At the 2025 Michigan Annual Conference, lay and clergy members will vote on several UMC constitutional amendments that seek to move the denomination toward greater equity.

JAMES DEATON
Content Editor

At last year’s historic General Conference, delegates voted in favor of four amendments to The United Methodist Church’s constitution. These proposed changes to this core governing document must now be ratified by each annual conference. Over 120 annual conferences currently comprise this global connectional body, and each of them will hold a vote sometime this year.

Eligible lay members and full-member clergy of the Michigan Annual Conference will have a chance to cast their vote on Saturday, May 31, 2025, based on the tentative schedule. To prepare, those eligible to vote are encouraged to visit this web page for more information about the amendments, which have been translated into the four official languages of General Conference: English, Portuguese, Swahili, and French.

The spirit of the four amendments is in line with major decisions made at the 2020/2024 General Conference, which called for greater inclusion, reinforced the church’s commitment to anti-racism and building God’s beloved community, and took steps toward restructuring the denomination to promote greater equity among annual conferences worldwide.

In summary, the four proposed amendments will:

• • Create regional conferences with equal power to adapt portions of the Book of Discipline based on their cultural context and ministry needs. This set of amendments, packaged into one ballot, will begin to implement the “regionalization” plan, which was supported by General Conference delegates by a 586 to 164 vote. Learn more.
  • Add the words “gender” and “ability” to Paragraph 4, Article IV, which would prevent pastors from denying a person membership in a local United Methodist congregation because of their gender or if they have a disability. General Conference affirmed this proposed amendment by a vote of 607 to 67. Learn more.
  • Strengthen Paragraph 5, Article V, by explicitly recognizing the church’s role in combating racism, racial inequity, colonialism, white privilege, and white supremacy. General Conference delegates voted for the amendment by 621 to 59. Learn more.
  • Clarify in Paragraph 35, Article IV, who can elect the clergy delegates serving at general conference and jurisdictional conferences, which elect bishops. The amendment clarifies the educational requirements for licensed local pastors to participate in clergy delegate elections. General Conference delegates supported this proposed amendment by a vote of 547 to 99. Learn more.

The United Methodist Church is structured similarly to the U.S. government, with a constitution providing the basic outline for the organization of the denomination, the office and role of the bishop, and the Judicial Council as the body to rule on matters of church law. The constitution is found in the first part of the Book of Discipline.

Like the U.S. Constitution, the United Methodist Church’s constitution can be changed, but a ratification process must be followed. First, an amendment must be approved by at least a two-thirds majority vote at a general conference, which happened last year. Then, the amendment must win at least two-thirds of the aggregate vote at annual conferences. Watch this video to learn more about how the constitution can be amended. Download this FAQ sheet and share it with your congregation.

Unlike other items voted on by annual conferences, constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of every individual vote cast worldwide. Because each vote contributes to the overall outcome of the aggregate vote, every vote matters.

Eligible lay members and full-member clergy of each annual conference will cast a simple yes or no vote for each of the four ballots. The ballots can be debated but not modified. Each person’s vote will be recorded and then forwarded for inclusion in the final tally.

The results of the aggregate vote will not be known until the Council of Bishops meets in early November 2025, after all 127 annual conferences in Africa, Europe, the Philippines, and the United States have voted. The denomination will wait until then to see if 66.67% of worldwide voters favor the amendments. This also means that the voting results of the Michigan Annual Conference will not be shared publicly to protect the integrity of the voting process.

In the coming weeks, MIconnect will share additional articles about the proposed amendments and commentary from our eight General Conference delegates from Michigan. Additionally, educational videos and materials will be provided to lay and clergy members preparing to attend the 2025 Michigan Annual Conference.

The elected delegation from the Michigan Conference, which attended the 2020/2024 General Conference, voted in favor of the four proposed amendments and now endorses them for consideration and approval by eligible lay members and full-member clergy of the Michigan Annual Conference. Other general agencies have endorsed specific amendments, which you can read on this web page.

Eligible voters are encouraged to carefully review the text of the proposed amendments and supplemental resources on this web page. If there are unanswered questions about any of the amendments, they are welcome to contact the Michigan Conference’s delegation directly via this email address: [email protected].

Last Updated on March 19, 2025