You are empowered to choose!
Two significant privileges and responsibilities for all General Conference delegates are memorial voting and election of The Wesleyan Church leaders.
General Conference memorials enable the entire denomination to hear the voices of those on the front lines in our local churches. Memorials are submitted by the General Board as recommended or not recommended to the General Conference. These designations indicate whether a memorial should or should not be open for debate. A delegate can, however, request a memorial be open for debate by addressing the Conference Chair.
Memorials fall into three classifications: consent agenda, statutory and constitutional.
A consent agenda allows members to vote on multiple items as a group without discussion on routine noncontroversial business items.
Statutory memorials seek to amend statutory law (“The Discipline,” paragraphs 400-7040), related to finances and church governance. These items require a simple majority vote of the General Conference.
Constitutional memorials are intended to amend the constitution (“The Discipline,” paragraphs 200-385) of the North American General Conference. Adoption of these Constitutional memorials require a two-thirds delegate majority vote at General Conference and are to be ratified by two-thirds of all the members of the North American district conferences.
To better prepare you for General Conference, three webinars covering significant memorials have been scheduled for the first week of May:
- May 3, 2022 – Memorial 52: Amendment Regarding Gifts of the Spirit (Constitutional)
- May 4, 2022 – Memorials 349 and 350: General Church Financial Plan (Statutory)
- May 5, 2022 – Memorials 125 and 126: Governance Simplification (Statutory)
Invitations to each will be emailed to you.
The election of the General Superintendent and general officers is one of the duties of the General Conference.
While “The Discipline” clearly spells out a ballot voting process for the election of a new General Superintendent, processes for a possible incumbent reelection are needed. Memorial 310: General Superintendent: Election Process for an Incumbent will be presented for consideration at General Conference. This recommended memorial seeks to establish a constitutional process whereby an incumbent General Superintendent, available for continued service, may be reelected through a yes/no ballot vote. This memorial is available for a detailed review in your delegate packet.
The General Superintendent provides the General Board with recommendations for general officers of The Wesleyan Church divisions. These recommendations are considered by the General Board who is responsible for nominating candidates to the General Conference. General Board nominees are placed on the voting ballot along with any nominations made from the conference floor. General officers are to be elected by the majority vote of the conference except for the general treasurer/chief financial officer who is elected by the General Board.
These are weighty decisions. May you consider them prayerfully, seeking to know God’s will, and may God help you to vote wisely.
If you missed previous Delegate Orientations, all posts are available by clicking here.
