Superintendent's Updates

General Conference 2025 Report

General Conference Report

We celebrated the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Pentecostal Church International during General Conference 2025, held at the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, just a short distance from the site of the historic 1945 merger conference. Approximately 10,000 people attended this milestone event.

Each service honored our heritage while casting vision for the future. A notable highlight was the inaugural Church Advancement service, which featured powerful multicultural worship and anointed preaching. On Friday evening, Youth Ministries opened with a special 80th anniversary presentation, spotlighting voices from our history.

Every service was marked by excellence in worship and presentation, with preaching that powerfully reaffirmed our Apostolic identity and message. All General Conference services were streamed live on the UPCI YouTube channel. As of October 1, more than 60,000 unique viewers had watched at least part of a livestream. Prerecorded videos of select seminar sessions also are available on YouTube.

Election Recap

We congratulate all our officials who were elected or reelected during the General Conference business session. I want to offer special thanks to Ladies Ministries President Linda Gleason for her faithful service to that ministry. Prior to the conference, she announced her intention to step down. Ladies Ministries Secretary Jane Buford was elected to succeed Gleason as president, and Ashlea Ison was elected as Ladies Ministries secretary. We congratulate both of these ladies on their new roles.

We also thank Bryan Abernathy for his service as director of promotions for Global Missions. A. J. Dummit will step into that role at the beginning of the new year. In addition, Bill Hobson is leaving his post as secretary of North American Missions to serve as a pastor in Florida. We appreciate Brother Hobson’s contributions to North American Missions. We also congratulate NAM Director of Promotions Kenneth Stewart on being elected as the new secretary of that ministry. Brother Stewart’s successor will be appointed later this year. Finally, we thank Roger Buckland for serving as director of the Pacific Region for Global Missions. Troy Wickett will step into that role in January.

Finally, thank you to our ministerial constituents for electing me to another term as general superintendent.