General Conference 2024

Polity is the way an organization governs itself. Under United Methodist polity, the General Conference is the only body authorized to speak on behalf of the United Methodist Church. The General Conference is comprised of an equal number of lay and clergy delegates (between 600-1000) elected by their annual conferences around the world. Lay members elect the lay delegates and clergy elect the clergy delegates. General Conference meets every four years under normal circumstances.

General Conference (GC) was scheduled to meet in 2020 in Minnesota, and the delegates were elected for that meeting in 2019. However, GC2020 was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Judicial Council has ruled that the General Conference that will begin on April 23, 2024 in Charlotte, NC is actually the postponed GC from 2020. This is important since it means the delegates elected in 2019 are the ones who will go to Charlotte. Petitions and legislation originally submitted for the GC2020 are still on the agenda, along with new petitions and legislation that have been submitted during a period that was opened to allow for such submissions in light of changing circumstances in the world and the church.

Obviously, the church has undergone changes since 2016 (the last time General Conference met in its regular session), the most significant being the season of disaffiliation that was allowed during the period of 2019-2023. The legislation that permitted disaffiliation expired on December 31, 2023. There are a number of meetings the Indiana Conference, and individual districts, have planned to inform those interested about what might happen at the upcoming General Conference. You can learn more about those here: https://www.inumc.org/events/in-the-know/2024-05-05/

We will be engaging in a sermon series during Eastertide on our vows as United Methodists titled “A Disciple’s Path.” It’s loosely based on James Harnish’s book of the same name, which is what we use in our New Member’s class. We’ll be focusing on our core Wesleyan values, beliefs, and vows as United Methodists as we head into this season of the General Conference. It’s important to remember who and whose we are, along with the vows we make as members of the United Methodist Church.

Too much disinformation and bad information was shared and passed around during the period of disaffiliation. Let’s not allow that to happen again. Let’s stay focused on what makes us Christian and United Methodists. Let’s focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and join in the work of the Holy Spirit in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.