Untitled Sermon (10)

Central Conferences: What they are and why they matter

Basic Terms

General Conference - General Conference, ¶¶ 8 Article I, 13 Article I – 22 Article VI, 501-511

“The General Conference has full legislative power over all matters distinctively connectional (see ¶ 16, Division Two, Section II, Article IV, The Constitution). It has no executive or administrative power.” (Paragraph 501)

“No person, no paper, no organization, has the authority to speak officially for The United Methodist Church, this right having been reserved exclusively to the General Conference under the Constitution. Any written public policy statement issued by a general Church agency shall clearly identify either at the beginning or at the end that the state- ment represents the position of that general agency and not neces- sarily the position of The United Methodist Church” (Paragraph 509 sub section 1)

Annual Conference - ¶¶ 11 Article IV, 32 Article I – 36 Article V, 40 Article IV – 41 Article V, 369.1, 601-657

“The purpose of the annual conference is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by equipping its local churches for ministry and by providing a connection for ministry beyond the local church; all to the glory of God.” (Paragraph 601)

Central Conference - ¶¶ 31.5&6 Article IV, 101, 543.7&16, 547.3 (see more specifics below)

Colonialism - “control by one power over a dependent area or people” (Webster Dictionary definition

Historical background

Started in England which was of course a colonizing country, and eventually moved to the U.S. which was the same

The Central conference became a form of check and balance on colonialism

When and why was the Central Conference established?

When - “In 1940 the MC established a General Conference Commission on Central Conference Affairs in order to coordinate the relationship of the widespread central conferences with the predominantly American General Conference.” (Frank, Location 4676-4678)

Why - The longtime relationship of predominantly white U.S. United Methodism as sender of missionaries and resources and conferences of other countries as receivers endures in many provisions of the Discipline. (Frank, Location 4666-4668)

Who is on the Annual Conference?

“The central conference shall be com- posed of clergy and lay members in equal numbers, the clergy members elected by the clergy members of the annual conference and the lay members by the lay members thereof…...Each annual conference and provisional annual confer- ence shall be entitled to at least two clergy and two lay delegates, and no other selection of delegates shall be authorized that would provide for more than one clergy delegate for every six clergy members of an annual conference….” (Paragraph 541 sub section 1)

“...provided that a central conference shall have a total of at least thirty clergy and thirty lay delegates on the basis of representation as set forth in this section…” (Paragraph 540 Subsection 2)

Where are the Central Conferences? (can I get a map of them)

“The United Methodist Church shall have central confer- ences with ministries in the following countries:

a) Africa Central Conference: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swa- ziland, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe;

b) Central and Southern Europe Central Conference: Alba- nia, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Ser- bia, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Tunisia;

c) Congo Central Conference: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Zambia;

d) Germany Central Conference: Germany;

e) Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference: Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lith- uania, Moldova, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan;

f) Philippines Central Conference: Philippines;

g) West Africa Central Conference: Burkina Faso, Camer- oon, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone.” (Paragraph 540 subsection 3)

What does our Book of Discipline say about the Central Conferences?

What power does the Central Conference have?

“A central conference, in consultation with the bishops of that central conference, shall fix the episcopal areas and residences and make assignments to them of the bishops who are to reside in that central conference.” (Paragraph 543 sub section 5)

“A central conference shall have power to make such changes and adaptations of the Book of Discipline as the special conditions and the mission of the church in the area require, espe- cially concerning the organization and administration of the work on local church, district, and annual conference levels, provided that no action shall be taken that is contrary to the Constitution and the General Rules of The United Methodist Church, and pro- vided that the spirit of connectional relationship is kept between the local and the general church. Subject to this restriction, a cen- tral conference may delegate to an annual conference within its boundaries the power to make one or the other of the changes and adaptations referred to in this paragraph, upon the request of such annual conference.” (Paragraph 543 sub section 7)

But it comes with some limitations

“The general power conferred by the General Conference on a Central Conference to make changes and adaptations regarding the ministry and other subjects does not authorize a Central Conference or its Annual Conferences to add to or subtract from the basic ministerial obligations established and pre-empted by act of the General Conference.” (Judicial Council Decision 313)

“A central conference shall have authority to edit and pub- lish a central conference Discipline, which shall contain in addition to the Constitution of the Church such sections from the general Discipline of The United Methodist Church as may be pertinent to the entire Church and also such revised, adapted, or new sections as shall have been enacted by the central conference concerned under the powers given by the General Conference.”(Paragraph 543 subsection 16)

Central Conferences are still bound by the trust clause - (Paragraph 546 sub section 3)

The ways that this helps our ministry as an international church

It allows for the individual expressions of God’s beloved community

“Central conferences have wide latitude to adapt United Methodist polity to indigenous cultures and practices. They may govern themselves with their own Discipline, which must incorporate the Constitution and general church legislation, but then may add a central conference’s unique legislation for local churches, annual conferences, and other matters. They are free to manage church property according to local laws, and of course, to interpret Article XXIII of the Articles of Religion (loyalty to the U.S. government) in relation to their own civil governments.” (Frank, Location 4684-4688)

Some limitations

Is that it becomes more challenging to adjust as voting power changes

Could lock us in a more formalized and set system

“As part of United Methodism, though, central conferences may not enact legislation contrary to the Constitution, including the Restrictive Rules. This results in constant tests of what is appropriate for cultural adaptation and what is necessary to remain part of one internationally constituted ecclesiastical body (¶543).” (Frank, Location 4688-4691)

Parting questions to consider

Should the U.S. become a central conference?

Is legislation surrounding human sexuality a matter of cultural difference?

How might we in the future continue to be in fruitful ministry throughout the whole world?