General Conference News Feed

April 27, 9:30 p.m.

Hawaiians seek formal apology from The UMC

From Western Jurisdiction Communications: When examining its history for a 150th anniversary celebration, First UMC of Honolulu uncovered a direct correlation between the colonization of Hawai’i and The United Methodist Church.

The harm the church caused and the desire to bring truth to the island-state’s history lessons has led individuals to request a formal apology from The United Methodist Church on behalf of native Hawaiians at this General Conference

“We’re going home and hopefully saying ‘The United Methodist Church recognizes what they’ve done and hope for repentance and reconciliation,” said Rev. Amy Wake, pastor of Trinity UMC in Pearl City, Hawai’i.

To understand the story more fully, watch the YouTube video members of the Hawai’i District of the California-Pacific Conference created.

Removing Ban on LGBTQ Clergy Moves Forward

From Mark R. Holland, Mainstream UMC: The committee in which I serve, Faith and Order, voted today (April 26) to delete all of ¶304.3 that states in part “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals may not be ordained.” Further, the deletion was amended to make it effective at the close of this General Conference, rather than waiting until Jan. 1, 2025, which is the usual procedure. The vote was an astonishing 43 to 9. It will go on the consent calendar next week unless someone pulls it off.

Financial Administration removed the funding bans that in 2016 made it impossible to fund programs to prevent the suicide of LGBTQ youth. Seriously. Gone. The vote was 56-8.

The subcommittee for the Conferences committee bundled and rejected all the disaffiliation petitions and voted to repeal ¶2553. The vote was 20-2. It (went) to the full committee on Saturday (April 27). This is the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s (WCA) only priority and they may not even have the votes to keep it off the consent calendar. Either they have no friends left in the UMC or they have thrown in the towel. Clearly, all their talk about Africa wanting disaffiliations is as ridiculous as we thought.

This place is filled with grace. There is a notable absence of the WCA bullies who used to strut around General Conference harming everyone. The true Traditionalists who have spoken in committee are graceful. In Faith and Order, three people spoke humbly about why they did not want to remove the ban on LGBTQ ordination. One woman is from West Angola and she said this was not her understanding of the Bible. Another woman is from Mozambique and she said she does not agree with homosexuality. One man from Mississippi said they had already lost 50% of their churches and he is afraid that with this action they could lose half again. None of these people were plants with scripted, targeted, mean speeches. These are real people telling their real story. Powerful.

What are young adult UMs feeling?

From Northern Illinois Conference update: Churches wanting to strengthen their ministry with young adults need to first understand the challenges they face.

Chris Wilterdink, director of Young People’s Ministries for UM Discipleship Ministries, says that economic pressures, the cost of living—especially housing— continue to rise, while unemployment and wage growth continue to be difficult to navigate. Older generations continue to work longer and delay retirement, limiting the opportunities for young people to grow professionally.

Some young people have delayed or opted out of pursuing theological education or beginning the process of becoming clergy because they doubt there will be churches or an organization that can provide a job or a living wage upon completion of their process, he said.

He also noted that some young people were not provided with adequate information or access to voting during local church disaffiliation processes, resulting in a sense of disenfranchisement.

Fewer young adults are serving as delegates at this year's General Conference, in part because some of them aged out of young adulthood since they were elected over eight years ago.

Women's Petitions Moving to Plenary Vote

From United Women in Faith: Every petition submitted by United Women in Faith to the 2024 United Methodist General Conference has moved forward: 18 have passed committee, and one has passed subcommittee and will be voted on by the full committee today. We are thrilled the church supported women and children in this way, and we look forward to the same support by the full body. 

The 18 petitions that passed committee all had fewer than 10 votes against them, so this allows those petitions to appear on a consent calendar, which is a collection of multiple pieces of legislation on which the General Conference can vote on all at once. The plenary will vote on them in the coming days. 

LYNC will host a series of lunchtime speakers

From the Love Your Neighbor Coalition newsletter: These will be from noon-1:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, Dogwood Room C. Bring lunch with you on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. A light lunch will be provided on Tuesday. Come and hear what they have to share on these justice topics:

Monday, April 29: Deaconess Joy Prim will share about her work with Filipino women in the Philippines and Hong Kong. Her work covers broad human rights areas and supports United Methodist policies and resolutions.

