General Conference
What We Know Now
- General Conference has been postponed to 2024. You can find the full announcement here. Exact dates and location are forthcoming.
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We anticipate that all submitted legislation will be properly before General Conference when it meets, though we are waiting on a definitive answer. Additionally, in a recent Judicial Council ruling, The United Methodist Church’s top court said that any postponement of the General Conference resets the submission deadlines for proposed legislation. That means that additional legislation, including legislation that was previously deemed late, may be submitted to the General Conference and properly before the session. This would include the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace.
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Because the 2020 General Conference was postponed, it is our understanding that the delegates elected at the 2019 South Georgia Annual Conference will continue to serve.
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The South Georgia Conference has a policy in place for a local church to disaffiliate from the annual conference. To allow local churches additional time to have any necessary conversations, Bishop Graves has called a special session of the Annual Conference for August 20 to vote on matters related to local church disaffiliations.
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The Judicial Council, The United Methodist Church's top court, ruled that current church law does not allow annual conferences in the U.S. to withdraw from the denomination.
- The Judicial Council says that the Council of Bishops can call jurisdictional conferences to elect and assign new U.S. bishops.
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The mission of The United Methodist Church and the mission of your local church is unchanged. We have confidence that all our churches will continue to share the love of Christ with those around them.
Helpful Resources
- FAQs on the postponement of General Conference
- FAQs specifically related to disaffiliation
- Video: Bishop Graves' response to the postponement (March 6)
- Video: FAQ with Bishop Graves around denominational matters, disaffiliations, and the South Georgia Conference (March 29)
Video: General Conference Postponed to 2024
Video: FAQs with Bishop Graves
**We have broken the video down into sections by question. Click here to view all videos.
ADCA/Legislation to General Conference 2021
The Advance Daily Christian Advocate (ADCA) contains the agenda, rules, delegate listings, petitions, reports from the general agencies/commissions and study committees, information for delegates, and codes of conduct for the General Conference. The official written languages of the General Conference for publication of the Advance edition include English, French, Kiswahili and Portuguese. Bound printed volumes of the ADCA may be purchased from Cokesbury. These PDF versions are provided for your convenience.
View and download (PDF):
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Volume 1 (Handbook for Delegates)
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Volume 2, Section 1 (Reports and Proposed Legislation)
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Volume 2, Section 2 (Reports and Proposed Legislation)
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Proposed legislation to implement the Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation
**Please note: We anticipate that all submitted legislation will be properly before General Conference when it meets in 2024, though we are waiting on a definitive answer. Additionally, in a recent Judicial Council ruling, The United Methodist Church’s top court said that any postponement of the General Conference resets the submission deadlines for proposed legislation. That means that additional legislation, including legislation that was previously deemed late, may be submitted to the General Conference and properly before the session.
Feedback about General Conference
From Bishop Bryan: I have appreciated the feedback I received from clergy and laity over the past year when I have asked for your input. This feedback is helpful to me, and I use it to help guide future conversations. I want to do the same thing as we look towards General Conference. Here is a link to communicate with me any thoughts you have at this point. Let’s keep the conversation going!