Regionalization Measures Move Forward

Thursday morning, a portion of the regionalization package — five of the eight measures  — came before General Conference. The most signficant piece was an amendment to the denomination's constitution, which requires at least a two-thirds vote of the General Conference body. The amendment passed 586 to 164, receiving 78% of the vote.

The amendment will now go before annual conference voters in 2025 for potential ratification in 2026. To be ratified, the amendment also will need at least a two-thirds total vote of annual conference lay and clergy voters.

According to the United Methodist News Service, under the amendment that passed General Conference, each regional conference would have the authority to:

• Establish and publish a regional Book of Discipline with legislation and provision pertaining to church structures within its boundaries, including qualifications and educational requirements of clergy and specialized lay ministries.
• Set standards of character and other qualifications for the admission of lay members.
• Establish and publish a regional hymnal and ritual of church, including for marriage and burial. The rites approved would need to be in line with core doctrines of The United Methodist Church and in accordance with local laws.
• Allow the annual conferences to adopt structures adequate to their mission while upholding General Conference-mandated structures.

The three remaining petitions related to regionalization pertain only to the U.S. and currently sit with the Conferences Legislative Committee at General Conference. According to United Methodist News Service, that committee could move that legislation to the full plenary as early as April 27 (tomorrow). Those petitions only need a simple majority to pass.

Read the full story from United Methodist News Service →

What is Regionalization?

• Ask The UMC: What is regionalization? A five-part explainer series

Headlines from Week One

• Eurasian conferences get go-ahead to form own church - This includes churches in Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The conferences followed an existing Book of Discipline provision.
   
• Young people share fears, hopes for future church - Additionally, you can view the recording of the Young People's Address at this link.
   
• Delegates urged to ‘restart’ church with less - Leaders of the Council of Bishops, Connectional Table, and General Council on Finance and Administration shared a picture of the denomination's finances and explained the proposed budget.
   
• Prayer room available to General Conference attendees - Missouri's Rev. Karen Hayden (King's Way in Springfield) has served this week as a prayer room volunteer.
   
• See recordings of worship and plenary sessions on the UMC YouTube channel.

What's Coming Up?

The General Conference is in session tomorrow, Saturday, April 27. In the morning plenary session, delegates will hear about the new retirement plan from Wespath before heading into an afternoon of legislative committee work.

General Conference takes Sunday off as Sabbath and will return Monday morning with the consecration of Deaconesses and Home Missioners during worship. Most of week two is spent in plenary session, which will be livestreamed.

Increasingly, the voting body will consider items listed as part of the consent calendar. These measures have been passed overwhelmingly in their General Conference committee, only require a majority vote and do not have financial implications. The day's consent calendars are available as part of the Daily Christian Advocate.

Our Missouri delegation is nearly halfway through their General Conference work. You can see a list of our delegation members at www.moumethodist.org/gcandjc and use the form linked on that page to send them a message of encouragement!

Questions?

Our communications team is headed to Charlotte on Sunday. Reply to this email with any questions you have or coverage you'd find interesting!