During the brief Thursday night plenary session, delegates approved Calendar Item 154, Petition 20001, dealing with jurisdictional episcopacy committees. The petition affects paragraphs 404, 408, 512 and 524 in the Book of Discipline and was supported by the Superindendency Legislative Committee. Among the language it adds to these multiple paragraphs is that the “committee may initiate on its own motion the process of involuntary retirement when it is seen to be in the best interest of the Church, and such a process may or may not be related to the performance of a bishop being addressed by the process.”
The Rev. Timothy Rogers of South Carolina moved to ask the Judicial Council for a decision on the constitutionality of Calendar Item 20, allowing each annual conference to adjust the number of at-large lay delegates who are selected to attend the annual conference session, which was approved earlier Thursday.
Outgoing members of the Judicial Council were recognized, as were the two newcomers who were elected during this conference. The Rev. Susan Henry Crowe and Jon Gray are ending their terms at the close of General Conference and rotating off. Also welcomed were the two new members, the Rev. Kabamba Kiboko of South Congo and Texas conferences, and Oswald Tewh from Liberia.
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