March 2021 Letter

From the Desk of Pastor Melissa

Dear Friends,

In the past few days the denominational leaders have made some important decisions for the United Methodist Church. The first, is a further delay in holding General Conference. General Conference was originally slated to be held in May of 2020 but was rescheduled to August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since COVID-19 continues to effect travel and the safety of those at mass gatherings, at their meeting on February 20, the Commission on the General Conference decided to postpone the 2020 General Conference until August 29 – September 6, 2022.

“It is the Commission’s responsibility to select the site and set the dates of General Conference. Further, the Book of Discipline requires the Commission on the General Conference to ‘take necessary measures to assure full participation of all General Conference delegates’; The Commission concluded that mandate was not achievable by means of either an in-person meeting in 2021 or a virtual meeting.”

The approximately 44% of delegates travel from outside the United States, and international travelers must show proof of a negative COVID test prior to travel and tests are not widely available or free of costs in some countries.

There also remains the possibility that a temporary six-month visa bond program which requires bonds of $5,000 – $15,000 per person for residents of some countries could cost up to $2.5 million in bonds for international delegates if the program should be extended beyond June of 2021.

To allow the United Methodist Church to function over the next year, the Council of Bishops has called a special session of the General Conference that will meet May 8, 2021, online. “Our current Book of Discipline was never written with a worldwide pandemic in mind,” Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, president of the Council of Bishops, said in a written statement about the special session.

“When we became aware of the need for a further postponement, we knew that some action needed to be taken in order to free the church to operate and continue to fulfill its current mission until we could gather in person.”

The virtual meeting in May will be limited to voting to suspend the rules to allow the use of mail-in ballots. That, in turn, will allow delegates to the special session to vote by mail on 12 pieces of legislation. These pieces of legislation include measures related to retirements and extending the last approved budget to the next general conference meeting. The May special session will not include conversation or voting on measures related to the proposal to split the denomination, which the statement from the Council of Bishops said should be reserved for an in-person meeting “where debate, amendment, and discernment could be conducted with integrity and full participation.”

Thank you for your prayers and your care.

Pastor Melissa