2528. Charge or Cooperative Parish Board of Trustees--1. A pastoral charge composed of two or more Churches, each having a local board of trustees, may have in addition a Board of Trustees for the charge as a whole. This board shall hold title to and manage the property belonging to the entire charge, such as parsonage, campground, burial ground, and such other property as may be committed to it. It shall receive and administer funds for the charge in conformity with the laws of the state, province, or country in which the property is located. This board shall consist of not less than three persons, at least two-thirds of whom shall be members of The United Methodist Church and of legal age as determined by law. These trustees shall be elected by the charge conference for three years or until their successors are elected.
2. A cooperative parish composed of two or more charges may have, in addition to its charge trustees and local Church trustees, a board of trustees for the cooperative parish as a whole. This board shall hold title to and manage the property belonging to the cooperative parish in accordance with 2503, 2527, 2528. These trustees shall be elected by the charge conference and/or Church local conference related to the cooperative parish and shall be representative of each congregation which composes the cooperative parish.
3. The board of trustees of a charge shall provide for the security of its funds, keep an accurate record of its proceedings, and report to the charge conference to which it is amenable.
4. When two or more local Churches compose a single pastoral charge having a parsonage and one or more thereof is separated from such charge and established as a pastoral charge or united with another pastoral charge, each such local Church shall be entitled to receive its just share of the then reasonable value of the parsonage in which it has invested funds, with the exception that those Churches departing from a circuit who had joined the circuit after the parsonage was acquired, would have no claim on any value of the parsonage. The amount of such value and just share shall be determined by a committee of three persons, appointed by the district superintendent, who shall be members of The United Methodist Church but not of any of the interested local Churches. Such committee shall hear all interested parties and shall take into account the investment of any church in any such property before arriving at a final determination. From any such determination there is reserved to each of the interested churches the right of appeal to the next succeeding annual conference, the decision of which shall be final and binding. Any sum received as or from such share shall not be applied to current expense or current budget.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 2528
1996 United Methodist General Conference