Commentary: Who really has a say at General Conference?

In a recent article by Sam Hodges, “Fairness of GC2016 delegate allotment questioned,” some United Methodists from North America and Africa questioned the fairness of representation at General Conference.

A mandatory minimum of two delegates per annual conference unfairly advantages conferences in Europe and the Philippines, some say, leading to overrepresentation. For example, Joe Whittemore of the North Georgia Conference argues that this disparity undermines General Conference as a “representative democracy.”

Are Joe Whittemore and others really claiming that Filipinos and Europeans have had an outsized voice at General Conference? Data included in the monitoring report from General Conference 2012 contest this claim. Approximately 75 percent of the speakers during plenary were male, 78 percent were white, and over 80 percent were from the United States.

In a conference conducted in English on U.S. soil, all delegates from outside the United States are marginalized to a greater or lesser extent. What really counts is voice, not representation.

The Rev. Darryl W. Stephens

The Rev. Darryl W. Stephens

The voices of Europeans are not often heard at General Conference. For example, the Executive Committee of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe had petitioned General Conference to re-examine the Social Principles for a global church since 2000. Action on this request did not begin until 2012, when General Conference acknowledged the need to define a global Book of Discipline. It will be 2020 before the Social Principles are rewritten for the worldwide United Methodist Church.

Central conferences have also had difficulty being heard through the petitions process.  In 1996, 2000, and 2004, General Conference approved only three petitions on social issues from central conferences — an average of one per quadrennium. In 2008 and 2012, this number grew to about six per quadrennium. Over the same time span, General Conference approved hundreds of petitions on social issues from the United States.

To claim, in the name of fairness and representative democracy that voices from North Georgia — or even Michigan — are being marginalized to the benefit of United Methodists from Europe and the Philippines is to fail to observe whose voices are actually heard at General Conference as well as to miss entirely the idea of General Conference being a form of Christian conferencing.

Absent Christian conferencing, the theological basis of The United Methodist Church’s democratic commitments erodes, exposing only power politics.

The Rev. Darryl W. Stephens is director of United Methodist studies at Lancaster Theological Seminary and a clergy member of the Texas Conference. Stephens is the author of Methodist Morals: Social Principles in the Public Church’s Witness (University of Tennessee Press, April 2016).


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Racism
The Rev. Neelley Hicks. Photo courtesy of the author.

Confronting hate: What do you wear?

An encounter with neo-Nazis shows how fear, the need for belonging and distorted views about Christianity form a dangerous mix.
Church Leadership
Dr. Katelin Hansen. Photo by Maxine Moore, courtesy of the author.

Deaconesses are still here – let’s invest in them too!

A distinctly separate order from deacons, deaconesses and home missioners serve in a wide variety of full-time lay ministries for the church.
General Conference
The Rev. Andy Call, chair of the General Conference commission, helps lead Holy Communion during opening worship Nov. 19 at the General Conference commission’s meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Sitting beside Call are Monalisa Tui'tahi (left), the commission’s vice chair, and the Rev. Aleze M. Fulbright (right), the new General Conference secretary. During the meeting, the commission began preparations for the next gathering of The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly, scheduled in 2028. Photo by Heather Hahn, UM News.

General Conference leaders start afresh

With mostly new membership, the group that plans The United Methodist Church’s big legislative assembly hopes to turn the page on past mistakes and act with more transparency.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2024 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved