705. Business of the Conference--1. The session shall open with a period of devotion, followed by a call of the roll, including the roll of the local pastors and diaconal ministers.
2. The annual conference, to expedite the transaction of its business, may adopt an agenda as a basis of its procedure. Such agenda shall be prepared by the bishop, the district superintendents, the conference lay leader and such others as the conference may name, and shall be submitted to the conference for adoption.
3. Members for all standing committees, boards, and commissions of the annual conference shall be selected in such manner as the annual conference may determine or as the Discipline may specifically require.34 Attention shall be given to inclusiveness (103, 113).
For the purpose of adjusting tenure a certain number of members may be elected or appointed for particular terms. Members shall hold office until their successors are elected. For the annual conference agencies provided for by the Discipline see 707.1 and for the agencies established by the annual conference itself see 707.2.
4. The business of the annual conference shall include the receiving and acting upon reports from the district superintendents, the officers, the standing and special committees, the boards, commissions, and societies and also the making of such inquiries as the Council of Bishops shall recommend by the provision of a supplemental guide.35
5. The agenda of the annual conference shall provide time for an address/report which shall be the responsibility of the conference lay leader.
6. The annual conference shall make inquiry into the moral and official conduct of its ordained ministers. In response to the inquiry whether all clergy members of the conference are blameless in their life and official administration, the district superintendent may answer for all the preachers in the district in one answer, or the Board of Ordained Ministry may make inquiry of each district superintendent about each ordained minister in the district and make one report to the bishop and the conference in open session.36 Questions relating to matters of ordination, character, and conference relations of clergy shall be the business of the clergy session. The actions of the clergy session shall be for and on behalf of the annual conference. The provisions of The Book of Discipline applicable to an annual conference shall also be applicable to the clergy session. All clergy members (701.1) of the annual conference and the elected lay members or observers of the board of ordained ministry may attend and shall have voice in the clergy session. Only the ordained clergy in full connection may vote (701.1a). Others may be admitted by express action of the clergy session but shall not have vote, nor, unless specifically granted by the clergy session, shall have voice (422).
7. At the conclusion of the examination of the standing of the ordained ministers in the conference or at such later times as the bishop may designate, the presiding bishop may call to the bar of the conference the class to be admitted into full connection and receive them into conference membership after asking the questions to be found in 425. This examination of the ordained ministers and the passing of their characters may be the business of one session.
34See Judicial Council Decision 559.
35See Judicial Council Decision 367.
36See Judicial Council Decisions 42, 406, 534, 555.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 705
1996 United Methodist General Conference