Announcement from UMVIM

Dear Friends in Christ:

Grace and peace to you this Advent season as we await once again the coming of Jesus, the
Christ, our Saviour.

During the last few months, the Jurisdictional Office of UMVIM has received a number of
correspondences regarding the disunity and fragmentation within The United Methodist Church.
Team leaders, team members, donors, and other supporters have seemingly dismissed our work
of showing “Christian love in action” simply on the basis of remaining in The United Methodist
Church.

The lies, untruths, hurtful dis-information, and unchristian rhetoric truly have an extremely
negative impact on our ministry to serve the least, the last, and the lost across God’s world.

While NCC UMVIM remains committed to making missional opportunities a place where all
Christians can come together despite our theological differences, serving as ambassadors for
Christ to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth, there
are a few things which need to be made clear:

North Carolina Conference United Methodist Volunteers in Mission has, is, and will continue to
be unapologetically United Methodist. Our connextional structure connects individuals with
mission both in their own community and across the globe, relating closely with annual
conferences, UMVIM committees, and the General Board of Global Ministries to put the best of
our collective resources to good use. Through the Global Ministries’ Mission Volunteer Office,
UMVIM is connected to a network of organizations and programs such as Mission Volunteers,
NOMADS, Global Mission Fellows, and a cadre of career missionaries.

In our commitment to continually being a missional, connected, and world-changing people of
God, the NCC UMVIM office remains ready to help you plan and engage the world through
Christian love in action. Our office offers many resources to help you and your missional
exchange teams engage in ministry to all God’s people. One of these resources are Missional
Exchange Grants, given to local churches and related ministries to aid in your service to those on
the margins of society. Given our unapologetic stance to #BeUMC, such Missional Exchange
Grants will only be awarded to churches and related ministries who remain United Methodist in
the North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

For those of you who have discerned it is time for you to move on from our ministry, I thank you
deeply for your years of service, your ministry, and your care for the most marginalized in
society. It is our hope you may find another organization in which you may continue showing
God’s love in the world.

For those of you who wish to continue your ministries with us in service to the least, the last, and the lost, we welcome you. My office and team remain committed to showing Christian love in action through the beautiful connextionalism of the United Methodist Church. We are here to help you in this endeavor as we train, equip, and commission you for short-term ministry both in your local communities and across the globe. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Christ, Light of the Nations,