A special session of the Annual Conference to address disaffiliation
Bishop David Bard has announced that the Michigan Conference will hold a Special Session of the Annual Conference to address requests by some local churches to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church. The special session will be held online on Thursday, November 30th at 7:00 pm EST/6:00 pm CST. Those 2023 members of the Annual Conference who register for this special session will receive a secure voting ZOOM link in November. The session will also be carried live on the Michigan Conference Facebook page.
ELIGIBILITY
All churches currently in the Michigan Conference, including local churches who are processing to disaffiliate, are eligible to be included in the Corporate Session vote to approve disaffiliations. Questions about the conference membership status of your local church need to be directed to your trustees or District Office. This listing of churches that will be part of the disafilliation vote will be announced after November 1st.
TO STAY UNITED METHODIST
Those members of disaffiliating churches who wish to remain United Methodists are encouraged to contact Conference leadership by clicking #StayUMC.
Participant Requirements
- Clergy Members who are in good standing with the Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church as of November 30, 2023.
- Lay Equalization Members who held office for the 2023 Annual Conference, and whose church has not disaffiliated effective July 1, 2023.
- Local Church Lay Members who were elected in 2022 to attend the 2023 Annual Conference, and whose church has not disaffiliated effective July 1, 2023.
- If your Local Church Lay Member cannot participate, and no alternate was elected at your 2022 Charge Conference, your pastor must be in contact with your DS to hold a special Charge Conference to elect a new Lay Member to Annual Conference for 2023.
- If you were elected at a Charge Conference this fall to be the Lay Member to Annual Conference, this responsibility begins in 2024.
Registration closed on October 31 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. There are no late registrations allowed.
#Be United Methodist: Committed to grace
The Conference Leadership Council, the basic governance council of the Michigan Conference responsible for implementing the Conference’s vision, affirms the following values of mutual recognition in all matters of disaffiliation and separation, values recently articulated by the Council of Bishops:
● Agree not to actively disparage one another with our words and actions that seek to undermine the ministry of the other.
● Declare mutual recognition of Christ in the other as individuals as well as constituted churches and look for the fruit of God’s Spirit in the ministry and mission.
● Will faithfully and carefully exercise the disciplinary requirements of the sacraments, ministry, and mission.
We encourage Michigan United Methodists, whether they plan to stay or depart, to embrace and embody these values.
Last Updated on January 30, 2024