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The Mission
The mission of the Church
is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the
world. Local churches provide the most significant arena through which
disciple-making occurs.
The Theology
United
Methodists profess the historic Christian faith in God, incarnate in
Jesus Christ for our salvation and ever at work in human history in the
Holy Spirit…. Our heritage in doctrine and our present theological
task focus upon a renewed grasp of the sovereignty of God and of God’s
love in Christ amid the continuing crises of human existence. The
Doctrinal Standards include the Articles of Religion of the Methodist
Church, the Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren
Church, and the Sermons and Notes of Methodist Movement founder John
Wesley.
The Organization
The United Methodist Church is self-described as intentionally decentralized and democratic.
There is no single central office or leader. The Constitution of the
church defines the basic organization of the denomination. Within the
governance structure are three branches that produce a system of checks
and balances:
- Legislative: The conferences and General Conference, the only entity that can speak for the denomination as a whole
- Executive: The Council of Bishops and general agencies
- Judicial: The Judicial Council
The Conferences
General Conference
— 600 to 1000 delegates elected by annual conferences every four years;
half are laity, half are clergy representing annual conferences around
the world. This is the sole body that can set official policy and speak
for the denomination. General Conference action may result in changes to
the denomination’s Book of Discipline, or church law, and Book of
Resolutions, the church’s stance on social issues, which is considered
instructive and persuasive, but not binding. United Methodist general
agencies are created by and responsible to the General Conference.
Jurisdictional/Central Conferences
— In the United States, the United Methodist Church is divided into
geographic areas known as jurisdictions, which provide program and
leadership. Every four years, coinciding with General Conference, the
Jurisdictional Conferences meet to elect bishops and select members for
general boards and agencies. Central Conferences are annual conferences
outside of the United States and have considerable freedom under the
United Methodist Constitution to adapt disciplinary procedures to
conditions of their areas as long as these procedures do not violate the
Constitution or General Rules of the United Methodist Church.
Annual Conferences
— The Constitution of the United Methodist Church refers to the annual
conference as the basic body in the church. Each year all clergy members
and an equal number of lay members selected from the local churches
attend sessions to worship and attend to the business of the conference,
including the ordination of clergy members and election of delegates to
general and jurisdictional conferences.
District Conferences
— The Discipline allows annual conferences to organize district
conferences. Each district is led by a district superintendent, an elder
appointed by the bishop to oversee the ministry of the district’s
clergy and churches.
Charge (Church) Conference
— The United Methodist Constitution mandates a charge conference for
each church or charge. All elected to the charge conference must be
professing members of the United Methodist Church. The pastor is the
administrative officer. To encourage broader participation, the charge
conference may be convened as a church conference, extending the vote to
all professing members of the local church present at such meetings.
The Council of Bishops
The Council of Bishops stands as the executive branch of the United Methodist Church.
The bishops elected from the elders of the church at jurisdictional
conferences and central conferences make up the Council of Bishops, who
are directed to provide spiritual and temporal oversight for the entire
church but have specific leadership responsibilities within their
episcopal area, which is comprised of one or more annual conferences.
Bishops are assigned by their jurisdiction or central conference to
serve in their area for a four-year term. Bishops preside over sessions
of the General Conference, but they do not have a vote.
The Judicial Council
The Judicial Council
presides over the judicial administration of the United Methodist
Church and is made up of nine members, clergy and laity, who serve for
eight-year terms. The General Conference determines the number and
qualifications of members, terms of office, method of election and
filling of vacancies. Members are limited to two terms. The council is
required to review each decision on a point of law made by a bishop
during an annual conference session and hear other cases coming from an
official body of the United Methodist Church asking for a declaratory
decision regarding the legality of a specific action. All decisions of
the Judicial Council are final.
Agencies and General Agencies
The Discipline includes the agencies and general agencies in its section on Administrative Order.
These entities — described as an aspect of connectionalism — are
charged with equipping the local churches for ministry and providing a
connection for ministry throughout the world, offering opportunities to
carry out mission in unity and strength. The agencies consist of the
regularly established councils, boards, commissions, committees or other
units with ongoing responsibilities constituted by the General
Conference. All general agencies are amenable to the General Conference
except as otherwise provided. The chief staff officer of a general
program agency is known as the general secretary.
Role of Connectional Table
General Conference in 2004 created the Connectional Table
as a place for collaboration, conversation and decision to oversee the
coordination of mission, ministries and resources across the
denomination. Between sessions of the General Conference, these agencies
are accountable to the Connectional Table: The Board of Church and
Society, the Board of Discipleship, the Board of Global Ministries, the
Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the Commission on Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns, the Commission on Religion and Race,
the Commission on United Methodist Men and the Commission on the Status
and Role of Women.
Administrative Agencies
These are general boards and commissions with primarily
administrative and service functions and include: Board of Pension and
Health Benefits, The United Methodist Publishing House, the Commission
on Archives and History, and the Commission on Communication, the last
two of which also carry program-related responsibilities to which they
are accountable to the Connectional Table.
Council on Finance and Administration
The Council on Finance and Administration
is the chief financial body of the denomination. The Discipline
mandates the council be incorporated in such state or states as the
council may determine. The council reports to and is amenable to the
General Conference and cooperates with the Connectional Table in the
compilation of budgets for program agencies. All monies contributed by a
local church to any of the general funds and other funds authorized by
General Conference are held in trust by the council and distributed only
in support of the ministries of the respective funds. The council
submits budgets for each general fund of the United Methodist Church to
General Conference and makes recommendations regarding other funding
considerations to come before General Conference, in cooperation with
the Connectional Table, which develops recommendations on needs of the
general program agencies.
Compiled by the Rev. Joan G. LaBarr
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