2008 General Conference Actions

NOTE: Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of actions, but a highlight of actions taken.  Unless stated otherwise, all items go into effect on January 1, 2009.  Constitutional Amendments will be voted on at our June 2009 Annual Conference session.

Sunday, April 27

The assembly voted 521-89 to create a task force to examine ways in which churches, agencies and conferences can address global warming. The 12-member group will make recommendations for such things as solar panels, meetings by conference calls, and building insulation, then report its findings to the 2012 General Conference.

Delegates voted 739-15 to continue a 12-year-old initiative known as Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century and suggested a budget of $1.4 million for 2009-2012 period. There are more than 2,400 African-American churches and 432,354 African Americans within the U.S. denomination.

The 700,000-member Côte d’Ivoire church was formally received as a United Methodist annual (regional) conference after four years of legal questions over the implications of the action.

Items passed on the consent calendar included: 1) authorization to continue a dialogue with Episcopalians with an interim agreement on the Eucharist until full communion is established between the churches, and 2) acceptance of the Malawi district of the Zimbabwe Episcopal Area as a missionary conference.

Monday, April 28

Noting that United Methodist churches in Africa are the fastest-growing components of the denomination, delegates approved a request for $2 million for United Methodist theological schools on the continent of Africa.

Delegates created a new 24-member standing committee on Faith and Order to help bishops and the church reflect on matters of faith, doctrinal teaching, order and discipline. The group will also provide study materials upon the request of the bishops, the Connectional Table or General Conference. The cost of the committee is estimated to be $287,000 to be funded through existing funds within the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns and the Board of Higher Education of Ministry.

Judicial Council serves as the supreme court of the denomination. Lay persons elected to eight-year terms on the council are Angela Brown (California-Nevada) and Ruben Reyes (Philippines). Clergy elected are the Revs. Kathi Austin-Mahle (Minnesota); F. Belton Joyner (North Carolina); and William B. Lawrence (North Texas). Council members Jon Gray, Beth Capen, the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe and the Rev. Dennis Blackwell were elected in 2004 to eight-year terms.

The University Senate is a group of 25 higher education professionals which determines which schools, colleges, universities and seminaries meet the criteria to be listed as affiliate institutions of the denomination. Persons elected to four-year terms on the senate are Maxine Clark Beach, dean, Drew Theological School; David L. Beckley, president, Rust College; Charlene Black, retired administrator, Georgia Southern University; and the Rev. Maxie Dunnam, former president, Asbury Seminary.

The assembly raised the retirement age of bishops. Currently bishops are required to retire if they reach age 66 on or before July 1 in a year when jurisdictional conferences are held. The assembly raised that age to 68 effective upon the adjournment of the 2008 General Conference.

Delegates declined an opportunity to create a permanent site for the Judicial Council, but they did agree to provide an office for a part-time clerk who would work no more than 20 hours a week.

Delegates created a Socially Responsible Investment Task Force to establish, implement and promote a common standard for determining prohibited investments. The task force is also asked to attempt to engage in holy conferencing with identified companies.

Tuesday, April 29

The assembly voted 450-336 to approve the creation of a 27-member hymnal revision committee. Delegates also approved a petition calling for at least 7 percent of the hymns to be from the Evangelical United Brethren tradition and the creation of both gender-neutral and traditional-language editions.

Delegates also authorized the Board of Discipleship and the Publishing House to create a nine-member committee to determine the need for an Africana hymnal.

The Judicial Council met during General Conference and ruled on four issues presented prior to the Fort Worth gathering. The council affirmed two bishops’ decisions of law, sustained the church trial conviction and the revoking of credentials of a pastor in the Rocky Mountain Annual (regional) Conference, and ruled that annual conference commissions on religion and race do not have the authority to investigate complaints.

The 2004 Book of Discipline says, "The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ." Delegates added the clause "for the transformation of the world" to the end of that statement.

Wednesday, April 30

Delegates voted to retain statements in the Social Principles that the “United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.”  The final action replaced a “majority report” from a legislative committee, which called for recognition that “faithful and thoughtful people who have grappled with this issue deeply disagree with one another; yet all seek a faithful witness.” The assembly replaced the majority report by a 517-416 vote.  In approving the minority report, the assembly affirmed that all persons are “individuals of sacred worth created in the image of God.” Delegates also retained statements asking “families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends.”

