The South Georgia Conference delegation has been meeting to pray, study, and discuss legislation as they continue to prepare for the global gathering, set for April 23-May 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, which meets once every four years. However, because of the pandemic, the last regular session of General Conference was nearly eight years ago. The conference can revise church law, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy, and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for church-wide programs.
More than 1,000 legislative petitions will be before the lay and clergy delegates when they meet for the denomination’s assembly. The theme for the international gathering, which draws delegates and other church leaders from four continents, is “…and know that I am God” from Psalm 46.
A General Conference Primer is available to help communicate about General Conference in your local church.
The South Georgia Conference delegation to General Conference is chaired by Rev. Doreen Smalls. There are 862 delegates to the postponed 2020 General Conference from around the world. Of the elected delegates, 55.9% are from the U.S., 32% from Africa, 6% from the Philippines, 4.6% from Europe (including Russia) and the remainder from concordat churches that have close ties to The United Methodist Church. The South Georgia Conference has 8 voting delegates.
In a focused effort to prepare for the upcoming General Conference session, the South Georgia Conference is launching a month-long Conference-wide prayer initiative, “Hear Our Prayers," that begins April 1 - and runs through the General Conference session - May 3.
Psalm 4:1 says: “Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” Each day laity and clergy will be asked to pause and pray for our church’s mission and for the upcoming conference at 4:01.
Daily prayers will be posted on the conference website at www.sgaumc.org/hearourprayers and on the Conference social media channels (Facebook and Instagram).
Rev. Doreen Smalls, chair of the South Georgia delegation to General Conference, says the delegation has been preparing and praying and is thankful for the prayers of the conference.
“As we prepare to do our work this month, and then as we travel to Charlotte and work each day representing South Georgia while we are there, we covet your prayers,” said Rev. Smalls. “God has great plans for the people called United Methodists, and I’m thankful this delegation has a voice in helping shape our future as we act with confidence and hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
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Infographic #1: General Conference Infographic - This one-page infographic provides a quick snapshot of General Conference by the numbers.
Infographic #2: The road to General Conference begins with each United Methodist and culminates with a worldwide quadrennial legislative gathering. Gain a better understanding of The UMC with this information detailing the church's structure from the local church, to the district, through the annual conferences and beyond with the infographics below.
Full .pdf print version of a helpful infographic | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
The General Conference meets for 10 days. The agenda runs from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm or later with the exception of Sabbath on Sunday, April 28. The days include legislative committee meetings, reports, addresses, plenary sessions, celebrations, and worship. (Find the proposed agenda here.) The live stream link is here: https://www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/general-conference-2020/live-stream.
Agenda highlights include:
Opening Worship - Tuesday, April 23, 2 pm
Episcopal Address - Wednesday, April 24, 8:30 am (delivered by Bishop Jonathon Holston)
Young People's Address - Wednesday, April 24 10:55 am
Laity Address - Thursday, April 25, 8:45 am
Elections to Commission on General Conference, General Agencies, Judicial Council - Monday, April 29
Celebration of 80th Anniversary of UMCOR - Tuesday, April 30
Closing Worship - Friday, May 3, 6 pm
South Georgia Conference General Conference Page | The South Georgia Conference communication office regularly updates this page with current information and resources for South Georgia United Methodists.
The General Conference 2024 Website | The official website of General Conference in Charlotte.
United Methodist News Service | News coverage of General Conference by United Methodist News Service.
"What is General Conference" Video | What is the General Conference and how does it serve The United Methodist Church? Find out in this 5-minute overview.
A Beginner's Guide to General Conference | General Conference typically gathers every four years. But because of the COVID pandemic, the assembly could not meet in 2020. That means the last regular session was in May 2016 — nearly eight years ago.
What to know about General Conference proposals | More than 1,000 legislative petitions aiming to shape the future will be before the lay and clergy delegates when they meet.
How to talk to your church before, during and after General Conference | United Methodists’ understanding of General Conference can range from complete unawareness to deep appreciation to frustrated confusion. Help your congregation better grasp what General Conference is, its purpose and its impact
General Conference Infographic | This one-page infographic provides a quick snapshot of General Conference by the numbers.
General Conference Live Stream Link
The Advance Daily Christian Advocate (Advance DCA or ADCA) is a set of volumes containing the agenda, rules, delegate listings, petitions, reports from church organizations and other information for delegates. The new, valid petitions, reports, and updated Delegate Handbook information for the General Conference is Volume 3 of the ADCA below.
