1007. Organization--1. Membership--a) The membership of the council shall consist of:
(1) One member from each annual conference and missionary conference within the United States and Puerto Rico elected by the jurisdictional conference from a list of nominees submitted by each annual conference and each missionary conference which shall include at least one laywoman, one layman, and one from the clergy, with special attention to the inclusion of clergywomen. The nominations from the annual conference shall be made from the General Conference delegates. If there is not an adequate number of persons from the nominees, additional nominees may be selected from the jurisdictional delegates, and if additional nominees are further required, they may be selected from the membership of the annual conference. The above members shall consist, so far as possible, of one-third laywomen, one-third laymen, and one-third clergy.
(2) A bishop from each jurisdiction and one bishop from the central conferences selected by the Council of Bishops (see 810.10);
(3) One youth from each jurisdiction under the age of eighteen at the time of their election nominated by the jurisdictional youth ministry organization and elected by the jurisdictional conference;
(4) One young adult under age thirty at the time of their election from each jurisdiction elected by the jurisdictional conference;
(5) One nonstaff representative or alternate selected by each of the general program agencies;
(6) Fifteen additional members to be elected by the council;
(7) Three persons from central conferences, one clergy, one laywoman, one layman, and one alternate for each (who may attend if the elected member for whom he/she is the alternate cannot attend) nominated by the Council of Bishops and elected by the General Council on Ministries;
(8) The general secretaries who serve as the chief executive officers of the general program agencies; the publisher and a representative of the General Board of Publication; the general secretary and a representative of the General Commission on Archives and History; the general secretary and a representative of the General Commission on Communication; and the director of the Advance shall be members with voice but without vote.25
b) Members of the council representing annual conferences, members at large, and bishops, except the bishop from the Western Jurisdiction, shall not serve on any boards or commissions or the divisions thereof having representation on the General Council on Ministries.
c) Of the additional members elected by the council, in order to ensure that one-fourth of the council's membership may represent racial and ethnic groups, it is recommended that there shall be not less than two representatives from each of the following groups: Asian Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. (The council shall receive nominations from the racial and ethnic caucuses and ethnic annual conferences of these respective groups prior to the report of their nominating committee.) Insofar as possible, these additional members should be one-third laywomen, one-third laymen, and one-third clergy, with special attention to the inclusion of at least one clergywoman from each jurisdiction.
d) In order to ensure representation of older adults, it is recommended that at least one clergy member, one layman member, and one laywoman member be over sixty-five years of age.
e) It is recommended that each jurisdictional conference give consideration to electing to membership on the council at least one-third of the same persons elected to the council by the preceding jurisdictional conference.
f) When the committee selected to nominate the additional members of the General Council on Ministries meets prior to the organizational meeting, it shall determine the number of persons nominated by the annual conference and elected by the jurisdictional conference who were members of the council the previous quadrennium. If the number is less than twenty, the nominating committee shall nominate enough persons from the eligible membership of the council in the previous quadrennium to bring this number to twenty. These persons shall be in addition to the fifteen additional members.
g) The members of the council shall serve for four years or until the convening of the organizational meeting. No voting member shall be eligible to serve for more than two consecutive four-year terms.
h) If a bishop is unable to attend a meeting of the council, that bishop may designate an alternate bishop from the same jurisdiction.
2. Meetings--Before the end of the calendar year in which regular sessions of the jurisdictional conferences are held, all persons who have been elected to membership on the council, including additional members nominated, shall be convened by an active bishop designated by the president of the Council of Bishops for the purpose of organizing.
The council shall meet at least once during each calendar year. It may meet in special session or at other times upon the call of the president or upon the written request of one-fifth of its members.
3. Officers--The council shall have a president, one or more vice-presidents, a recording secretary, and a treasurer elected from the membership of the council. The president of the council shall be its presiding officer. Officers shall be elected for terms of four years and shall continue until their successors are duly elected.
4. Internal Structure--The council shall determine its internal structure as it deems necessary for the performance of its duties.
5. Advance Committee--There shall be an Advance Committee, which shall have general oversight of the Advance for Christ and His Church. It shall be organized under the authority and direction of the General Council on Ministries. It shall consist of twenty members of the General Council on Ministries.
a) Director of Advance--(1) There shall be a Director of the Advance, nominated by the Advance Committee from the staff of one of the participating agencies and elected by the General Council on Ministries. The participating agencies are National and World Divisions and United Methodist Committee on Relief and Mission Education and Cultivation Departments of the General Board of Global Ministries; Division of Program and Benevolence Interpretation of the General Commission on Communication; General Council on Ministries; and the General Council on Finance and Administration.
(2) The salary and related benefits of the director shall be paid by the participating agency. Other administrative costs of the Advance shall be borne by the General Council on Ministries.
(3) While continuing as a staff member of the participating agency, the director shall be a staff member of the General Council on Ministries related to the Advance Committee.
b) Responsibilities of Director--The responsibilities of the director of the Advance shall be:
(1) To coordinate the total program of the Advance, including its promotion, cultivation, and administration.
(2) To coordinate the staff work required of the participating agencies within the Advance.
(3) To report directly to the Advance Committee concerning the program and progress of the Advance.
(4) To keep a record of all general Advance special projects.
c) General Advance Special Projects--It shall be the responsibility of the Advance Committee to determine which projects are approved to receive general Advance special gifts (914.2). The Advance fosters partnership between those who give and those who receive and affirms the right of persons to determine the priority of their own needs. Projects shall therefore be proposed by authorized persons closely related to the project and shall be recommended to the Advance Committee by the administering agency. The Advance Committee may consider and approve proposals for either specific projects or broadly designated causes, such as a type of work, a country, a region, or an administrative unit.
d) Administering Agencies--Agencies authorized to recommend projects and receive and administer funds for general Advance special projects shall be the World and National Divisions and United Methodist Committee on Relief Department of the General Board of Global Ministries, and such other agencies as are designated by the General Council on Ministries. The administering agencies shall report annually to the Advance Committee on the financial progress of projects and assist in providing programmatic information as requested.
No project within the boundaries of an annual conference shall be approved by the Advance Committee for promotion, cultivation, and administration as a mission Advance special without consultation with the annual conference council on ministries and the board or agency delegated responsibility for missions by the annual conference.
6. World Service Special Gifts Committee--a) There shall be a World Service Special Gifts Committee within the council to give administrative oversight to the World Service special gifts program, including establishing the procedure and criteria for approving specific projects, providing for staff administration of the program, and assuring program accountability to the council by the administering agencies. The council shall make provisions for the General Council on Finance and Administration and administering agencies to have representation with voice but not vote. Any costs related to such representation shall be borne by the respective agencies.
b) In the World Service special gifts program, it shall be the responsibility of the General Council on Ministries to determine which projects are approved to receive World Service special gifts (913) under guidelines approved by the General Conference.
(1) All general boards and commissions except those units of general agencies authorized to receive general Advance special gifts are authorized to recommend World Service special gift projects for approval by the council, provided the project is specifically related to one or more of the disciplinary functions of the recommending agency.
(2) The participating agencies shall report annually to the council on the financial progress of World Service special gift projects and assist in providing programmatic information as requested.
(3) No World Service special gift project within the boundaries of an annual conference shall be approved by the council without consultation with the director of annual conference council on ministries.
7. Staff--The council shall elect annually a general secretary and associate general secretaries as needed. The elected staff shall sit with the council with voice but without vote.
25See Judicial Council Decision 423.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 1007
1996 United Methodist General Conference