What’s Happening on Tuesday, May 1

Every morning the Committee on Agenda and Calendar meets at 6:30 a.m. with the presiding bishops for the day, and the chairs of the legislative committees. Here are some notes from that meeting:

  • Presiding Officers for the Day
    Bishop Patrick Streiff
    Bishop Minerva Carcano
    Bishop Charlene Kammerer
  • There will be a presentation from the Board of Pensions in the morning session.
  • As of this morning there are 143 calendar items that were or are eligible for consideration by the body. So far the General Conference has dealt with 11.
  • As of this morning, 35 calendar items have received the required 20 signatures to be pulled from the consent/not considered calendar.
  • The Committee on Calendar and Agenda is assuming that restructuring issues will likely be considered on Wednesday, which is the soonest they can be considered without a suspension of the rules.
  • Issues around divestiture and the United Methodist Church’s relationship with Israel/Palestine will be presented in a single block at a time to be determined.
  • The issue of the ending of guaranteed clergy appointments received enough votes in committee to be placed on a consent calendar (a group of petitions passed en masse by the conference without debate). As of this morning no one had pulled this from the consent calendar.
  • Issues thatmaybe considered today include:
  • Changing the name of “lay speaker” to “lay servant.
  • Issues on the timing and size of the General Conference
  • Issues related to ministry in the Central Conferences
  • Changes to the Preamble of the Social Principles
  • Changes in the qualifications for ordination related to sexual practices
  • Changes to the structure of United Methodist Wome
  • The addition of language that specifically identifies the pastor as the primary determiner of eligibility for church membership.
  • Changes to the responsibilities of the PPRC/SPRC


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