The new United Methodist Church is emerging, and it will be a new-wineskin movement to receive and share God’s wine. The new UMC will take many forms, some customary and others innovative.

UMsConnected is a metaverse movement within the United Methodist Church, focused on offering encouragement, support, and spiritual formation in the Wesleyan tradition during these challenging times. Born in the heart of Bishop Ken Carter, it launched in June 2022 in the Florida and Western North Carolina Annual Conferences with Steve Harper and Kim Ingram serving as co-directors, along with a ministry team made up of lay and clergy leaders from the two Conferences.

UMsConnected has expanded beyond beyond the FL and WNC Conferences, and it also includes non-United Methodists. It is available to anyone anywhere.

One of the terms used to describe early Methodism was “the Connection.” It was a word that assured people they were not alone, that brought them together in formative fellowship, and moved them into a variety of ministries in the world. It is a concept for such a time as this. It is one means of “serving the present age” as Charles Wesley’s put it in his hymn, ‘A Charge to Keep.’

UMsConnected utilizes technology to help you experience life together in-person and online. It is a community designed for you if:

  • Your congregation has closed

  • Your congregation has disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church

  • There is no United Methodist Church near you

  • You feel “spiritually homeless” and are looking for a supportive faith community

  • You are a young adult away from your original church home–in school, the military, a new job, etc., and you want to be part of a formative community

  • You want to be part of online faith formation in the new United Methodist Church

As a metaverse movement UMsConnected expresses words like ‘location’ and ‘interaction’ in new and various ways. The movement will evolve, meeting needs using a learn-by-doing approach, but it has launched with these basic resources: a website, a group Facebook page, and a podcast.

We envision further resources to be part of UMsConnected: live Zoom meetings and classes, and on-demand resources you can use individually or in a group. More information about this component is on the Resources page.

UMsConnected is an open-access resource, but we have ways that you can belong and be directly involved. We do not have members; we have participants. To learn more, click here. We hope you will join the journey.

Ministry Team

UMsConnected is available to United Methodists everywhere, and to those who are not United Methodists. The movement is overseen by a diverse group of clergy and laity in two Annual Conferences: Florida and Western North Carolina. Here are the team members.

They serve in various ways, so they are simply listed alphabetically…

  • Paul Chilcotte

  • Steve Harper

  • Christy Holden

  • Derrick Scott III