706. Records and Archives--1. The annual conference shall keep an exact record of its proceedings according to the forms provided by the General, jurisdictional, and central conferences. If there are no archives of the annual conference, the secretary shall keep the bound copy or copies to be handed on to the succeeding secretary. The conference shall send to its jurisdictional conference or central conference copies of the minutes of the quadrennium for examination.
2. Each annual conference shall send to the General Council on Finance and Administration two printed copies of its annual journal and one printed copy to the General Council on Ministries.37
3. The annual conference journal shall include the following divisions, preferably in the following order:
a) Officers of annual conference
b) Boards, commissions, committees; rolls of conference members
c) Daily proceedings
d) Business of the annual conference report (formerly known as the disciplinary questions)
e) Appointments
f) Reports as ordered by the annual conference
g) Memoirs as ordered by the annual conference
h) Roll of dead--deceased clergy members
i) Historical
j) Miscellaneous
k) Pastoral record (including the records of accepted local pastors in such manner as the conference may determine)
l) Statistics
m) Index
4. An annual conference in the United States and Puerto Rico shall include in its journal a list of the deaconesses and missionaries, clergy and lay, active and retired, who have gone from the conference into mission service, or who are presently serving in such capacity within the bounds of the annual conference.
5. The annual conference journal shall include a listing of the consecrated diaconal ministers and their service records.
6. The secretary, treasurer, or other administrative officer named by the annual conference shall keep a complete service record of ordained and diaconal ministry personnel in the annual conference. Service records shall include but not be limited to biographical information supplied by the individual, a list of appointments, and a record of annual conference actions with regard to conference relationships. In addition to service records, the secretary, treasurer, or other administrative officer named by the annual conference shall keep descriptions of circumstances related to changes in conference relationships, credentials surrendered to the bishop or district superintendent, and confidential trial records.
7. The local church report to the annual conference shall be submitted on the prescribed forms no later than thirty days following the close of the calendar year. If the annual conference sets an earlier deadline for receiving the reports, the earlier deadline shall apply.
8. All records of secretaries, statisticians, and treasurers shall be kept according to the forms prepared by the General Council on Finance and Administration so that all statistical and financial items shall be handled alike in all conferences and that uniformity of reporting shall be established as a churchwide policy.
9. All records of candidates and ordained and diaconal ministry personnel maintained by the conference secretary, treasurer, or other administrative officer named by the annual conference, board of ordained ministry, board of diaconal ministry, board of pensions, and the district committee on ordained ministry are to be kept on behalf of the annual conference in conformity with guidelines provided by the General Council on Finance and Administration, in consultation with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, and the following principles:
a) the annual conference is the owner of its personnel records and files;
b) individuals in whose name a record is kept shall have access to the information contained in a record or file, with the exception of surrendered credentials and information for which a right-of-access waiver has been signed;
c) access to unpublished records by persons other than the bishop, district superintendent, conference secretary, treasurer, or other administrative officer or the board of ordained ministry, board of diaconal ministry, board of pensions, and the district committee on ordained ministry shall require written consent of the person in whose name a record is kept; access to trial records shall be governed by the provisions of 2626.2e, .3e).
37See Judicial Council Decision 481.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 706
1996 United Methodist General Conference