Whereas, we believe the total of lay and clergy members has grown too large, imposing burdensome costs upon the church; and
Whereas, the unwieldy size of our conference bodies limits significant participation by the members; and
Whereas, many of the retired clergy do not attend the sessions because of ill health, living at distant locations, or lacking interest in participation, thus resulting in an imbalance of lay and clergy members; and
Whereas, our times call for realism in the way we conduct the business of the church and for a leaner and more rigorous discipline that confers greater meaning to conference participation;
Therefore, be it resolved, that in an effort to reduce the total number of voting members, clergy members, upon retirement, will have voice but not vote in the annual conference sessions. An exception will be observed for retired clergy serving an appointment. While under appointment, retired clergy will retain the right to vote, that right to be relinquished upon termination of the appointment. The number of non-voting retired clergy members of an annual conference will not be included in the formula to equalize lay and clergy membership.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 20869-CO-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference