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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
January 2007 |
Global nature task force proposes a U.S. central conference
By Linda Green
MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - A group of United Methodists examining the global nature of the denomination is proposing that the United States become a Central Conference.
The proposal introduced to the United Methodist Council of Bishops on Nov. 3 would end the current system that splits the United States from the central conferences that govern the church outside the United States and would revise The United Methodist Book of Discipline into a "truly general book of doctrine, mission and discipline, deleting all portions that apply only to the United States." The existing U.S. jurisdictional conferences would exist within a U.S. Central Conference.
The proposal would group all five U.S. jurisdictions into one central conference, putting it on par with the central conferences already in existence. If approved, the changes would take effect in 2012.
Each central conference would have a Book of Discipline outlining rules applicable to its life and ministry. Other publications such as hymnals could be tailored for each central conference.
The proposal which suggests the changes to the 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, comes from a joint task force of bishops and members of the Connectional Table, the key coordinating arm of the denomination. Since 1964, the church has had numerous studies, task groups and legislative attempts to clarify the worldwide nature of the denomination.
Since the Social Principles already subscribe to the church's global nature, they will not be changed but The Book of Resolutions, the task force said, would be divided into categories that Central conferences, including the United States, would consider resolutions pertinent to their regions. They could create and fund their own agencies, establish their own educational requirements for clergy and establish mission initiatives appropriate for their context.
The task force is inviting responses from annual conferences, districts and local churches. It has asked the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns to engage its partners in conversations on the ecumenical implications of a U.S. central conference.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008