The North Carolina Conference is an Annual Conference

Annual Conference

An Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church is a regional body that governs much of the life of the "Connectional Church." Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge . Each conference is a geographical division...

 (a regional episcopal

Episcopal polity

Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...

 area, similar to a diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

) of the United Methodist Church

United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...

. This conference serves the eastern half of the state of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, with its administrative offices and the office of the bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 located in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

. It is part of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. The current Bishop of the North Carolina Conference is the Reverend Alfred W. Gwinn

Alfred W. Gwinn

Alfred Wesley Gwinn, Jr. is the current residing bishop of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has held the office of Bishop of North Carolina since 2004...

.

The North Carolina Conference provides funding to three institutions of higher learning:

• Methodist University http://www.methodist.edu in Fayetteville, North Carolina
  Fayetteville, North Carolina
  Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
  
  
• Louisburg College
  Louisburg College
  Louisburg College is a private two-year college located in Louisburg, North Carolina. The Methodist-affiliated college claims that 90 percent of its graduates move on to four-year institutions...
  
  http://www.louisburg.edu in Louisburg, North Carolina
  Louisburg, North Carolina
  Louisburg is a town in Franklin County, North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,111. It is the county seat of Franklin County...
  
  
• North Carolina Wesleyan College
  North Carolina Wesleyan College
  North Carolina Wesleyan College is a private four-year coeducational, liberal arts college, located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Founded in 1956, the school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offers a number of preprofessional programs...
  
  http://www.ncwc.edu in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
  Rocky Mount, North Carolina
  Rocky Mount is an All-America City Award-winning city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the coastal plains of the state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28, 1867, the North Carolina community that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the beginning of...
  
  .

Districts

The NC Annual Conference is further subdivided into 12 smaller regions, called "districts," which provide further administrative functions for the operation of local churches in cooperation with each other. This structure is vital to Methodism

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

, and is referred to as connectionalism

Connectionalism

The term Connexionalism is today most commonly used to describe the theological understanding and foundation of Methodist polity, as practised in the British Methodist Church and the American United Methodist Church...

. The Districts that comprise the North Carolina Conference are:

• Burlington http://www.burlingtondistrictumc.org
• Durham http://www.durhamdistrictumc.org
• Elizabeth City http://www.nccumc.org/ECDistrict
• Fayetteville http://www.fayettevilledistrictumc.org
• Goldsboro http://www.goldsborodistrictumc.org
• Greenville
• New Bern http://www.newberndistrictumc.org
• Raleigh http://www.nccumc.org/raleighdistrict
• Rockingham http://www.nccumc.org/rockingham
• Rocky Mount http://www.nccumc.org/rockymount/default.htm
• Sanford
• Wilmington http://www.wilmingtondistrictumc.net

External links

• North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church