All that General Conference Passed

by

June 25, 2024 | UM News

Key Points:

  • United Methodist News has compiled a list of all the legislation that this year’s historic General Conference moved forward.
  • The chart includes brief summaries as well as when the legislation takes effect.
  • Beyond constitutional amendments, most legislation takes effect in the United States on Jan. 1, 2025. However, legislation will take effect later in central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.

When General Conference opened April 23, the lawmaking body of more than 750 United Methodists from around the globe had 1,099 petitions to consider.

By the assembly’s closing worship on May 3, the delegates had voted to support more than 500 pieces of legislation — setting a new course for The United Methodist Church. Some legislation took effect immediately.

To give readers a sense of the scope of what passed, United Methodist News has assembled a chart of all the petitions that the delegates moved forward. The chart includes each piece of legislation’s calendar item (basically the number assigned to it for consideration on the floor), a brief summary of what it does, the final vote tally and when it takes effect. Where possible, the summaries link to UM News articles or other websites where readers can gain more information on the legislation.

See the chart of legislation approved at this year’s General Conference.

Below is more information about the chart.

What does the chart include and not include?

Not included in this chart is legislation that was not approved by General Conference or referred to another denominational body for further discussion.

The chart does include four petitions approved by General Conference that would amend the denomination’s constitution. To come to fruition, constitutional amendments also need to be ratified by at least two-thirds total voters in the denomination’s annual conferences — organizational bodies consisting of lay and clergy voters from multiple congregations. Whether they are ratified won’t be known for about 18 months.

When does legislation take effect?

Beyond constitutional amendments, most legislation takes effect in the United States on Jan. 1, 2025. However, legislation takes effect later in central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.

Central conferences have the authority to adapt much of what passed at General Conference to their own legal and missional context. In central conferences where the primary language is not English, legislation does not take effect until 18 months after General Conference, to provide time for both adaptations and translations. In English-speaking central conferences, most legislation takes effect after the central conference convenes and publishes what it has decided to adopt or amend of any General Conference actions that are adaptable.

Some General Conference actions are not open to adaptation by central conferences. That includes the new slate of Social Principles just approved, changes to the Book of Discipline’s section on the Ministry of all Christians and the denomination-wide budget. The chart notes those changes that are not adaptable.

ResourceUMC has more information on effective dates.

What types of legislation does General Conference consider?

General Conference delegates deal with three types of petitions.

  • The first, and biggest, category makes changes to the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s governing document that contains its constitution, doctrine, church laws, rules of organization and procedures.
  • The second category determines the contents of the Book of Resolutions, which include General Conference-approved policy statements on current social issues. Resolutions expire after eight years unless General Conference readopts them. Because of COVID-caused delays, the previous General Conference was eight years ago, which means all resolutions were up for consideration.
  • The third type of changes are NonDisciplinary and includes actions such as the denomination-wide budget.

Why are so many vote counts the same?

Delegates approved most legislation — without any floor debate — on General Conference consent calendars, which is why multiple pieces of legislation passed by the exact same tallies. Consent calendars allow delegates to approve multiple petitions in bulk if they received overwhelming support in legislative committees, which met during General Conference’s first week, and have no impact on the denomination’s budget or constitution. 

How is the chart organized?

Based on readership metrics during General Conference, UM News tried to present the legislation in the order of greatest interest.

UM News also sought to group pieces of legislation together in categories that would make sense to readers. Our hope is that this will be a helpful resource before the new Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions are published in January next year.

Where can people see more information?

The Daily Christian Advocate contains the proceedings of General Conference. To see PDFs of each Daily Christian Advocate during General Conference and the content of each calendar item, visit umcgc.org/dca. 

Heather Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News.