Key Pieces of General Conference Legislation

4/18/2024

By: Matthew Johnson, Connectional Ministries and Communications Assistant

Photo of the 2016 General Conference plenary floor.

The General Conference of The United Methodist Church meets April 23 through May 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Conference delegates from around the world will discuss legislation that will impact The United Methodist Church for the next quadrennium. Today we will look at four important areas of legislation coming before the General Conference.

Worldwide Regionalization Plan

The United Methodist Church is organized in a connectional system. In the U.S., local churches make up a district, districts make up annual conferences and annual conference are combined to form jurisdictions. Alternatively, annual conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines are located within one of seven areas called central conferences.

Central conferences have the authority to make certain changes to the Book of Discipline regarding their missional needs and different legal contexts. With no provision for U.S. delegates to decide separately on matters that only effect the U.S. much of General Conference is consumed with matters that only pertain to the U.S.

The Worldwide Regionalization Plan will create a new decision-making body for the U.S. allowing General Conference to solely focus on issues with worldwide impact. The goal of the Worldwide Regionalization Plan is to achieve global equity between the worldwide regional conferences and empower each region to contextualize ministry and mission throughout the church. Click here to learn more about the proposed regionalization plan.

Human Sexuality

The General Conference is considering many pieces of legislation pertaining to human sexuality. Current proposals before the conference seek to authorize clergy, only those who choose to do so, to preside at same-sex weddings and remove the language in the Book of Discipline “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” Also, there are proposals for dropping the prohibition of annual conferences and general agencies to provide any funding for any activity or publication that promotes "the acceptance of homosexuality" and allow the ordination of self-avowed practicing homosexuals.

These proposals on human sexuality before the General Conference have no force unless they are approved. For more information on the history of the discussion of human sexuality in The United Methodist Church, click here. Click here to read The United Methodist Church’s current stance on homosexuality and click here for answers to frequently asked questions about General Conference and human sexuality.

Changes to U.S. Clergy Benefits

Wespath, the United Methodist Church’s pension and benefits agency, is making a proposal to the General Conference to move U.S. clergy to their new Compass plan. The Compass plan is a defined-contribution plan that provides an account balance to use during retirement, and clergypersons will assume the risk of sustaining retirement funds through the end of his or her lifetime. The program will offer tools to help clergy sustain retirement income and can be passed on to love one’s upon clergy’s death. Click here to learn more about Wespath’s legislative priorities.

Social Principles

Social Principles in the Book of Discipline define where The United Methodist Church stands on the most important issues facing the church, community and world. General Conference is the only body that can make changes to United Methodist Social Principles.

The 2024 General Conference will consider a whole slate of new Social Principles submitted by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. The principles were composed after listening sessions in the U.S., Africa, Europe and the Philippines. The resulting petitions will define the church’s stance on matters as diverse as poverty, climate change, immigration, substance abuse and colonialism. Click here to read the revised Social Principles pending before the 2024 General Conference.

These are just a few of the many pieces of legislation proposed before the General Conference more legislation can be found in the Advanced Daily Christian Advocate. While the adoption of some of the legislation may lead to substantial change for the next quadrennium, the mission of The United Methodist Church “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” will remain the same. As the session approaches, we must remain in prayer for the Mississippi Conference, the delegation and The United Methodist Church. Click here to stay informed with the latest and most accurate news and information during General Conference.