Legislation moves forward during Week Two of General Conference.
KAY DeMOSS
Senior Editor-Writer, Michigan Area
With Tuesday morning’s business underway in Portland, social media is buzzing with the question, “What is going on with legislation from Michigan?”
Good question but a complicated one.
More than mere words on paper, General Conference petitions take on a life of their own as persuasive, passionate persons move the decision making process along. Add a dose of the Holy Spirit to the human element already at work between the lines and unanticipated things can happen.
Legislative Committees completed their work on Saturday night. Members of those committees then headed into a much-needed day of rest.
At the same time a large number of the 1,000 of petitions that came to Portland in the Advance Daily Christian Advocate had been put to rest, as well. Only a fraction of those petitions had been perfected for vote by the delegates starting Monday morning.
At this hour of the afternoon on May 17, this is the status of the petitions submitted by the Detroit and West Michigan Conferences.
- All petitions (61035, 60820, 60784, 60781, and 60788) related to The Third Way were not supported in Legislative Committee. However, we are told that The Third Way will come back to the plenary when business gets underway on Wednesday morning. Be watching at 9am PDT; 12pm EDT.
- Petitions regarding Lay Equalization, including that proposed by the Detroit Conference (60015), were not supported in Legislative Committee and will not come to the plenary floor.
- The petition from West Michigan Conference concerning the Establishment of a Screen to Remove and Avoid Investments in Illegal Settlements (60855) was amended in Legislative Committee and is Calendar #413.
- West Michigan Petition on Removing the Practice of Homosexuality from the List of Chargeable Offenses (60762) was not supported
Legislative Tracking of any petition may be done with this tracking tool provided by umc.org.
Last Updated on November 4, 2022