The General Conference of The United Methodist Church began on Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina. The General Conference is the church’s top policy-making body. It meets once every four years but has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference meets to revise The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church and adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy, and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for church-wide programs.
There are 862 delegates from around the world, half clergy and half laity. 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 with close ties to The United Methodist Church.
We have 8 delegates and 4 alternates from the South Georgia Annual Conference participating and voting at the General Conference. They each serve on a legislative committee that will work through the 1,099 pieces of legislation proposed for the conference. Please pray for our delegates as they represent us in Charlotte.
General Conference Laity & Legislative Committee
Richard Shinhoster Legislative Committee: Financial Administration
Allison Lindsey Legislative Committee: Faith and Order
Patsy Thomas Legislative Committee: Judicial Administration
Karen Forrester Legislative Committee: Discipleship
John Ray (alternate)
Denise Rooks (alternate)
General Conference Clergy & Legislative Committee
Doreen Smalls Legislative Committee: Ordained Ministry
Scott Hagan Legislative Committee: Church and Society 2
Jimmy Asbell Legislative Committee: Conferences
Ben Martin Legislative Committee: General Administration
Michael Culbreth (alternate)
Tony Crosby (alternate)
If you’d like to know more about General Conference here’s a great video about more of its work: https://youtu.be/U2MLEFn3b8M?si=Bl2I8VZ0tVR0gCOX
Please join me in prayer for our delegates and the work of the conference as we move forward together in mission and ministry around the world. If you have any questions about General Conference, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to share more!
God bless,
Jonathan Smith
For Jesus. For People. For Community.