4 'woke' moments from UMC General Conference

Pronouns

Throughout the General Conference, delegate speakers would give not only their name and annual conference but also the pronouns by which they preferred to be referred. 

Anthony Dioh, a Liberian delegate, asked the General Conference leadership why people were giving their pronouns as part of their introductions, with monitor Hare answering.

Hare said that her commission, the General Commission On The Status And Role Of Women, and the General Commission on Religion and Race “are charged under the Book Of Discipline with collecting data and challenging the church for full inclusion.”

“We have asked you to voluntarily include identifying information because it is not included in your registration for General Conference, but if you voluntarily include that identifying information, it raises the standard of our work and keeps us from making assumptions,” said Hare.

“So, that has been our voluntary request to lift up the quality of our work. Perhaps in the future, it could be included on registration, and that would be helpful to our work and to the body.”