How the UMC Works

The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 from a merger of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church (a descendant of that first American Methodist Church).

Our church structure is connectional. We elect bishops to supervise the pastors in each Annual Conference and assign their appointments each year. Clergy are members of the Annual Conference, rather than members of their local church, and they are expected to work together as colleagues to support the work of the larger denomination as well as that of their individual churches.

The denomination maintains a number of General Agencies that support the worldwide work of United Methodists. Local churches give some of their proceeds each year (“apportionments”) to their Annual Conferences to support the Conference staff and the General Agencies. These funds allow the UMC to engage in mission (GBGM), anti-racism work (GCORR), education of clergy and laity (GBHEM), and much more.

Possibly the best known UM organization is the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a part of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). UMCOR is often first on the ground after natural disasters and during wars, and its work reaches people in more than 80 countries—including here in the United States. Our apportionments allow the UMC to fully fund the administrative costs of UMCOR, which means that 100% of all donations are free to go directly to the relief effort specified by the donor.