In a separate resolution, the conference asked the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, the church’s social advocacy agency, to develop educational resources and materials on the effects of homophobia and heterosexism, the discrimination or prejudice against lesbians or gay men by heterosexual people.

The conference also retained a rule that prohibits United Methodist clergy from conducting ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions.

General Conference let stand language in the Book of Discipline regarding pastoral authority over church membership. A majority report of a legislative committee asked the conference to make it clear that pastors and congregations “are to faithfully receive all persons who are willing to affirm our vows of membership.” A minority report urged delegates to declare that “pastors have the responsibility of discerning one’s readiness to take the vows of membership.”  The minority report was defeated 515-384, while the majority report was defeated by 51 percent of the delegates, leaving in place the Discipline’s current language: “All people may attend its worship services, participate in the programs, receive the sacraments and become members in any local church in the connection.”

General Conference established a new formula that will cause four of the five U.S. jurisdictions to lose a bishop at the 2012 jurisdictional conferences. The Northeastern Jurisdiction is required to lose a bishop under the current formula. The Inter-jurisdictional Boundaries Committee recommended the reduction take place no later than Sept. 1, 2012; that recommendation was approved by General Conference. Delegates agreed that savings from those reductions will be used to fund new episcopal areas outside of the United States.

The action will not affect the Southeastern Jurisdiction, which already has one less bishop than the current formula allows.

Delegates adopted a resolution addressing the “unabated and egregious violations” of human rights in the Philippines that have resulted in 886 extrajudicial killings and 179 disappearances, including pastors and church workers.  The church called on the Philippine government to “immediately stop the killings and all other forms of human rights violations” and asked other nations to look into the situation.  A second resolution pledged to “pray for the Filipinos as they disciple among their people and call them to fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ’s imperatives for love, compassion, justice and peace.”

Judicial Council ruled that General Conference can determine the number and qualifications of its members, and the process of how they are elected, but that the constitution of the church empowers the high court “to adopt its own methods of organization and procedure.” The council also agreed that General Conference has a right to request that all members of the nine-member council be present to rule on the constitutionality of General Conference.

The assembly simplified the candidacy process whereby men and women become ordained as deacons or elders. Currently, a person must be a church member for two years before he or she can be considered as a candidate for ministry by a district committee on ordained ministry. That waiting time was shortened to one year, and the body ruled that membership is not required if the candidate has been involved in a United Methodist campus ministry or other denominational ministry for one year. Delegates also changed “required” into “recommended” readings and study with a pastor or mentor. The district committee will have greater authority to discern who is ready to proceed as a certified candidate.

The assembly raised the mandatory retirement age of clergy to age to 72.

Thursday, May 1

Delegates asked the Board of Pensions and Health Benefits to establish denomination-wide wellness guidelines for clergy and lay employees. The agency will also form a task force with the Board of Higher Education to examine employment systems and culture and to provide guidelines for sustaining a healthy work/life balance during ministry. Systems to be examined include itinerancy, appointment-making, supervision and processes for entering and exiting ministry.

In other health-related concerns, the conference required: 1) annual conferences to share health-care data with the board; 2) group health insurance plans for bishops, full-time clergy and full-time lay employees of annual conferences and general agencies; 3) access for retired bishops, annual conference clergy and lay employees to Medicare supplemental plans and prescription drug plans.

The assembly affirmed support for the people of Tibet and their struggle for independence and autonomy.

A new resolution on Sudan called “Sudan: A Call to Compassion and Caring,” was approved, which advocates for justice for all Sudanese, calls upon United Methodists “in every country” to encourage their governments to aid development of a more just economic system in the Sudan and asks church members to “examine all methods of protest and solidarity before undertaking them” to ensure that none of their actions causes violence.

Also approved was a petition reaffirming the denomination’s support of the democratic aspirations and achievements of the people of Taiwan. Church members are encouraged to become educated about contemporary issues related to Taiwan and the “One China” policy, and to promote the rights of Taiwanese “for stability, security and self-determination of its own status in the family of nations.”

The assembly passed 23 constitutional amendments proposed by the Task Force on the Global Nature of the Church. The amendments will allow for the creation of a regional conference for the United States and change the words “central conference” to “regional conference.” The legislation does not create a U.S. regional conference but makes it possible for General Conference to do so at a later time. The assembly created a task force to examine possibilities.

