During a local UM annual church conference, is there a difference between “Church” conference and “Charge ” conference denotation?
Answer There is a very precise difference between a Church and a Charge Conference. According to the 2008 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 246, a Charge Conference is a meeting of the Representative Lay Leadership — i.e., all Church Council members — and retired clergy of the Church; it is called and presided at by the District Superintendent. According to the 2008 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 248, a Church Conference is a Charge Conference with membership opened to all the Professing Lay Members of the Church and retired clergy, as requested in writing by the Pastor, the Church Council, or 10% of the Professing Membership, authorized and presided over by the DS. Full Professing Members of the local church can nominate persons, ask questions, or vote on matters affecting their church ONLY at Church Conference meetings, NOT at Charge Conferences. If a session is denoted as a “Charge Conference,” then only those members of the Church Council — the Representative Leadership of the Church
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