This body is made up of 862 voting delegates with 55.9 percent from the United States, 32 percent from Africa, 6 percent from the Philippines, 4.6 percent from Europe and the remainder from concordat churches with close ties to the denomination. The health and safety of all of the delegates and other attendees is of utmost importance.Įquity and fairness in participation of this body is vitally important as the General Conference is the only body that can officially speak for The United Methodist Church. Some delegates from other countries are not as blessed as people in the United States with available vaccines for COVID-19. Not only are the visas and passports causing travel issues, there are also issues with vaccinations for COVID-19 for many delegates in other countries. As such, many delegates from outside the United States would not be able to participate in person at the General Conference. State Department that visa applications are backlogged in some countries for up to 800-plus days and the visa process also includes a complex interview process which is also backlogged and delayed. As part of the decision-making process, the commission received a report from the U.S. This decision was made based on many factors including the backlog for visas and passports for brothers and sisters from other countries that would prevent them from obtaining the necessary documentation to travel to the United States. Regional Conference legislation now available (UMC.org) Protocol’s day has passed, some negotiators say (UM NEWS).These will replace the corresponding portions printed in the 2016 Book of Discipline, and should be used when preparing petitions to the 2020 General Conference. The new text of each paragraph or subparagraph is printed below. We, the General Conference delegation, ask VAUMC 2023 to learn about this plan and vote to affirm the delegation’s discernment in advance of the 2024 General Conference. The action of the 2019 General Conference affected the following portions of the Book of Discipline. Traditionalists strongly objected to this decision and speculated it was made for political reasons. A second delay in General Conference was announced. This is important because if a regionalization plan passes at General Conference 2024, Annual Conferences will have to vote to ratify resultant constitutional amendments. Plans for an ultra-progressive Methodist denomination, The Liberation Methodist Connexion, fizzled. At the 2023 Annual Conference the General Conference Delegation will make a short presentation on this matter and move that the Virginia Annual Conference endorse the Christmas Covenant and the larger goal of regionalization. The VAUMC General Conference Delegation unanimously supports the Christmas Covenant as the wisest and most hopeful way forward for the United Methodist Church. The Christmas Covenant is a proposal for regionalization and contextualization as a way forward for the UMC. VAUMC General Conference Delegation Endorses Christmas Covenant Regionalization Plan.
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