churches, the Oxford-Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, the World Methodist Historical Society, World Council of Confederation of Methodist Youth, the World Council of Methodist Men, World Methodist Council of Teens, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women.

Members

In 2016, the World Methodist Council was made up of 80 member denominations: ^[11]

In 2024, the Thailand Union Methodist Church was received as the 81st member denomination. ^[2]

Country	denominational subfamily	Denomination	Number of members	Year
International	Methodist	United Methodist Church [n 1] Central African Conference Central and Southern European Central Conference Congo Central Conference German Central Conference Northern Europe Central Conference Philippines Central Conference West Africa Central Conference US Conferences Liberia Conference	9,087,322 [n 2]	2022-2023 [12] [13]
International	Methodist	Church of the Nazarene	2,666,845	2021 [14] [15]
International	Methodist	African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church	1,432,795	2014 [5]
International	Methodist	Wesleyan Church	140,954	2017 [16]
International	Methodist	Free Methodist Church	1,547,820	2018 [17]
International	Methodist	African Methodist Episcopal Church	2,500,000	2014 [5]
South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Namibia	Methodist	Methodist Church of Southern Africa	2,600,000	2014 [5]
Argentina	Methodist	Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina	5,599	2017 [18]
Australia	Methodist	Chinese Methodist Church in Australia	3,588	2014 [5]
Australia	Methodist	Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia	2,452	2014 [5]
Australia	United Churches (Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists)	Uniting Church in Australia	243,000	2018 [19]
Bahamas	Methodist	Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church	1,900	2014 [5]
Bangladesh	Methodist	Bangladesh Methodist Church	18,201	2014 [5]
Belgium	United Churches (Continental Reformed and Methodist)	United Protestant Church in Belgium	3,401	2014 [5]
Benin	Methodist	Protestant Methodist Church in Benin	90,000	2014 [5]
Bolivia	Methodist	Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia	9,053	2014 [5]
Brazil	Methodist	Methodist Church in Brazil	262,449	2022 [20]
Canada	United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Methodists)	United Church of Canada	325,315	2023 [21]
Caribbean	Methodist	Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas	62,120	2014 [5]
Chile	Methodist	Methodist Church in Chile	9,882	2014 [5]
China (People's Republic of China)	United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists)	Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China	35,000	2014 [5]
China (People's Republic of China)	Methodist	Methodist Church, Hong Kong	12,000	2014 [5]
Colombia	Methodist	Colombian Methodist Church	1,000	2014 [5]
South Korea	Methodist	Korean Methodist Church	1,133,837	2023 [22]
Costa Rica	Methodist	Evangelical Methodist Church in Costa Rica	16,000	2014 [5]
Cuba	Methodist	Methodist Church in Cuba	33,000	2014 [5]
Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo)	Methodist	Free Methodist Church of the Democratic Republic of the Congo	151,695	2014 [5]
Dominican Republic	Methodist	Evangelical Church of the Dominican Republic	10,000	2014 [5]
Ecuador	United Churches (Presbyterians and Methodists)	United Evangelical Church of Ecuador	1,500	2014 [5]
Spain	United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Waldensians, Methodists and Lutherans)	Spanish Evangelical Church	3,000	2014 [5]
Fiji	Methodist	Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma	212,860	2014 [5]
Gambia	Methodist	Gambia Methodist Church	2,000	2014 [5]
Ghana	Methodist	Methodist Church Ghana	634,689	2014 [5]
India	Methodist	Methodist Church in India	648,000	2014 [5]
India	United Churches (Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists and Disciples of Christ)	Church of North India	2,200,000	2023 [23]
India	United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Continental Reformed, Anglicans and Methodists)	Church of South India	4,500,000	2022 [24]
Indonesia	Methodist	Methodist Church in Indonesia	119,000	2014 [5]
Ireland	Methodist	Methodist Church in Ireland	15,000	2014 [5]
Italy	Methodist	Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy	4,000	2014 [5]
Kenya	Methodist	Methodist Church in Kenya	450,000	2014 [5]
Malaysia	Methodist	Methodist Church in Malaysia	97,197	2014 [5]
Mexico	Methodist	Methodist Church of Mexico	40,000	2014 [5]
Myanmar	Methodist	Methodist Church, Lower Myanmar	2,300	2014 [5]
Myanmar	Methodist	Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar	27,543	2014 [5]
Nepal	Methodist	Nepal Methodist Church	264	2014 [5]
Nigeria	Methodist	Methodist Church of Nigeria	2,000,000	2014 [5]
New Zealand	Methodist	Methodist Church of New Zealand	14,736	2014 [5]
New Zealand	Methodist	New Zealand Wesleyan Methodist Church	794	2014 [5]
Pakistan	United Churches (Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and Anglicans)	Church of Pakistan	500,000	2014 [25]
Panama	Methodist	Evangelical Methodist Church of Panama	1,300	2014 [5]
Paraguay	Methodist	Methodist Evangelical Community of Paraguay	1,025	2014 [5]
Peru	Methodist	Methodist Church of Peru	32,000	2014 [5]
Philippines	Methodist	Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands	27,793	2020 [26]
Philippines	United Churches (Presbyterians, Baptists, Disciples of Christ and Methodists)	United Church of Christ in the Philippines	470,792	2020 [5] [27]
Portugal	Methodist	Portuguese Evangelical Methodist Church	1,200	2014 [5]
Puerto Rico	Methodist	Puerto Rico Methodist Church	12,000	2014 [5]
Rwanda	Methodist	Rwanda Free Methodist Church	108,559	2014 [5]
Samoa	Methodist	Samoa Methodist Church	35,983	2014 [5]
Sierra Leone	Methodist	Sierra Leone Methodist Church	50,000	2014 [5]
Sierra Leone	Methodist	West African Methodist Church in Sierra Leone	4,000	2014 [5]
Singapore	Methodist	Methodist Church in Singapore	38,000	2014 [5]
Sri Lanka	Methodist	Methodist Church in Sri Lanka	25,000	2014 [5]
Sweden	United Churches (Baptists, PT and Methodist)	Uniting Church in Sweden	58,569	2021 [28]
Taiwan (Republic of China)	Methodist	Methodist Church in the Republic of China	4,500	2014 [5]
Tanzania	Methodist	Tanzania Methodist Church	3,681	2014 [5]
Thailand	Methodist	Thailand Union Methodist Church	3,000	2024 [29] [2]
Togo	Methodist	Togo Methodist Church	75,000	2014 [5]
Tonga	Methodist	Free Wesleyan Church	38,692	2014 [5]
United Kingdom	Methodist	Methodist Church in Great Britain	136,891	2022 [30]
United States of America	Methodist	Christian Methodist Episcopal Church	858,670	2014 [5]
Zambia	United Churches (Presbyterians and Methodists)	United Church of Zambia	4,000,000	2024 [31] [32]
Zimbabwe	Methodist	Zimbabwe Methodist Church	111,723	2014 [5]
Zimbabwe	Methodist	African Methodist Church of Zimbabwe	12,000	2014 [5]
Global	Sub-total	Methodists	27,452,620	2014-2025
Global	Sub-total	United Churches	12,340,577	2014-2025
Global	Total	World Methodist Council	39,793,197	2014-2025

