Proposed Constitutional Amendments approved at the 2016 General Conference

What is a Constitutional Amendment in the United Methodist Church?
A: A Constitutional Amendment is any piece of legislation that proposes a change to Part I of our Book of Discipline (Paragraphs 1-59), otherwise known as the Constitution.  

How is a Constitutional Amendment adopted? 
A: Constitutional Amendments must first garner a 2/3 majority vote of the General Conference.  If it passes that hurdle, it then goes to every annual conference in the world for ratification.  If at least 2/3 of all of the voting members of all of the annual conferences in United Methodism approve it, the amendment is adopted.  (Changes to our first and second Restrictive Rules (Pars. 17 & 18) require an even higher threshold of 3/4.)  For instance, there are currently 131 annual conferences in United Methodism.  Even if an amendment is approved by 88 annual conferences (2/3 of the 131 conferences), it might not be adopted because the aggregate number of individual votes do not amount to 2/3.  For argument’s sake, say that each annual conference had 1,000 voting members, all of whom cast a vote.  A Constitutional Amendment would then need to get 2/3 of the aggregate votes of all 131,000 voting members across the connection (i.e. 87,333 votes from around the world). Not until all annual conferences have met, voted, and reported their results will the Council of Bishops tally and certify those results and announce whether each proposed Amendment passed or failed.

How will we vote on the proposed amendments during the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference session? 
A: The text of each proposed Constitutional Amendment and a rationale have been provided for you on pages 45-48 of your Pre-Conference Journal.  There will be a brief presentation of each amendment and then you will fill out a written ballot where you can vote on each of the five proposed amendments individually.

Are we allowed to propose changes to the Amendments? 
A: No. Voters across the connection must vote on exactly the same language approved by the General Conference in order for the results to be valid.

The amendment states that “The United Methodist Church will work collaboratively with others…” Will a list of approved partners for collaboration be developed?
A: No. There is no way to make such a worldwide comprehensive list.

Are there any groups with whom the UMC should not collaborate?
A: The Book of Discipline Par. 2533.3 points out the need for the UMC not to connect with groups whose purpose is opposed to our social principles.

Why is this Amendment needed?
A: At present, Par. 5 declares UMC’s support racial justice, but the Constitution currently makes no statement regarding gender justice.

Do clergy still have the final say as to who can become a member of the church?
A: Yes. See Judicial Council Decisions 1032, 1041 and 1044.

Does this addition address the homosexuality issue?
A: No.

How does this affect UMW and UMM?
A: It does not because UMW and WMM are cared for in the last sentence.

Why is this Amendment needed?
A: Similar to the first Amendment, this one focuses on gender equality.

If “age” is added to Constitutional Amendment 2, doesn’t that eliminate the mandatory retirement age for clergy, bishops and agency staff since the Constitution takes precedence over other sections of the Book of Discipline?
A: No, the mandatory retirement age, along with other paragraphs which set diversity standards. are not eliminated by this amendment. Certainly, there could be a challenge sent to the Judicial Council on this issue, but, historically, the Judicial Council has looked to the legislative history/intent of the legislation, and in this case, we believe they would find that the elimination of the mandatory retirement age, along with other paragraphs of required diversity, are not intended to be eliminated.”

Can an Annual Conference continue to use their current pre-Conference nomination processes?
A: Yes.

Can an Annual Conference develop its own process for the nomination of delegates from the floor of Annual Conference?
A: Yes.

Why is this Amendment needed?
A: The existing language states that there must be a “fair and open process”, but does not really define what that means.  This would preclude bishops from appointing delegates without an election, which has been the practice in some annual conferences outside of the United States.

Does this affect GNJAC?
A: No.

Why is this Amendment needed?
A: Some Episcopal Elections in Central Conferences were being held at special sessions instead of the regularly scheduled session.

The amendment states that General Conference can adopt provisions for the Council of Bishops to hold its members accountable.  Have provisions been adopted which would go into effect when/if this Amendment is certified as being passed?
A: Yes. Following the adoption of this Amendment, the General Conference approved a petition which changed Par. 413.3 to authorize the Council of Bishops to take up a Complaint against a Bishop from the College of Bishops with a 2/3 vote by the Council.  This can be done even after a Just Resolution has been reached.

Why is this amendment needed?
A: As the Constitution now exists, the Council of Bishops have no authority to hold its own members accountable.  Jud. Council Decision 1275 specifically stated: “There is no provision for anyone other than the Committee on Investigation [Par. 2706.5(c)(1]] to dismiss a judicial complaint against a bishop.  The power to refer a matter as an Administrative Complaint or a Judicial Complaint is granted to the president or secretary of the College of Bishops as the ones with whom the complaint is originally filed (Par. 413.2).  Paragraph 413.3(d) permits the president or secretary of the College of Bishops to refer or not to refer the matter as Administrative Complaint or a Judicial Complaint.  If the matter is not referred, it is effectively dismissed.”