Admission and Continuance as anAssociate Member
419. Eligibility and Rights of Associate Members--Associate members of an annual conference are in the itinerant ministry of the Church and are available on a continuing basis for appointment by the bishop. They offer themselves without reserve to be appointed and to serve as their superiors in office shall direct. They shall be amenable to the annual conference in the performance of their ministry and shall be granted the same security of appointment as probationary members and members in full connection.15
1. Associate members are eligible for ordination as deacons but may not be ordained elders unless they qualify through probationary membership for membership in full connection in the annual conference (424).
2. Associate members shall have the right to vote in the annual conference on all matters except the following: (a) constitutional amendments; (b) election of delegates to the General and Jurisdictional or central conferences; (c) all matters of ordination, character, and conference relations of ministers.
3. Associate members may serve on any board, commission, or committee of an annual conference except the board of ordained ministry and the board of trustees (733.1, 2513.1). They shall not be eligible for election as delegates to the General or jurisdictional or central conferences.
4. Ordained ministers of Methodist or United Churches from nations other than the United States serving as missionaries certified by the General Board of Global Ministries within the bounds of an annual conference may be affiliate members of the conference, without prejudice to their relationship to their churches of origin (1432.5a).
5. Associate members shall be subject to the provisions governing sabbatical leave, leave of absence, location, retirement, minimum salary, and pension.
15See Judicial Council Decision 554.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 419
1996 United Methodist General Conference