Member Profile

1. United Methodist Church (22.8%)
2. Other Methodist denominations (46.1%)
3. United Churches (31.0%)

The WMC is made up of around 80 member denominations.

In 2014 it was estimated that together, the member denominations had about 39,745,196 members and 51,286,152 adherents. ^{[n 3] [5] [33]}

According to the most up-to-date statistics available, among member denominations, the United Methodist Church represents 22.84% of individual members, other Methodist churches are 46.15% and united churches represent 31.01% of individual members.

However, some of the largest WMC member denominations face a rapid decline in membership between 2000 and 2024. ^{[22] [34]}

In 2018, the WMC disclosed that its 80 member denominations represented an estimated 80 million people ^[35] These numbers would supposedly include around 60 million members and 20 million adherents. ^{[36] [10]}

However, the 2018 figures contradict all independent statistics based on national censuses, as well as the combined statistics released by member Methodist and United churches themselves. According to several independent sources, Methodist churches have about 40 million members worldwide. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

A 2011 report by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life estimated that members of Methodist churches (excluding United churches) represent 3.5% of the world's approximately 801 million Protestants, or about 27,234. 000 people. ^[37]

According to Christianity Global: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, in 2020, there were 31,683,000 Methodists in the world (not including United Churches), corresponding to 0.4% of the global population and 14,706,000 members of the Holiness Movement (0.2% of the world population), with a total of 46,389,000 members of the Methodism and Holiness Movement, or 0.6% of the global population . ^[38]

The WMC does not represent all Methodists in the world and the organization's member united and uniting churches total only 12.3 million members, according to their own denominational statistics.

Therefore, WMC statistics from 2014 are considered more reliable compared to independent sources. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

World Methodist Conference

The highest organ of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Conference, which meets every five years. The 22nd Conference was held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2024. ^[39] The theme was 'On the Move' and focussed on migration.

