Organization.----1. Membership. a) The voting members of the Council shall be elected quadrennially by the General Conference, and shall consist of forty persons nominated as follows:
(1) three bishops, nominated by the Council of Bishops;
(2) six persons from each jurisdiction, nominated by the bishops of that jurisdiction;
(3) one person from an annual conference in the Central Conferences, nominated by the Council of Bishops; and
(4) six members at large, at least one of whom shall be a youth under the age of eighteen and at least one of whom shall not be over thirty years of age at the time of election, and most of whom shall be elected for special skills. The members at large shall be nominated by the Council of Bishops without reference to jurisdictions.
b) It is recommended that attention be given to ensuring adequate representation of racial and ethnic groups, with at least two of the at-large members to be racial and ethnic persons. It is further recommended that, in the membership from each of the jurisdictions and the at-large members, one-third be clergy in full connection, one-third be laymen, and one-third be laywomen.
c) The general secretaries who serve as the chief executive officers of the general agencies and the publisher of The United Methodist Church shall be members of the council but without vote.
d) The voting members, including bishops, shall not be eligible for membership on, or employment by, any other general agency of The United Methodist Church (¶ 801.2), except where The Book of Discipline specifically provides for such interagency representation. Members shall also be guided by such conflict of interest policies and provisions as may from time to time be adopted by the General Conference or by the council itself.
e) Members shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified.
f) Vacancies occurring between sessions of the General Conference shall be filled by the council on nomination of the College of Bishops of the jurisdiction concerned (see ¶ 812), if the vacancy is among members chosen to represent a jurisdiction, or, in the event of a vacancy among the episcopal, Central Conference, or at-large members, on nomination of the Council of Bishops.
The provisions of §§1a, 1b related to the number of members shall become effective in relation to members nominated and elected for service beginning in the year 2000. During the 1996-2000 quadrennium, vacancies occurring between sessions of the General Conference in the at-large membership shall not be filled unless the vacancy results in there being fewer than six at-large members. All other provisions of the paragraph shall take effect immediately upon adjournment of the 1996 General Conference.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 21569-FA-905.1-D
1996 United Methodist General Conference