DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITHTHANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD. AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING, WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS. -PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7
Dear United Methodists of Nigeria,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Former United Methodist Bishop, John Wesley Yohanna is writing to United Methodist lay
leadership and clergy and informing them that they are now a part of The Global Methodist Church (GMC) and that they are to change the name on their church buildings. The GMC has also sent their leaders to United Methodist Churches to inform them that they are United Methodist and even forcibly to take down United Methodist signs. These actions are not of God, are not of church law and we believe they are not of civil law. But this is a tactic the GMC have used in different nations and have not succeeded. We believe with God’s help they will not succeed in Nigeria. We encourage you not to be anxious but to examine the facts with us.
- Bishops, clergy and laity have always had the right to resign from The United Methodist Church an affiliate with another denomination, but they do not have the right to take property including buildings, bank accounts, equipment, crops and livestock.
- The former bishop resigned from The United Methodist Church under complaint.
- The former bishop’s term as bishop ended in December of 2024 and the only way he could continue as a bishop is to join another denomination.
- The GMC claims that they cannot be in a denomination that allows LGBTQ persons
(“homosexuals”) and that churches and pastors in Nigeria will be required to allow same gender marriages. This is false. Nowhere in church law is any pastor or church required to permit same gender weddings. Further this is against the law in Nigeria and not permitted by the Church.
- The GMC has said that the United Methodist name has been changed to GMC. This is false. More than 600,000 laity and clergy and 500 pastoral charges in Nigeria continue to call themselves United Methodist and pledge to continue to be loyal to The United Methodist Church.
- The GMC claims that the annual conference delegates voted at the end of July and/or
August 1, 2024 to leave The United Methodist Church. This is false. There may have been a small minority of delegates who voted to leave The United Methodist Church but the four UMC Annual Conferences of Nigeria met in individual annual conference sessions the end of August, and each conference voted individually by 98% or more vote to continue as The United Methodist Church. These meetings were duly announced, and the agenda provided as required in paragraph 603.5. This was not the case of those who claimed to leave to join the GMC. Further, if conferences in Nigeria wanted to leave The United Methodist Church, there is in church law a processes in paragraph 572 of The Book of Discipline that allows for
an annual conference to leave, but those who left for the GMC disregarded church law did not follow any of the steps outlined in paragraph 572.
- Individuals may on their own leave and join the GMC, but the GMC has no claim to property. Paragraph 2501 strictly forbids individuals or congregations to leave The United Methodist Church and take buildings, equipment, bank accounts, produce, farming equipment and livestock. The GMC has broken church law again. Further, now in some mission sites and schools the GMC has taken over these sites and there are reports of not paying mission leaders, faculty and harassing participants.
We can no longer stand for the tactics of the GMC.
We had hoped that we could have resolved these issues amicably, but the GMC has chosen a path that disregards the laws of the church.
We will now pursue through the courts to recover what is rightfully United Methodists and hold accountable GMC leaders of the denomination, congregations and mission institutions. We will
seek action with those who have taken property and funds from The United Methodist Church to pay this back personally if necessary. We are required to do this as United Methodists.
For any individual who has taken things from The United Methodist Church and wants to return them, we are ready to work with you.
United Methodists of Nigeria, be not anxious. When you do the right thing, it is the truth that will give you peace, it is following the laws of the church that will give you peace, it is being obedient to God and charitable with your neighbor that will give you peace. We have witnessed The United
Methodists of Nigeria acting responsibly and by God’s calling. You are demonstrating the peace of God. Thank you.
Below is a fact sheet about the UMC of Nigeria. You are welcome to share it and this letter with other United Methodists and those outside The United Methodist Church.
Together we will overcome this temporary challenge and together we will continue to honor Jesus Christ and advance the mission and ministry of God through The United Methodist Church.
In Christ,
Rev. Eli Suel Yakku Dean of the Cabinet
Secretariat, Mile Six, Jalingo – Numan Road, Jalingo, Taraba State
