by Chris Ritter A Kenyan Methodist, Francis Mallogwagwa, tweeted on August 24, 2023: “Today 74 out of 91 Churches across Kenya, disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church and joined the Global Methodist Church due to United Methodist endorsement of homosexuality practices within the church which is contrary to the Bible.” Like most early reports, this one will no doubt be qualified, updated, corrected, and/or expanded upon. But as eyes turn to Kenya, I thought it might be helpful to explore a little background information. I am no expert. I have travelled to Nairobi twice and follow the news along with everyone else. Take this for what it is worth. The story of United Methodism in Kenya is short but eventful and is not to be confused with the longer-established and larger Methodist denomination that has been there since 1862. This “Methodist Church of Kenya” claimed independence from British Methodism in 1967 and has 300,000 members and a larger reach of some 800,000, according to the World Methodist Council. The MCK adopted an episcopal form of government that has spent the past decade in various levels of crisis. Bishop Joseph Ntombura Mwaine, two years into his 10-year term, changed the constitution and established new rules in 2015. He has been accused of defrocking more than 100 clergy, selling church property without approval and using other properties as security for loans. According to a Christianity Today article, “Methodist churches across the country had begun to make moves to create their own autonomous conference.” The bishop’s office was stormed in March 2023 by a group led by a respected retired bishop. A new bishop was elected in July with hopes of restoring stability. United Methodism was established in 1994 when Bishop and Mrs. Ndoricimpa of Burundi fled to Kenya in the wake of the political coup amid the Hutu/Tutsi conflict stemming from the Belgian colonial legacy (as in neighboring Rwanda.) The Evangelical Episcopal Church of Burundi, the second largest denomination there, had only joined the UMC in 1984 and its membership gave United Methodism an increased footprint in East Africa. (In a spirit of comity, East Africa had formerly been left to groups rooted in the British colonial legacy and the Free Methodist Church.) Bishop Ndoricimpa’s valiant efforts in exile supported his fellow Burundi refugees and triggered evangelism efforts that helped United Methodism radiate outward to surrounding countries. An East Africa Annual Conference was formed that eventually became three conferences standing alongside Burundi in an East Africa Episcopal Area: Kenya-Ethiopia Annual Conference, Uganda-South Sudan Annual Conference, and the Rwanda Annual Conference. This episcopal area is part of the African Central Conference, one of the three UM central conferences on the continent. Bishop Daniel Wandabula was elected to the episcopacy and appointed to East Africa in 2006 in the wake of Bishop Ndoricimpa’s death. He was re-elected as a UM bishop for life in 2012. That same year the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) took the unprecedented step of withholding the salary of Bishop Wandabula in protest of three unsatisfactory audits. The General Board of Global Ministries placed the entire episcopal area under financial embargo. The embattled bishop, in an October 2012 email, blamed  the actions of the denomination’s mission and finance agencies on a campaign “of malice, mudslinging, character lynching and insurrection.” The Judicial Council forced GCFA to made Bishop Wandabula’s salary and benefits whole, but the larger embargo continued until a joint agreement announced in May 2023. Some wondered if the denominational break-up created urgency for the UMC reconciliation with East Africa and its bishop. The financial embargo imposed by the UMC hit hard the churches of the East Africa Episcopal Area. They were not allowed to receive funds from Advance Specials, UMCOR, or U.S. annual conferences. Desperation opens doors that few would have believed possible. At General Conference 2019, District Superintendent Kennedy Mwita attended a reception by Affirmation, a gay caucus in the UMC. This led to trips to Kenya by Reconciling Ministries leaders like Helen Ryde, JJ Warren, and Kimberly Scott. Two Reconciling churches have been named in Kenya, the most recent of which was dedicated by Bishop Wandabula. “Reconciliation” has a different meaning in Africa, one centered around resolving tribal and ethnic conflicts. But the rainbow imagery used at the church dedication was unmistakable to Western eyes… and did not go unnoticed by Kenyans. The August 2023 annual conference session promised to be contentious. In the days preceding the conference, Simon Mafunda, Vice President for African Strategy for the Wesleyan Covenant Association, reported on the liberal Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) gathering funds to cover the expenses of delegates willing to come to annual conference and vote to remain in the UMC. Early reports from the conference were that Bishop Wandabula perhaps cancelled the conference to avoid a groundswell of energy toward disaffiliation. A move to disaffiliate could have contradicted a ruling by Council of Bishops President Thomas Bickerton that the disaffiliation process does not apply to churches outside the U.S. There was conjecture that Kenya-Ethiopia was perhaps attempting a wholesale withdrawal from the UMC like those seen in small European conference like Bulgaria, Estonia, and Slovakia. The conference Facebook page, however, reported on August 22: The conference adjourned later in the day after two days of intense debate including the issue of disaffiliation and withdrawal of some congregations from the United Methodist Church on matters drawn from the 2019 general conference. It was Bishop’s wisdom that the critical issues be addressed through ad hoc committees in two months and submit to him the report even as those congregations leaving were granted their requests to leave. A photo was later shared of “Some of the delegates who decided not to stay.” That brings us to where we started: A tweet by a Kenyan that those leaving the UMC in Kenya-Ethiopia represent 74 of the 91 churches. If true, this means (1) most UM’s in Kenya are leaving for the Global Methodist Church, and (2) the UMC will maintain some sort of presence there. The most detailed report we have to date here in America is by Jeffrey Rickman on his PlainSpoken Podcast. Hopefully the situation will soon become more clear as Kenya may help predict the ultimate fate of seven million United Methodists in Africa. Photo Credit