Language on board membership is unconstitutional, Judicial Council says

Translate Page

Petitions that seek to guarantee membership of certain types of people to General Conference and to United Methodist general agencies are unconstitutional, the Judicial Council ruled.

Responding to a request for a decision from the floor of the opening plenary session of 2008 General Conference, the council cited previous rulings Decisions 594 and 601 in which the denomination's supreme court forbade "any legislation which would guarantee a preferred status not extended to others."

In Decision 1090, the Judicial Council cited its ruling in Decision 601 that disciplinary provisions that "recommend" or ask that "special attention" be given to membership of certain categories of persons on general boards are constitutional. The council cited Paragraph 705.3i of the 2004 Book of Discipline as an example.

Kevin Goodwin, delegate from the Peninsula-Delaware Annual (regional) Conference, asked for the ruling April 23. He cited six petitions that mandate agency membership for disabled persons, youth and central conference members, and that guaranteed representation of youth, young adults and central conference as delegates at General Conference.

The Judicial Council ruled that if any of the petitions were to be adopted, they would "guarantee a preferred status and are, therefore, unconstitutional."

Shamwange P. Kyungu was absent. C. Rex Bevins, the first clergy alternate, participated in this decision.

*Caldwell is editor of the Virginia United Methodist Advocate and covers the Judicial Council for United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Kathy Noble or Tim Tanton, e-mail: [email protected]

Phone calls can be made to the General Conference Newsroom in Fort Worth, Texas, at (817) 698-4405(817) 698-4405 until May 3. Afterward, call United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn., at (615) 742-5470(615) 742-5470.

Related Articles

General Conference headlines

Request anticipates constitutionality questions

Resource

General Conference 2008

Judicial Council

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

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!

UMNEWS-SUBSCRIPTION
General Conference

Tackling a petitions conundrum

The General Conference commission spent time grappling with what to do about petitions submitted by people who, for whatever reason, are no longer part of The United Methodist Church.
General Conference
The Rev. Lynn Hill, retired elder in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference, preaches at the closing worship of the Commission on the General Conference meeting in Florence, Kentucky. Hill is the chair of the commission’s program committee. Beside him are Don Reasoner, who leads interpretation at General Conference, and Mills Maliwa, a commission member from South Africa. Photo by Heather Hahn.

What to expect at the next General Conference

The group that plans The United Methodist Church’s big legislative assembly is putting together the final details for holding the long-delayed General Conference next year in Charlotte, North Carolina. The group is as changed as the denomination it serves.
General Church
Council of Bishops President Thomas J. Bickerton presides at the bishops’ spring 2023 meeting in Chicago. East Ohio Conference Bishop Tracy Smith Malone, at left, is the Council of Bishops president-designate. The bishops gathered April 29-May 5 for their first in-person meeting since 2019 and took on a variety of issues affecting the future of the denomination. Photo by the Rev. Todd Rossnagel, Louisiana Conference.

Bishops call for General Conference in 2026

United Methodist bishops see a need for the denomination’s top lawmaking body to hold an additional meeting to deal with changes resulting from church disaffiliations. Meanwhile, the denomination’s finance agency has its own concerns.

 

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2023 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved