1006. Responsibilities--The responsibilities of the council shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. Upon a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Council on Ministries present and voting, and upon a two-thirds vote of the Council of Bishops present and voting, to make changes in missional priorities or special programs necessitated by emergencies or by other significant developments between General Conferences which substantially affect the life of the Church, and to make adjustments in program budget allocations accordingly; provided that such adjustments are made within the total budget set by the previous General Conference; and provided, further, that such adjustments are made after consultation with the affected boards and agencies and approval by a two-thirds vote of the General Council on Finance and Administration.
2. To take the following actions, in sequence, with respect to recommendations to the General Council on Finance and Administration for the allocation of World Service funds to general program agencies:
a) The General Council on Ministries shall, in consultation with the General Council on Finance and Administration and the general program agencies, develop recommendations to the General Council on Finance and Administration on needs of the general program agencies for the programs, missional priorities, and special programs.
b) The General Council on Ministries shall receive the recommendation the General Council on Finance and Administration proposes to make to the General Conference as to that portion of the total World Service budget to be available for distribution among the general program agencies.
c) The General Council on Ministries, after reviewing both the program priorities and the total funds available to the general program agencies, shall recommend to the General Council on Finance and Administration the amount of the annual World Service allocation to each of those agencies, within the total sum proposed by the General Council on Finance and Administration for distribution among such agencies.
d) Only when the General Council on Ministries and the General Council on Finance and Administration agree on the allocations to several general agencies shall these allocations be included in the World Service budget to be recommended to the General Conference by the General Council on Finance and Administration.
e) Before the beginning of each year the General Council on Finance and Administration shall determine and communicate to the General Council on Ministries the sum available at that time from World Service contingency funds to meet requests for additional funding from the general program agencies. The General Council on Ministries shall be authorized to approve allocations to the general program agencies for such additional program funding up to the limit so established. No money shall be allocated by the General Council on Ministries from this source for general administrative costs, fixed charges, or capital outlay without approval by the General Council on Finance and Administration.
f) The General Council on Ministries shall receive from the General Council on Finance and Administration copies of the proposed annual budgets of the general program agencies, in order that it may review such budgets in relation to the program proposals made by those agencies in their quadrennial budget requests.
3. To designate, in cooperation with the General Council on Finance and Administration, the general agency to undertake a special study ordered by the General Conference when the conference fails to make such a designation.
4. To assign responsibilities for implementation of themes, missional priorities, and/or special programs initiated between sessions of the General Conference to the general program agencies or to special task forces created by the General Council on Ministries.
5. To coordinate the denomination's efforts to incorporate the contributions and concerns of the ethnic local Church into all programs, budgets, agenda, and resources.
6. To assure the development of a unified and coordinated program for promoting of the connectional ministries of the Church, the General Council on Ministries shall:
a) Approve the scheduling and timing of all national/global conferences, convocations, and/or major consultations of general program agencies subject to the approval of the General Council on Finance and Administration of plans for financing such meetings;
b) Maintain a calendar of meetings on behalf of all agencies of The United Methodist Church as an aid to the agencies in regulating the number and the timing of such meetings;
c) Review all plans of the general program agencies for the production, distribution, and timing of the release of free literature and promotional resource materials (except Church school literature), avoiding duplication of both materials and activities.
7. To recommend to the General Conference, after consultation with the Council of Bishops, the number and timing of special days which are to be observed on a churchwide basis; provided that the General Council on Finance and Administration shall make recommendations to the General Conference as set forth in 906.11 regarding the special days to be observed with offering; and provided further, that the Council of Bishops and the General Council on Finance and Administration may authorize a special financial appeal in an emergency.
8. To relate to annual conferences, their councils on ministries, or other corresponding structures:
a) To provide resources for them related to their basic tasks;
b) To enhance two-way communication with them;
c) To assist the conference councils in developing comprehensive approaches to planning, research, evaluation, and coordination; and
d) To inform conference councils of significant issues identified through the monitoring of trends in society and the Church.
9. To consider the plans of any general program agency to publish a new periodical (except Church school literature). Any general program agency proposing to publish such a new periodical shall submit its request to the council. If the council disapproves, the agency shall delay such publication until the proposal can be submitted to the General Conference for determination.
10. To consult with the general program agencies, the General Commission on Communication, and the president and publisher of The United Methodist Publishing House with regard to their publishing and communication policies in order to avoid unnecessary overlapping and duplication.
11. To resolve any overlapping in structure or functions or lack of cooperation among the general program agencies by:
a) coordinating interagency programs where two or more general program agencies are involved, unless otherwise specified by the General Conference;
b) approving the creation of any ongoing interagency committee or task force;
c) receiving reports and recommendations from such committees or task forces; and
d) appointing, when appropriate, observers to attend the meetings of any interagency group, including those that are part of the structure of program agencies.
e) Sponsoring in cooperation with the general program-related agencies through the general secretaries, a quadrennial joint training event for annual conference program-related agencies.
12. To study the connectional structures of The United Methodist Church and, after consultation with the general agencies, recommend to the General Conference such legislative changes as may be appropriate to effect desirable modifications of existing connectional structures. Any such proposed legislative changes that would affect general fund budget allocations shall be studied in connection with the General Council on Finance and Administration and shall be recommended to the General Conference by these two councils acting in concert.
13. To provide for the training of the annual conference council on ministries directors and to provide jointly with the Division of Ordained Ministry of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the Council of Bishops the training of district superintendents.
14. To review and evaluate the effectiveness of the general program agencies in fulfilling the ministries assigned to them (see 802.3).
15. To keep under review the concurrence of general program agencies with the Social Principles (70-76) of The United Methodist Church.
16. The general secretary of each general program agency that is accountable to the General Council on Ministries shall be elected annually by ballot of the General Council on Ministries upon the nomination of the agency involved. Any general secretary of a general program agency who has not been elected by the General Council on Ministries shall not serve in such capacity beyond the end of that calendar year. Each program agency shall elect annually by ballot its deputy and associate general secretary(ies) and may elect or appoint such other staff as may be necessary.24
17. To give leadership to and participate in planning and research for The United Methodist Church, thereby helping all levels of the Church to evaluate needs, set goals, and plan strategy; to coordinate planning and research for the denomination in cooperation with the general program agencies of The United Methodist Church; and maintain a list of research and planning documents received from the general program agencies and the annual conferences.
18. To determine the need for and to develop and implement plans for themes, missional priorities, and/or special programs for the ministry of the Church for any particular quadrennium and, after consultation with the Council of Bishops, to recommend them to the General Conference for consideration.
19. To devise and implement measures to assure full, effective representation and participation of central conference members in the work of The United Methodist Church.
20. To report to the General Conference for its approval a summary of all decisions and recommendations made dealing with program changes and structure overlap.
21. To review, with the program agencies, all valid resolutions and positions adopted by the General Conference, and recommend to the General Conference the removal of time-dated materials.
22. To receive reports from and refer matters to the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns on the participation of The United Methodist Church in the various aspects of ecumenism.
23. To organize the Advance Committee which shall have general oversight of the Advance program.
24. To organize the World Service Special Gifts Committee which shall have general oversight of the World Service special gifts program.
25. To relate to and cooperate with the National Association of Conference Council Directors.
26. To act in concert with the General Council on Finance and Administration to establish a procedure for making a quadrennial review, initiating proposals, and/or responding to proposals by the general agencies regarding the location of headquarters and staff and report the same to the General Conference. (See 907.2.)
24See Judicial Council Decisions 499, 567.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 1006
1996 United Methodist General Conference