Tuesday, April 30: Rev. Won-Seok Yuh and Rev. Amy Wake will share about the petition for Acts of Repentance and the UMC’s need to repent for its responsibility for the armed overthrow of the independent nation of Hawaii in 1893 and the illegal annexation in 1898.

Wednesday, May 1: Rev. T.C. Morrow will share about witnessing in public spaces, particularly government places of power, and her work with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, including efforts to end long-term solitary confinement in prisons, jails, and detention centers.

NEW ADDITION! Thursday, May 2: Pieter Friedrich is a US-based independent journalist and author of four books. He will talk with us about the rise of persecution of Christians in India, the source and ideology driving it, the direness of the situation, and how it simultaneously impacts other religious minorities.

Offending symbol removed

From Joey Butler, UM News: The Love Your Neighbor Coalition sent a note of thanks to Bishop Thomas Bickerton after a yoga symbol considered offensive by a caucus of United Methodist Asian Americans was removed from the General Conference stage. The New Federation of Asian American United Methodists published an open letter to Bickerton on April 24 explaining that the symbol is offensive because it is used by the Hindu Nationalist government to persecute religious minorities such as Christians, Muslims and Sikhs.

Update on Rules

From the Mainstream UMC Day 1 recap:

Adoption of Rules

Adopting the rules is always the first item of business. There are 42 rules spanning 140 pages. Really. Most notable perhaps are the pains taken to preserve voting integrity and reduce inappropriate influence. In prior General Conferences there were significant concerns about improper voting, including people pretending to be someone else. Also, the conservative advocacy groups, Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA), Good News, and the Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD) famously encouraged international delegates to fly in a week early and would host them in a very slanted orientation to manipulate votes. They also gave international delegates cell phones to receive voting instructions. They would also host breakfasts and dinners for international delegates throughout the General Conference which were more opportunities to pass out voting sheets and manipulate decisions.

The Commission on the General Conference made several changes to counter this inappropriate behavior. International delegates would have airfare covered to come in 3 days early for an orientation provided by the General Conference itself. Now, all meals are provided onsite for all delegates instead of relying on per diems. We now have our photo on our badges and a QR code so we are scanned in and out of each official meeting. We also have a voting card linked to our name and ID.

Most startling is the General Conference Rules Committee added to our official rules: “Delegates are free to vote according to their conscience without interference by others observing, monitoring, or recording their votes. Persons shall not give or accept bribes or threaten delegates in order to influence voting.”

Wow. No provisions were needed to keep centrist and progressive advocacy groups honest.

Update and comparison on delegates present.

• 2019 After the first day of registration, there were 786 out of 864 present. A 9% absentee rate representing 78 missing delegates. Registrations continued through the week.
• 2019 When the One Church Plan was voted upon, there were 822 votes cast, representing a 5% absentee rate representing 42 missing. This is based on voting and not registrations.  Abstentions were not recorded.
• 2024 After the first day of registration, there were 751 out of 862 present. A 13% absentee rate representing 111 missing. Registrations will continue this week.
• 2024 We will see the final numbers as the week progresses.

Resolution on Discrepancy in Representation

3:29 p.m. April 24

Thanks to Methodist Federation for Social Action, here is the full text of the Rev. David Livingston's resolution addressing the representation discrepancy caused by the absence of Central Conference delegates:

The delegates agreed upon rules, and overwhelming passed a resolution by Rev. David Livingston (he/him) from Great Plains concerning Central Conference delegates, mainly from the continent of Africa, who were not approved for travel visas:

Whereas, Central Conference delegations at General Conference have historically not been fully seated, including more than 30 delegates at the 2016 and 2019 sessions, and

Whereas, the 2020 general conference held in 2024 has an even greater discrepancy than previous conferences, and

Whereas the Commission on General Conference have not provided clear and transparent information about reasons for the levels of participation from central conferences, invitation letters, flights, housing, and delegate information, and

Whereas, this lack of transparency has created rumors of conspiracy and questions of credibility, and

Whereas, having not held a regular session of General Conference since 2016, it is not reasonable or plausible to delay denominational action by postponing or canceling General Conference again,

Therefore, be it resolved that, the 2020 General Conference:

1. Affirms the concerns raised by Central Conferences (those outside the US) and others about the large discrepancy between the number of delegates allocated and the number in attendance from central conferences.