The 21st Conference was held in 2016 in Houston, Texas in the United States. The theme was "ONE". Organized around four sub themes – One God, One Faith, One People, One Mission. ^[40]

The 2011 conference, gathered under the theme "Jesus Christ - for the Healing of the Nations", was held in August 2011 in Durban, South Africa. ^[41] On 24 July 2006, Sunday Mbang stepped down as chairperson of the council and John Barrett took over his position as well as elected president for the council. ^[42]

In 2006, it formally approved the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

World Methodist Council officers

Current officers are:

• General secretary: Rev Dr Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto
• President: Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett
• Vice-President: Joshua Rathnam
• Treasurer: Myron Howie
• Youth and young adult coordinator: Stefanie Gabuyo

The World Methodist Council has offices in Methodist Central Hall Westminster, London.

Activities

Continuous activities

The World Methodist Council has eight standing committees:

• Ecumenics and Dialogue is engaged in ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the Salvation Army and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. It is also working towards a dialogue with the Eastern Orthodox Church and with certain Pentecostal churches.
• Education is concerned with education in churches and with Methodist educational institutions. It has organized an international Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities promoting quality and value-centered education. The association links representatives from over 700 Methodist related schools and colleges all over the world.
• Evangelism is coordinating worldwide evangelism efforts of Methodist churches
• Family Life is concerned with applying Christian values to issues like relationships in marriage, rights of children, rights of the aged, prevalence of violence and changing roles of women and men in society;
• Social and International Affairs is focusing currently on economic justice or injustice. It has worked out the World Methodist Social Affirmation which was approved in 1986 and is part of the literature of several Methodist denominations.
• Theological Education focuses on training for ministry based on basic Christian beliefs and distinctive emphases from the Wesleyan tradition.
• Worship and Liturgy encourages the study of liturgy and forms of worship, especially issues as language and culture, corporate and private worship, music and liturgy, cultural influences, and balancing Christian tradition with local emphasis. Develops hymnals and resources.
• Youth and Young Adults focuses on empowering young people, taking its motto from 1st Timothy 4;12 and Ephesians 4:12–13: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set and example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ."

Peace award

The World Methodist Peace Award is the highest honor bestowed by Methodists around the world. Since 1977, it is given annually by the World Methodist Council. This award is given to individuals or groups "who have made significant contributions to peace, reconciliation and justice". ^[43]

Recipients of the World Methodist Peace Award include Habitat for Humanity International, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Boris Trajkovski, former President of Macedonia; the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina.

Former World Methodist Council Museum near the office building (hardly visible on the left) of its former headquarters at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina; nearby is a small park, the Susanna Wesley Garden

Evangelism institute

One ministry of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Evangelism Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. It is an educational institution committed to the task of world evangelization and connected to a major university, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.

Former headquarters and museum

In the 1950s, area residents and Methodists from the Southeastern United States raised money for the construction of a building in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina to attract the World Methodist Council headquarters. Until the 1970s, the museum building was to go to the Lake Junaluska Assembly if no longer needed, although that plan was changed. The Royce and Jane Reynolds Headquarters building, intended to resemble the house where John Wesley lived when he was young, was added in the 1990s after a donation from the Reynolds family. The museum housed letters written by Wesley, ^[44] a pulpit Wesley used, ^[45] and a 1594 Geneva Bible, as well as ancient items from the Holy Land. Starting in 2013, with the museum having problems, the sale of the building was considered but the assembly made no formal offer. The COVID-19 pandemic finally made closing the museum necessary, and its contents went to Bridwell Library of Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. In Spring 2021, the World Methodist Council sold its headquarters building, including a museum, to the assembly for $1.25 million. The World Methodist Council moved to offices in nearby Waynesville, North Carolina. ^[44]

At a Lake Junaluska Board of Trustees meeting in March 2022, Lake Junaluska Executive Director Ken Howle announced a $1.1 million gift from Anne and Mike Warren, who also gave $625,000 toward the purchase of the headquarters building and part of the Susanna Wesley Garden next door. ^[46] The gift from the Warrens helped with $2.5 million in renovations to what is now called the Warren Center, for smaller group events. ^[47]

