Charge Conference forms are due by October 2.
Accessing the Forms
The 2023 Comprehensive Charge Conference Form is accessed through the church dashboard. Click here for more information on how to access the church dashboard.
If you need your Username and Password for your church's dashboard, click on the link in the dashboard page that says "need help logging in?" or contact Cindy Rollins (cindy@sgaumc.com) for assistance. One Username and Password is assigned to EACH church in the annual conference.
Once in the church dashboard there will be three components to completing your Charge Conference Packet:
1 - Leadership List, 2 - Clergy Compensation, 3 - Comprehensive Charge Conference forms.
Leadership List
The Leadership List will be completed exactly as in years past. Each pastor will present a full, printed slate of nominations to the charge conference for election. Once you are in the church dashboard you will click on the link on the sidebar for “My Church’s Leaders.” You will use this area to complete your Charge Conference Leadership List. Required positions are listed in the column on the right.
Pastor(s) Compensation Report
The Compensation Report for clergy will be completed exactly as in years past. Once you are in the church dashboard you will click on the link on the sidebar for “Pastor’s Compensation Report.” A few things to note:
Health insurance elections will no longer be reported on the Compensation form. The Administrative Services office will gather our data from online sources once Open Enrollment ends. PASTORS MUST SHARE THEIR HEALTH ELECTIONS CONFIRMATION FORM WITH THEIR TREASURER so that the treasurer knows what to withhold.
Pastors who want the same pension as last year still need to enter it on their Compensation Form. The form resets to 1% each year.
Pastors who are retired or have formally waived out of pension MUST set the pension back to zero. It is pre-set at 1%, and a pastor who has opted out of pension or is retired needs to reset it to zero.
Comprehensive Charge Conference Form
In addition to completing the Leadership List and the Pastor(s) Compensation Form, there is one comprehensive form to complete for the 2023 Charge Conference packet. This comprehensive form takes the place of separate paper and PDF forms used previously. A master signature form is linked as a fillable/printable PDF toward the end of the form. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. The form will not be able to be submitted until all required fields are completed.
Please read these instructions carefully and thoroughly.
Before You Begin
Make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (click here to download).
A scanner may be necessary to upload supplemental documents to the form. If you do not have access to a scanner, there are a number of scanner apps available for smartphones and tablets. Some recommended apps are Scannable by Evernote, Adobe Scan, CamScanner, and Scanner App. These are all available at no cost in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
To upload a combined PDF file, you will need access to a program that can combine PDFs. There are a number of free, online programs that will allow you to do this. The Adobe website offers this free service (click here).
Important Note for Mac/Apple Users: Fillable PDFs linked within the comprehensive form may not open properly in Safari. We strongly recommend using an alternate browser such as Google Chrome or FireFox to complete these forms. This applies to Apple tablets and smartphones as well.
Saving and Submitting
This comprehensive Charge Conference form can be saved so that work does not have to be completed in one session. Simply click the blue “save” button at the bottom of the form and come back to it later by using the links in your church dashboard. In order to return to the saved comprehensive form, the form MUST be accessed through the church dashboard. Accessing the form by its web address will open a blank form and will create multiple entries for a single church. Once the form has been completed and saved, submit by clicking the green “submit” button. If changes need to be made to a form that has already been submitted, please contact Cindy Rollins.
Filling Out the Comprehensive Charge Conference forms
After logging into the church dashboard, the link to access the comprehensive Charge Conference form will be on the left navigation panel. Forms will remain available through October 2.
Click on “Start this form” to begin work. If you wish to work on your form and then come back later, scroll to the bottom of the form and click the blue “Save” button. This will save your progress so that you can return to it later.
To return to your forms, click the link again on the church dashboard and then click “Edit this form.” You may also print from this screen or at any time from the dashboard. Please note that the print option will not print attachments. It simply prints the form and the information you have entered into the fields.
After saving your progress, the home screen will show a summary of the fields that are missing answers (if there are any). Open this summary by clicking the arrow beside “Required questions are missing answers.”
Once all forms are completed, you are ready to submit the forms. Enter the name of the person preparing the forms in the available space and click submit.
Once submitted, your forms will be reviewed. If a problem is found, you will be contacted by a staff person. Otherwise, the forms will be approved and prepared for your District Superintendent.
If you have questions about the charge conference timeline, content of the forms, or need your church dashboard username or password, please contact Cindy Rollins at cindy@sgaumc.com or 229-201-9998. Stacy Mays at the Administrative Services office can also assist you with dashboard username/password needs at admin@sgaumc.com or 478-738-0048. If you need technical assistance, contact Meredyth Earnest at meredyth@sgaumc.com or 229-726-0634.
Our timeline for the charge conference season is as follows:
August 1: Online charge conference forms are now live and accessible through your local church dashboard. Links and instructions can be found on this page.
August 31: District Superintendents will provide charge conference schedules for their districts no later than this date. Remember, charge conferences will be done in clusters.
September: During the month of September, it is expected that churches will hold the various meetings required for the Charge Conference documents to be discussed and approved, i.e. pastor’s compensation with the Staff-Parish Relations, then Finance, then the Administrative Board/Council, or the nominations slate from the Lay Leadership to the Administrative Board/Council.
September 30: Local Church meetings are completed by this date to approve the items being submitted for charge conference.
October 2: All charge conference forms are due (regardless of the date of your charge conference). All forms are to be submitted through the dashboard, including the signature page, by this date. Forms will not be accepted by mail or email. Questions should be addressed to Cindy Rollins.
October 1 to November 12: All charge conferences will be held during this period.