by Tom McAnally
This article is the fifth in a series of Interpreter features designed to help United Methodists understand the issues, people and planning for the denomination's international legislative body, the General Conference. The quadrennial assembly of 1,000 delegates will be held April 16-26 in Denver.
A more formal survey of the 1,000 delegates--half clergy, half lay--is being conducted by the church's General Council on Ministries and will be released in October.
A preliminary report from the Commission on the Status and Role of Women indicates that the percentage of laywomen will increase from 50.3 in 1992 to about 51.9 in 1996. A tally conducted by the Division of Ordained Ministry shows an increase in the percentage of clergywomen from 18.4 in 1992 to 25 percent in 1996.
Women Delegates on the Rise
According to an informal tally by United Methodist News Service, at least 25 of the 68 annual conferences in the United States have women--both clergy and lay--chairing their delegations. All but about nine of the 68 U.S. conferences will have at least one clergywoman delegate.
In at least a dozen U.S. conferences, women were the first clergy elected. For the first time, two delegates--one lay and one clergy--from the Spanish-speaking Rio Grande Conference are women: the Rev. Minerva Carcaņo and Mary Silva. In South Carolina, the first clergy and lay delegates elected were women: the Rev. Shiela D. Rogers and Carolyn Briscoe.
The Rev. Kelly Clem of Piedmont, Ala., was elected to General Conference by the North Alabama Conference. Clem received international media attention in 1994 when a Palm Sunday tornado destroyed the Goshen United Methodist Church, killing 20 worshipers including her 4-year-old daughter, Hannah.
Since serving as a lay delegate to the 1992 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, Shirley Lynn was ordained and will be representing the Memphis Conference as a clergy delegate to the 1996 General Conference.
The total number of ethic minority General Conference delegates in the United States is thought to have increased slightly over 1992. Informal surveys indicate 6 Native Americans were elected, down by two; 122 African Americans, up about 25; 19 Asian-Americans, about the same; and 10 Hispanic Americans, down slightly.
West Coast Group Most Ethnically Diverse
Possibly the most ethnically diverse delegation will come from the California Pacific Conference. In its 16-member General Conference delegation, half are White, three are African American, two are Hispanic American, two are Japanese American, and one is Korean American. Two of the seven clergy delegates from the Northern Illinois Conference are Korean American.
Several delegations are headed by African-Americans: Tennessee, the Rev. James King; Baltimore-Washington, the Rev. Skip Keels; Missouri East, the Rev. Rhymes H. Moncure Jr.; Missouri West, the Rev. Theodore Collier; Northern Illinois, the Rev. Jonathan Keaton; and Mississippi, the Rev. Joe May.
Among conferences electing youth and young delegates was East Ohio, which will send to General Conference Timothy Yost, 16, a high-school junior; and Dan Griffith, a college freshman.
Veteran Delegates Will Be There
John J. Thomas, an attorney from Brazil, Ind., has the distinction of being the delegate attending the greatest number of General Conferences. Thomas, who chairs the commission planning the 1996 General Conference, has been a delegate to every general and jurisdictional conference since 1964.
Red Bond, a layman from Dyersburg, Tenn., elected as first alternate to the 1996 conference, has attended every General Conference since 1960 except for the 1968 assembly, and every Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference since 1956.
Heading the Central Illinois delegation will be Richard E. Reeves, a layman who chairs the building and grounds committee for Africa University. He was elected first alternate in 1964 and has served at every General Conference since 1966 except the 1984 assembly.
Another long-time delegate attending his eighth General Conference and ninth jurisdictional conference from Virginia is Judge Jerry Bray, 82.
Among executives of churchwide agencies elected to the General Conference were the Rev. Charles Yrigoyen Jr., general secretary, Commission on Archives an History (Eastern Pennsylvania), and the Rev. Randolph Nugent, general secretary of the Board of Global Ministries (New York).
The number of General Conference delegates in 1996 from outside the United States has increased by 22 people--from 116 to 138. In addition, 10 delegates will represent autonomous churches that have concordat relationships with The United Methodist Church. The two groups will constitute almost 15 percent of the 996 delegates. The denomination's constitution limits the number of delegates to no more than 1,000.
Tom McAnally, director of United Methodist News Service, has worked in the newsroom at every General Conference since 1964.
The 1996 United Methodist General Conference, to be held April 16-26 in Denver, will be a family affair for some.
California Nevada Annual Conference members meeting in June elected a husband-wife team on the first ballot to represent them at the Denver gathering: Paul Extrum-Fernandez and the Rev. Renae Extrum-Fernandez.
Elected to General Conference by the Baltimore-Washington Conference were husband-wife team the Rev. Skip Keels and Christine Keels.
Ohio may be among states electing the largest number of parent-child combinations. Attending General Conference conferences for West Ohio will be lay leader Alfred Rhonemus and his daughter, the Rev. Sharon Hausman; and the Rev. Margaret Mallory and her daughter Gabrielle Mallory. East Ohio Conference elected a father-son-nephew combination to General Conference: the Rev. Charles Yoost, Mansfield District superintendent; his son Timothy, a highschool junior; and his nephew Dan Griffith, a college freshman.
Memphis Conference may have the only local church represented by three General Conference delegates: First Methodist Church in Dyersburg, Tenn., will send senior pastor Dossie Wheatley and associate pastor Susan Sharpe as delegates; R. H. "Red" Bond was elected first lay alternate to General Conference.
Two churches in the Ohio West Conference each have two delegates: The Rev. Margaret Mallory and her daughter Gabrielle from First Church, Dayton; and the Rev. C. Joseph Sprague and Carol Ann Bradley from North Broadway Church, Columbus.
General Conference Will Be 'Family Affair' for Some