From October 20-24, 2026, the Council of the Bishops of The United Methodist Church will convene a 2026 Leadership Gathering in Calgary, Alberta. Coming together under the theme “Emboldened by the Spirit: Imagining a Church Yet to Be!” this convocation will be unique in that there will be no debate or voting. Instead, the gathering of 300 leaders will focus on developing visions and strategies for what the UMC should become.

In the words of Bishop Tracy S. Malone, immediate past president of the Council of Bishops, "This gathering is about faithful leadership for such a time as this. We are being called to reimagine the Church—not to preserve what is familiar but to fulfill God’s calling and vision for our future. We will lean into the Spirit’s leading with boldness and humility, centering Christ in all we do, so that the witness of The United Methodist Church might be renewed, relevant, and rooted in justice, love, and hope."

The meeting will draw all active bishops and officers of the church, all general secretaries of the church’s boards and agencies, and 50 additional thought leaders.

Also attending are four clergy/lay representatives from the Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area, selected by Bishop Lanette in consultation with the lay and clergy leadership of the Area. They are Walker Brault, Pastor Jean Carlos Diaz, Rev. Tyler Sit, and Dr. Alisha Vincent.

These four representatives will raise their own visions, dreams, and hopes for the greater church. We spoke with two of them, Dr. Alisha Vincent and Pastor Jean Carlos Diaz, about their path to this gathering and what they hope to see when they get there.

Dr. Alisha Vincent

Dr. Alisha Vincent

Dr. Alisha Vincent was chosen for the gathering when she was working in her previous role as a professor of nonprofit administration and director of the Practical Church Leadership Program at Dakota Wesleyan University. “Bishop Lanette offered this invitation to me with the idea that this should be prayed over,” said Vincent. “I decided to attend—this event is something that I feel privileged to be part of, and I hope that I can do justice to this call.”

Vincent currently works as the vice-president of programs and operations for the Dakotas and Minnesota Methodist Foundation, where her work includes leadership development and programming efforts. As a result, one of Vincent’s interests as The Gathering approaches is thinking systemically. “I like to think about logistics within a system: if you want to reach an outcome, what does it need to look like? What do you need to do to make it a reality? What kind of investments need to be made?”

Vincent’s past work doing community development in Rwanda and Uganda, and her memories of these efforts, have tugged at her desire to reenter this arena. “I have been praying out ways to reconnect. I was wondering if I could get connected to Africa University at the Leadership Gathering,” noted Vincent. “(The Gathering) puts people into small groups, and I preselected the strategy and innovation group, and I got into the same small group as a leader from Rwanda!” Sometimes God moves in mysterious ways.

Vincent looks forward to the gathering with “eager anticipation” as she pictures the church yet to be.

Pastor Juan Carlos Diaz

Jean Carlos Diaz

Director of Campus Ministry for the Wesley Foundation at the University of Minnesota, Pastor Jean Carlos Diaz has helped form the campus ministry called “Neon”, which focuses on spirituality, social justice, and inclusivity. 

Diaz tells how about being called to the gathering. “At first, I wasn’t sure the email was real, so I called Hope (Hutchison) at the Annual Conference, and she confirmed it was. I thought this event could be very transformative.” 

Diaz had time to reflect on this upcoming gathering when he spent May in Ecuador. His time with family, God, and himself led him to reflect on the words of Isaiah 61, where God will cause righteousness to sprout up for all of the nations.

“God is planting more righteousness, more joy and praise in the Earth, and we can partner with God to make disciples of Jesus Christ,” noted Diaz. “We need to make a shift from how we maintain a system to how we plant the future.”

Diaz’s shift away from systems and toward planting has been lived out through the growth of Neon, which recently launched at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and continues to grow at the University of Minnesota. “With planting this ministry in Mankato, we had to have everything work,” said Diaz. “We have strong leaders who have created something that is seeing week-over-week attendance of 35+ students at our first few events, and soon, 50+ Neon students from the U of M and MSU, Mankato will be going to a retreat at Camp Koronis, where they will be Neon together!”

He likes to ask his student ministry leaders, "What are the needs you see in your life and in your community, and also, what are the things that are justice-filled and joyful that we need more of?"

“I think if we help to meet people’s needs, and we work to increase those just, joyful things, we are meeting people where they are,” said Diaz. “With campus food ministries, there is a lot of food insecurity for students. Giving people a meal is a foundational way to build this community.”

All of this has Diaz thinking of how this work can be shared with others at the gathering, as well as what he can learn. “Especially with how we reach youth and young adults, the story in The UMC sometimes is that what we have is not compelling enough, interesting enough, for young people. What I have seen happen in my work is an alternative hypothesis (to that).”

As for his wishes for Calgary? “I am looking for fellow dreamers, and fellow cleansers,” said Diaz. “I think this is something we can do—figuring out what is working across the world and planting it in new contexts.”

As our representatives go to Calgary, all the best wishes and hopes of the people of the Minnesota Annual Conference go with them.

Please pray for them and for all of the people meeting in Calgary as they discern the future of The United Methodist Church. These devotions from Bishop Lanette and other episcopal leaders may be helpful to you as we near this momentous event.