Volume 1 (Handbook for Delegates)
Volume 2, Section 1 (Reports and Proposed Legislation)
Volume 2, Section 2 (Reports and Proposed Legislation)
Volume 3, Section 1 (Supplement for 2024, subject to final editing)
Contained within the ADCA are petitions. Petitions are a request to the General Conference for official action on a topic or issue, similar to a bill before the U.S. Congress. But not all petitions are intended to become law. A petition can suggest a change in the Book of Discipline, approval of a resolution or some course of action the denomination should take.
A few things to consider:
Petitions that were submitted for the 2020 General Conference are still valid for consideration in 2024, but there was also a new window for submission of petitions to fulfill the requirements of Paragraph 507.
A supplement to the previously printed Advance Daily Christian Advocate (ADCA) has been compiled.
The new, valid petitions, reports, and updated Delegate Handbook information for the General Conference are published in English, French, Portuguese, and Kiswahili.
More than 1,000 legislative petitions aiming to shape the future will be before the lay and clergy delegates when they meet.
Here is a synopsis from United Methodist News Service about submitted petitions.
Key Legislation: GCFA Information
Synopsis: The finance agency’s board is proposing the lowest denominational budget in 40 years. Both the finance agency board and Connectional Table jointly approved the budget allocations. The 2025-2028 denominational budget of about $346.7 million marks a nearly 43% overall reduction from the $604 million denomination-wide budget that General Conference approved at its last regular meeting in 2016 — and represents the biggest budget drop in the denomination’s history.The proposal requires significant cuts to all funds that support denomination-wide ministries — including United Methodist bishops and especially general agencies.
Key Legislation: Regionalization Petitions
Synopsis: Regionalization would restructure the denomination with the goal of putting on equal footing the church in the U.S. and the seven central conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. Currently, central conferences have authority under the denomination’s constitution to make “such changes and adaptations” to the Book of Discipline — the denomination’s policy book — as missional needs and differing legal contexts require.
All regionalization proposals require amending the denomination’s constitution, which means the legislation first has to receive at least a two-thirds affirmative vote at General Conference. From there, it would go to the conference level and must receive at least two-thirds of the total votes from annual conferences.
Key Legislation: Revised Social Principles
Synopsis: The Social Principles serve as the United Methodist Church’s official summary of stated convictions on social issues of the day. The revision process began when the 2012 General Conference approved a petition from the three central conferences in Europe to make the Social Principles “more globally relevant, theologically founded and succinct.”After thousands of hours of interviews and input, a vast network of United Methodist leaders crafted multiple document drafts together. There were 52 writing team members from: Philippines Central Conference, Africa Central Conference, Congo Central Conference, West Africa Central Conference, Central and Southern Europe Central Conference, Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference, and all five U.S. Jurisdictions. Over 4,000 United Methodists read, reviewed and commented on multiple Revised Social Principles drafts. The final draft was approved by the Board of the General Board of Church and Society and is submitted to General Conference for adoption.
Key Legislation: Wespath Legislation
Synopsis: Wespath, the denomination’s pensions and benefits agency, has submitted legislation to move active U.S. clergy from a plan that combines both defined-benefit and defined-contribution components to the Compass plan that is entirely based on defined contribution. A defined-benefit plan provides a monthly pension payment for life, with the employer (in this case, conferences) assuming the investment risk. A defined-contribution plan — like the 401(k) plans most U.S. corporate employees now have — provides an account balance to use during retirement, with the clergyperson assuming the risk of sustaining the money through the end of his or her lifetime. Changing to a defined-contribution plan would not reduce benefits that retired clergy already receive or reduce what active clergy have already earned.
Key Legislation: Proposals from United Methodist agencies
The following agencies have submitted proposals: Archives & History, Church & Society, Communications, Connectional Table, Discipleship Ministry, Global Ministries, Finance and Administration, Higher Education & Ministry, Religion and Race, Status and Role of Women, United Methodist Men, United Women in Faith, Wespath.
Q: What are the passages in the current Book of Discipline (2016) that lay out the denomination’s traditional understanding related to human sexuality?
A: The four passages below answer this question:
We affirm the sanctity of the marriage covenant that is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and shared fidelity between a man and a woman. We believe that God’s blessing rests upon such marriage, whether or not there are children of the union. We reject social norms that assume different standards for women than for men in marriage. We support laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. (¶161.C, “Marriage”)
We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God’s grace is available to all. We will seek to live together in Christian community, welcoming, forgiving, and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons. (¶161.G, “Human Sexuality”)
While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church. (¶304.3, “Qualifications of Ordination”)
Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches. (¶341.6, “Unauthorized Conduct”)
Communications Toolkit: Check out these resources, including how to speak to the media, tips on how to have courageous conversations, and how to talk about the structure of the church.
How to talk to your church before, during and after: United Methodists’ understanding of General Conference can range from complete unawareness to deep appreciation to frustrated confusion. Help your congregation better grasp what General Conference is, its purpose and its impact