2. Implores the Secretary of the General Conference to submit a written report to be published with clarity and full transparency why this discrepancy as well as delays in housing, flights, invitation letters, and delegate information occurred.

3. Instructs the General Commission on General Conference to include proportional representation from each central or regional conference in planning future sessions to assure that specific concerns of each region are adequately addressed.

4. Be it further resolved that, while we acknowledge that the gathered session is valid and duly called based on Paragraph 506, we urge the delegates to the delayed 2020 General Conference to make every effort to listen to and carefully consider voices from regions that are l underrepresented so that the decisions of the body represent the will of the whole denomination as best as possible.

In general we will do legislative committee work with full plenary sessions coming next week—where we will work to remove discrimination language in our Discipline, revise our Social Principles, and pass regionalization. We will try to send out a daily update, as news necessitates. 

Conference Communicators Are on the Ball

3:22 p.m.  April 24

We want to give a big shout-out to the annual conference communicators working diligently to bring General Conference news to the folks back home. Not only are they making good use of technology, they have a real feel for what the home folks want and need to know. Here's an example from Amy Ezell, communicators director for the Arkansas Annual Conference:

Says Amy: Please continue to follow the Conference's Facebook page, the ARUMC website, Bishop Merrill's Facebook page, Amy Ezell's Facebook page, and any of our delegate's personal pages for updates.

Here's a Full Quote from Bishop Bickerton

3:19 April 24

Thanks to the Love Your Neighbor Coalition newsletter for this full quote from Bishop Thomas Bickerton's opening sermon: "The opening address by Bishop Thomas Bickerton, outgoing President of the Council of Bishop’s Invited those who are not were not here for the purpose of making a better United Methodist Church to leave, saying, 'Don't you tell us we do not believe in the authority of the Scripture, Don't you tell us we do not believe in the resurrection, and Don't you tell uws we do not believe in the Holy Spirit. If you do then why are you here? You are in the wrong place.'"

We at Insight were unable to catch the full quote for our story because we couldn't discern speech from the livestream in the press room. That's when the editor went to the plenary hall observation area where the sound was better. (Sorry, folks, about my hearing disability; I'm doing the best I can with what I've got to work with.)

Petitions from Disaffiliated Sponsors Disqualified

3:04 p.m. April 24

From Joey Butler of UM News: By unanimous vote, the Committee on Reference declared as disqualified on April 22 all petitions from individuals, churches and conferences no longer associated with The United Methodist Church. 

Disappointing Young People's Address

11:10 a.m. April 24, 2024

Hate to say it, but the Young People's Address is deeply disappointing -- too long, too talky and without the kind of visuals that one would expect from young people. First misstep on a General Conference clearly focused on healing trauma and building hope for the future. COMMENT from Facebook said we're imposing OG expectations on young people. Au contraire, we're seeking to understand themes that weren't apparent from the presentation and comparing it to the excellent Episcopal Address.

Day Two Morning Reflections

7:54 a.m. April 24

Missing morning worship at 8 a.m. 

Today is a day filled with legislative committee meetings. There are 14 committees dealing with various aspects of the Book of Discipline. While delegates and advocates have cited three R's  regionalization, Revised Social Principles and removal of "harmful language" regaring LGBTQ persons, yesterday's speakers cited a fourth concern -- the four-year church-wide budget. See the list of legislative committees here.

The plentary hall where votes are held is set up in a L-shaped, with delegates and staff on one side and observers on another. Observers don't watch the proceedings directly – they see them via a giant screen. Old hands at GC proceedings see evidence of past interference and attempts at control in this configuration, which aims to prevent disruptions such as the bar-breaking demonstrations by inclusion advocates that have occurred at nearly every GC since 1996. Efforts at control were especially pronounced at the special called General Conference in 2019, when both observers and media were kept away from delegates by separate seating.

One caucus, Mainstream UMC, is holding the equivalent of pep rallies at 7:30 each morning to energize supporters and demonstrate its advocacy for the three R's.

