General Conference Petition Submissions Begin

Nashville: Petitions for consideration by the 2012 General Conference may be submitted to the Petitions Secretary beginning April 1 and continuing through September 27, 2011.

According to church law, “Any organization, clergy member, or lay member of The United Methodist Church may petition the General Conference … ”.

Detailed instructions for submitting a petition are available on the General Conference website at gc2012.umc.org. Petitions must be typed and may be submitted via e-mail to petitions@umpublishing.org, through the website, postal mail, or fax. Petitions submitted without digital media through mail or by fax need to be submitted by July 1, 2011 to allow time for transcription and translation.

The mailing addresses for petitions (hard copy accompanied if possible by digital version on diskette, CD or USB drive) are: Gary Graves, Petitions Secretary, United Methodist General Conference, P.O. Box 140, Rockfield, KY 42274, or for delivery by FedEx, UPS, etc., 2511 Richpond - Rockfield Rd., Bowling Green, KY 42101.

There were approximately 2,500 submissions in 2008, many of which were duplicates. Eligible petitions are given numbers and assigned to one of 13 legislative committees or the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters. The committees will debate the proposals and determine whether to approve, amend, combine or reject them for recommendation to the full body of General Conference.

When submitting a petition, you must indicate whether a petition has “general church budget implications,” meaning a petition that causes the need for funding (i.e., creation of a new program, staff position, support requirements, etc.) through the general church apportionments. Such petitions require review by the General Council on Finance and Administration to verify if the funding is already included under the recommended quadrennial budget.

Submitters must also indicate whether a petition has “global implications,” meaning it is a constitutional amendment, has a direct effect on the global work of general agencies, places requirements or expectations on all annual conferences, districts, or churches, or speaks to societal concerns regardless of the particular form of secular government.

Questions about the petition submission process may be submitted by e-mail to Gary Graves, Petitions Secretary, at petitionsquestions@umpublishing.org.