Delegates passed a constitutional amendment that reduces from two to one the number of years a person must be a professing member of a local church before he or she can be a member of an annual conference.

Another constitutional amendment was passed in which will call for annual conferences to vote on proposals that provide for newly created conferences to be represented at General, jurisdiction or regional conferences on a non-proportional basis. The issue arose after the Côte d’Ivoire Conference was assigned two delegates for the 2008 General Conference.

If annual conferences approve the constitutional amendment, associate members, provisional (formerly called "probationary") members and local pastors may join ordained ministerial members in full connection in voting for delegates to General and jurisdictional conferences. To be eligible to vote, local pastors must have completed the Basic Course of Study or master of divinity degree and provisional members must have completed all educational requirements. Both must have served under appointment for two consecutive years immediately preceding an election. Only ordained members in full connection may serve as delegates.

If annual conferences ratify the amendment, then local churches, jurisdictional and General Conference, “organizations, groups, committees, councils, boards and agencies” will have to adopt ethics and conflict-of-interest policies. These policies will apply to both members and employees to help them “embody and live out our Christian values.”

The Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, dean of Cannon Chapel and religious life at Emory University in Atlanta, was elected president of the Judicial Council. The first woman to hold that office, she was elected in 1992 to her first eight-year term on the council and was elected to a second term in 2004.

Troy, Wyoming, North Central New York and Western New York conferences are proposing to create a new conference out of all or part of these conferences. Proposals call for the new conference to be formed by 2010. The proposal will be reviewed by the Northeastern Jurisdiction Boundaries Committee prior to action by Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference.

Delegates decided that a proposed new social creed would serve the church better as a “companion litany.”

Delegates asked the General Council on Finance and Administration and the Connectional Table to provide $50,000 for a research and learning center at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. The site, 180 miles southeast of Denver, is a memorial to more than 160 Native Americans.

Friday, May 2

Delegates approved a $642 million denominational spending plan for the next four years built around four areas of focus for the immediate future:

  • Developing principled Christian leaders;
  • Creating new places for new people by starting new congregations and renewing existing ones;
  • Engaging in ministries with the poor; and
  • Improving global health, especially attacking the killer diseases of poverty.

The budget calls for a 1.2 percent increase over each of the four years from 2009 to 2012.

The Board of Church and Society and the Women’s Division of the Board of Global Ministries will continue as members in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.  General Conference affirmed by a vote of 416-384 its 35-year relationship with the interfaith association.

The assembly added a statement on abortion to the Social Principles with language offering “ministries to reduce unintended pregnancies” and to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy and support centers that help women “find feasible alternatives to abortion.”

The assembly retained language defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Pastors or district superintendents may now ask the bishop to give sacramental authority to a deacon if an elder is not present. That right is confined to the location of a deacon’s primary appointment.

In areas where it would take a great deal of time to deliver the sacraments to persons, a layperson is given the right to deliver consecrated Communion elements.

The assembly affirmed the validity of scientific findings as ways to expand our understanding of the natural world and the mysteries of God’s creation and the Word.

Noting that Israel continues to violate international law by building a wall on Palestinian land, the conference called upon Israel and Palestine to uphold U.N. resolutions and International Court of Justice rulings.

The conference asked the denomination’s Board of Church and Society to identify and publish on its Web site educational resources on stem-cell research. The resolution encourages pastors to use the resources to become informed about the use of embryonic stem cells for medical research and to offer these resources for study in their local churches.

If annual conferences ratify the action by a two-thirds majority, the constitution will be amended to make it clear that all persons shall be eligible to attend worship services and, upon taking vows, become church members.

People who join United Methodist churches henceforth will promise to be faithful in “their witness” as well as in their prayers, presence, gifts and service. The conference also voted to add the witness phrase to the liturgy used by the church when a person makes a profession of membership.

Noting that more than 400 persons have been put to death in Texas since 1982, the assembly asked the Texas legislature to end executions.

The conference called on United Methodists to divest funds from companies that support the government of Sudan in order to end the genocide in that area.

The body encouraged the implementation of the universal school lunch program.

The assembly called for equal rights of men with regard to parental leave and child custody.

*This wrap-up has been compiled from United Methodist News Service articles.