See also

• List of Methodist denominations
• List of the largest Protestant denominations

References

1. "General Secretary - World Methodist Council". 14 October 2019.
2. Heather Hahn (11 September 2024). "Methodist council defines association rules" . Retrieved 26 June 2025.
3. "About Us - World Methodist Council". worldmethodistcouncil.org. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
4. "Member Churches - World Methodist Council". worldmethodistcouncil.org. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
5. "Statistics of World Methodist Council". 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
6. "World Methodist Council". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
7. Winfield Bevins (10 September 2019). Marks of a Movement: What the Church Today Can Learn From the Wesleyan Revival. Zondervan. p. 151. ISBN   9780310093251 . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
8. F. Belton Joyner, Jr. (1 September 2010). The Unofficial United Methodist Handbook. Abingdon Press. ISBN   9780310093251 . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
9. Timothy Paul Jones (3 May 2022). Christian History Made Easy Participant Guide. Rose Publishing. p. 100. ISBN   9781596366008 . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
10. "Methodism". First Families. Archived from the original on 16 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
11. "Minutes of the 21st World Methodist Conference" (PDF). 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
12. "United Methodist Church Statistics in the USA in 2023" . Retrieved 5 January 2025.
13. "Global Statistics of the United Methodist Church" . Retrieved 3 May 2024.
14. "2011-2021 Church of the Nazarene Statistics" (PDF). p. 3. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
15. "2016 Church of the Nazarene Statistics, Page 26" (PDF). 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
16. "Jubilee of the Wesleyan Church". 7 May 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
17. "Free Methodist Church Statistics" . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
18. "Minutes of the XXV General Assembly of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina" (PDF). 18 August 2017. pp. 109–113. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
19. "Official data of the United Church in Australia". Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
20. "National Statistics: the challenge and reality of your data". Christian Expositor. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
21. "United Church of Canada Statistics 2023" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
22. ""More than 200,000 members are leaving mainline denominations" The decline of Korean churches is becoming a reality". 24 September 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
23. "Church of North India Statistics". Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
24. "Church of South India Celebrates 75th Anniversary, Calls for an End to Discrimination Against the Outcast". 11 October 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
25. "Church of Pakistan". World Council of Churches. January 1971. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
26. "2020 Philippine Census". Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
27. "2020 Philippine Census". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
28. "Churches flourish in one of Sweden's Biblical Button cities taking care of neighbors". 11 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
29. "Member Church Application The Thailand Union Methodist Church" (PDF). Retrieved 26 June 2025.
30. "Statistical Summary of the Methodist Church of Great Britain for October 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
31. "CWM Visits United Church of Zambia, Praises Strong Missional Outlook". 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
32. "United Church of Zambia". World Council of Churches. January 1966. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
33. "About the World Methodist Council" . Retrieved 8 July 2020.
34. "United Methodist Church membership in the US falls 21.9% in 2023". 23 November 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
35. "Member Churches". Worldmethodistcouncil.org. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
36. "Member Churches". World Methodist Council. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
37. Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life (19 December 2011), Global Christianity (PDF), pp. 21, 70, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2012
38. Gina A. Zurlo (2022). Global Christianity: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Grand Rapids, Michigan. p. 5. ISBN   9780310113614 . Retrieved 2 January 2025.
39. "Welcome to the Conference". The World Methodist Conference. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
40. "Press and Media - About the 21st World Methodist Conference (past)". The World Methodist Conference. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
41. 2011 World Methodist Conference
42. LaBarr, Joan B. (24 July 2006). "World Methodist Council elects Barrett as chairperson". United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 10 October 2006.
43. Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House, World Methodist Peace Award, accessed 27 December 2022
44. Hyatt, Vicki (16 June 2021). "Benefactors discuss significance of World Methodist Council building". The Mountaineer . Retrieved 18 June 2021.
45. "Here's to 100 more years for Lake Junaluska". Asheville Citizen-Times . 8 July 2013. p. A7 – via newspapers.com.
46. "Lake Junaluska announces $1.1M gift for renovations to former World Methodist Council building". lakejunaluska.com. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
47. Johnson, Becky (22 December 2022). "Making the grade: Lake Junaluska continues multi-million dollar upgrades with new event venue". The Mountaineer.

Notes

1. Each of the internal conferences listed is considered a member of the World Methodist Council, even though it is a body part of the United Methodist Church.
2. Including 4,526,440 members (4,238,097 professed members and 288,343 baptized members) in the United States of America, according to 2023 statistics and 4,560,882 members in other countries in 2022.
3. adherents are unbaptized people who participate in worship services. In Credobaptist denominations, the children of members, not yet baptized, are counted as adherents.

Bibliography

• Statement on "Wesleyan/Methodist Witness In Christian and Islamic Cultures" 2004
• Brochure World Evangelism Emphasis, 2004

External links

• Official website
• World Methodist Evangelism
• World Methodist Evangelism Institute
• World Methodist Peace Award