Oct. 3, 2018
The United Methodist Judicial Council will partner with United Methodist Communications to livestream oral hearings held during the Council’s fall meeting at the Placid Hotel in Zürich, Switzerland.
All of the oral hearings will take place on Oct. 23, beginning at 8:30 a.m. CEST (Central European Summer Time) – which is six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (2:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The hearings will be open to the public and broadcast on the denomination’s website, www.UMC.org/live, as well as via Facebook at www.Facebook.com/resourceUMC. Hearings will remain available on the website throughout the month to make it convenient to watch despite time zone differences and will also be archived at www.umc.org/who-we-are/judicial-council-october-2018-webcast.
More information about the docket for the meeting, which takes place Oct. 23-26, 2018, is available online. Only Dockets 1, 12 and 13 involve oral hearings. Docket 12 hearings will be divided into three sections corresponding to the three plans coming from the Commission on a Way Forward, with a break between each. This will give an opportunity for comments and questions to be raised separately for each plan.
The schedule for oral hearings is as follows:
Docket No. 1018-12 IN RE: Petition for Declaratory Decision from the Council of Bishops regarding the constitutionality of three sets of legislative petitions known as the One Church Plan, Connectional Conference Plan, and Traditional Plan.
8:30 – 9:40 AM CEST (Part I: One Church Plan) Petitioner: Council of Bishops - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes) Respondent: Rev. Tom Berlin, (10 minutes) Supporting Amicus: Thomas Starnes, Esq. (10 minutes) Opposing Amicus: Rev. Keith Boyette, Esq. (10 minutes) Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
10:00 – 11:00 AM CEST (Part II: Connectional Conference Plan) Petitioner: Council of Bishops) - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes) Respondent: Patricia Miller (10 minutes) Supporting Amicus: Rev. Keith Boyette, Esq. (10 minutes)Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
11:20 AM – 12:30 PM CEST (Part III: Traditional Plan) Petitioner: Council of Bishops - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes) Respondent: Rev. Thomas Lambrecht (20 minutes) Opposing Amicus: Thomas Starnes, Esq. (10 minutes) Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
Docket No. 1018-13 IN RE: Petition for Declaratory Decision from the Commission on the General Conference regarding the meaning, application, and effect of ¶¶ 13, 14, 15, 34, 35, 36, and 511 of The Book of Discipline 2016 in relation to a violation of the General Conference Rules of Order.
2:00 – 3:00 PM CEST Petitioner: Commission on the General Conference - Stephanie Henry, Audun Westad, Rev. Gary Graves, Sara Hotchkiss (20 minutes) Respondent: Council of Bishops - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes) Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
Docket No. 1018-1 IN RE: Petition for Declaratory Decision from the Council of Bishops regarding the constitutionality, meaning, application, and effect of ¶¶ 2718.3 and 2718.4 of The Book of Discipline 2016.
3:30 – 4:50 pm CEST Petitioner: Council of Bishops -- Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes) Respondents: Rev. Robert Zilhaver (20 minutes) Rev. Kimberly Reisman (20 minutes) Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
Decisions of the Judicial Council will be posted on the website 12 to 72 hours after the conclusion of the meeting on Friday at noon.
The Judicial Council, the highest judicial body or "court" of The United Methodist Church, meets twice a year to determine whether actions of the denomination’s official bodies conform to church law, either on appeal of lower rulings or through requests for declaratory decisions. The nine-member council is elected by the General Conference.