Only General Conference can create a just and fair process that encompasses the whole denomination.įinally, only General Conference can prevent the church from devolving into bitter conflict and expensive legal battles over property. But this would be a very uneven and uncertain process across the denomination, and likely create inequities depending on the specific culture and leadership of individual conferences. As a result, individual annual conferences could, if they chose, create their own versions of the Protocol. Did you know that annual conferences have always been able to allow congregations to leave with their property? Even before the disaffiliation clause was added to the Discipline in 2019, annual conferences sometimes suspended the trust clause when a church closed, merged or federated, or simply negotiated to become independent. In addition, only General Conference can create a consistent policy for the whole connection. It is a messy process, to be sure, but the only one which truly gives voice and vote to all the constituent parts of the body. Only General Conference brings together representatives from every conference across the globe to decide on questions which affect the whole denomination. The problem is that only General Conference – not any bishop, agency executive, or clergy blogger – speaks for the whole church. Many voices today are making predictions and pronouncements about the state of the UM Church, about what annual conferences can and cannot do, about what would be just and fair in any division of the church. Still, when it comes to legal issues around property, pensions, and liabilities, General Conference has the final word.īut there are even more important reasons why General Conference must meet and act soon on, to act on the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation and end the state of limbo we are all enduring.įor one thing, only General Conference speaks for the whole church. A big reason we are on the verge of division is because, for the first time since 1792, some folks and groups within the church (including some bishops and even whole annual conferences) have decided that the decisions and policies of General Conference can be ignored or defied.
Since 1968 (indeed, since 1792), General Conference is where the buck has always stopped. There’s been lots of speculation about the upcoming General Conference of The United Methodist Church – when it will happen, whether it will happen, what the delegates are likely to do, what they should do. Delegates pray together at The United Methodist Church’s 2019 special General Conference in St.
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