One personal gripe: Holy Communion for the press room during opening worship consisted of plastic-wrapped thimbles of juice topped with a miniscule pillow-shaped wafer, presented as "the body and blood of Jesus Christ" in one package. Presumably delegates got real bread and juice, while observers in the hall may have gotten either. Those of us committed to liturgical excellence refer to the prepackaged elements as "pop-top Jesus." Not a preferred way of communing.

Credentials Still in Dispute

5:58 p.m. April 23

According to the report of the Credentials Committee, two broad issues have affected the credentialing of international delegates:

1. False and misleading letters of invitation were sent to some delegates by an unauthorized party.
2. Some delegates were elected from churches that have since disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church and their status has not been rectified.

There were also incidences where partial or incorrect information was received from annual conference secretaries, or where delegates were not chosen according to the rules of General Conference.

A final credentials report will be submitted later.

New Voting Method for Delegates

5;12 p.m. April 23

General Conference delegates have a new electronic voting method that intends to prevent the kind of fraudulent voting that occurred during the special 2019 General Conference.

Instead of being assigned voting devices, delegates have been issued coded key cards to use with devices. They can only vote using their coded cards, unlike the 2019 sessionn when delegates could vote on more than one device.

First Impressions about General Conference

1:13 p.m.

Charlotte is a lovely city with many tree-shaded neighborhoods. We Insight staff are ensconced in a rental unit about 10 minutes from the Charlotte Convention Center to save money (as all UM churches, boards, agencies, caucus groups and individuals need to do at this event).

This is my 10th General Conference, and most likely my last. Since the big assembly usually occurs once every four years, you can do the math for yourself. Even so, there are people here with even more GC experience than I.

Because of some unknown glitch, we've only now been able to get into the press room. Thanks to Brenda Smotherman, press room manager for United Methodist Communications, we're in a good spot that is ADA accessible. Otherwise, the logistics are typical of a GCn that brings together thousands of United Methodists from all around the world: the bathrooms are almost half a football field away, the concession prices are high, and the distances from events to meeting rooms are long. On a personal note, the "down" escalator moves too fast for an old woman who uses a cane. Had to take the elevator instead. Age and infirmity are frustrating, but I see lots of other folks with canes, rolling walkers and wheelchairs.

Which says a lot about the governance of The United Methodist Church. Being now disabled myself, I don't begrudge anyone their assistive devices. Nonetheless, isn't it time we OGs made way for younger leadership? I think so, which is why Insight supports such things as the online Church of the Young Prophets organized by the Rev. JJ Warren with help from Resist Harm and Reconciling Ministries. Click here to read JJ's article on their offering for pastoral care and support during GC. How can we get more young people into leadership and make General Conference more accessible and less expensive in time, money and humanity?

While we waited to get into the press room, we sat in the food court near the "robing room" where bishops and clergy put on their clerical garb. It was a nostalgia fest to see so many bishops I've known during my 36 years reporting on the UMC at all levels, and to note the episcopal friends from past GC'sm no longer with us -- among them Jack Tuell, Cal McConnell, Felton May, Judith Craig, and most of all, Leontine Kelly, the first African-American female bishop who was so kind to me when I started out.

Elsewhere, Darryl Stephens notes that this is the end of the UMC as we have known it. He's right, of course, because of the great upheaval of disaffiliation, but at the same time, that's always the way with each General Conference. The entire Book of Discipline is open for revision during General Conference, even without a petition for change because legislation can affect other BOD parts as well. It's "fruit basket turnover," as my United Methodist Reporter managing editor, the late John A. Lovelace, always said.

Perhaps it's because I'm moving toward retirement, but I'm deeply missing my former Reporter colleagues this go-round, because they taught me so much about collegiality, the church, and striving for exxcellence in our journalism profession. Of the team with whom I started, John Lovelace, Denise Johnson Stovall, Dan Louis, and the incomparable Spurgeon M. Dunnam all have gone home to Jesus, where I've no doubt they're putting out the Heavenly Herald through eternity. I miss their good company and I hope I do justice to the memory of their past work at this General Conference.

A final word: None of this would be possible without the organization and support of Associate Editor John Astle, my beloved spouse, a faithful churchman himself, and the greatest gift I've ever received. Like all diligent church administrators, he works behind the scenes to make sure the up-front ministry takes place. Whatever comes from this point forward, know that he's the wizard behind the curtain and he's the real deal!

– Cynthia B. Astle, Insight Editor