By Rev. Robert Beckum

It is an honor to serve in the 2012 South Georgia delegation to General and Jurisdictional Conference. As Larry Price and I lead the delegation’s work and preparation for these conferences, we want to stress the representative nature of our delegation. It is our responsibility to faithfully represent the churches of the South Georgia Annual Conference. In order to be faithful in our representation, we need your help and your input. The General Conference is the top policy-making body of the United Methodist Church, and meets every four years to consider revisions to church law (“The Book of Discipline”), as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, political and economic issues. The General Conference also approves plans and budgets for church wide programs for the next four years. The 2012 meeting of General Conference will take place April 24-May 4 at the Convention Center in Tampa, Fla.  The Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, whose primary function is to elect bishops, will meet July 18-20 at Lake Junaluska, N.C.There are four important ways you can participate in and assist the work of your South Georgia Delegation:

1. Pray. Begin now to pray for individual members of your delegation and our entire delegation as a representative team.
2. Consider having your congregation enter into a Covenant Prayer Partnership for delegates during General Conference. For more information about a Covenant Prayer Partnership between your local church and members of the delegation, please contact me.
3. Become better informed about the work of General Conference and the issues before this 2012 conference. One way to stay informed is through the United Methodist Church’s web site, www.umc.org, using the tab to General Conference 2012. You can also register for General Conference 101, which is an introduction and tutorial concerning the work of General Conference that will be available soon on the website.
4. Communicate with your delegation.  We need to know your hopes and your concerns for your church as we approach this meeting of General Conference in 10 months.

While it is an honor to serve in the delegation, it is also a great responsibility.  We have already begun praying for the strength to be faithful in that responsibility, and we invite you to join us in praying for the work of the delegation as we prepare for our responsibilities in the year ahead.  Please use my contact information below to get more information, offer the delegation your input, and learn more about your church entering into a Covenant Prayer Partnership with our delegation.

Click here to download the 2012 Delegation contact information.

Rev. Robert Beckum serves as senior pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Columbus. He can be reached at rbeckum@stlukeum.com.

Robert Beckum

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