General and Jurisdictional Conference Delegation The South Georgia Conference will elect its delegation to the 2008 General and Jurisdictional Conferences during the 2007 Annual Conference Session in Savannah June 3-7. The General Conference is the global gathering of the United Methodist Church where mission and ministry priorities are established and The Book of Discipline is reviewed for possible revisions. The General Conference is the policy setting body of United Methodism. The 2008 General Conference will be held April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. The Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference meets July 2008 at Lake Junaluska to coordinate the connected ministry and mission of this region and to elect and assign Bishops for leadership in the Church. The 2005 session of the South Georgia Annual Conference established a policy on elections in an effort to “create a level playing field and be fair with all potential candidates.” The complete policy can be found in the Conference Journal or the Conference website www.sgaumc.org/policies/. The 2006 conference session concurred with the following time line for the distribution of the informational letter and the use of the website for persons interested in declaring their interest in being elected.
The website will remain open through the Annual Conference session for persons interested in declaring their desire to serve as a delegate and for persons interested in reviewing the profiles of potential delegates. Laity interested in serving will have a deadline of March 31, 2007 to submit their information for inclusion in a printed booklet that will be mailed out with the Book of Recommendations and Reports in early May. The elections policy is clear in stating, “This website information is intended to be sufficient and to preclude candidates or supporters from sending other forms of campaign materials printed and/or electronic such as brochures, flyers, e-mails, faxes, letters of encouragement, etc.” The Book of Discipline outlines the prerequisites for being elected to the delegation: LAITY The Constitution states (¶36 ) that to be eligible for election as a lay member of General or Jurisdictional Conference, the member must: 1) be a professing member of the UMC for at least the past two years, 2) be an active participant of the UMC for at least the past four years, and 3) be a professing member of a church within the bounds of the South Georgia Annual Conference. The following laity may vote during the balloting for the Lay Delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conference: Lay Member elected by their charge (one per appointed clergy), the conference lay leader, the conference president of United Methodist Men, the conference president of United Methodist Women, Lay delegates to the 2004 General and Jurisdictional Conferences, Diaconal Ministers, Lay Staff in the Conference Connectional Ministries Office, Lay Chairpersons of Conference Committees, District Lay Officers, and District At-Large Lay Members. |
