Chapter Six
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
Section I. General Provisions
801. Agencies and General Agencies--1. The term agency, wherever it appears in The Book of Discipline, is a term used to describe the various councils, boards, commissions, committees, divisions, or other units constituted within the various levels of church organization (General, jurisdictional, central, annual, district, and charge conferences) under authority granted by The Book of Discipline; the term does not and is not meant to imply a master-servant or principal-agent relationship between these bodies and the conference or other body which creates them, except where the authority is specifically granted.
2. The general agencies of The United Methodist Church are the regularly established councils, boards, commissions, committees, or other units with ongoing responsibilities which have been constituted by the General Conference. Not included are such commissions and committees as are created by the General Conference to fulfill a special function within the ensuing quadrennium, ecumenical groups on which The United Methodist Church is represented, or committees related to the quadrennial sessions of the General Conference.1 The term "general agency" or "agency" wherever it appears in The Book of Discipline in reference to a general agency does not and is not meant to imply a master-servant or principal-agent relationship between such a body and the General Conference or any other unit of the denomination, or the denomination as a whole.
1See Judicial Council Decision 139.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 801
1996 United Methodist General Conference