This category contains articles related to the 2020 General Conference held in 2024 after 3 postponements: location, logistics, lodging, volunteer opportunities,etc. This conference has been postponed 3 times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now being held in Charlotte, North Carolina April 23, 2024-May 3, 2024.
Commission on the General Conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2020
Nashville, Tenn.: The Executive Committee of the Commission on the General Conference is monitoring developments in the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and will collaborate with public health authorities regarding any recommended health and safety precautions that should be taken to reduce exposure or transmission of illness when the 2020 General Conference meets in Minneapolis, Minn. May 5-15, 2020.
The Executive Committee is staying on top of any recommendations from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding travel and planning large events. They will be connecting with the Minnesota Department of Health for additional guidance and working with the Minneapolis Convention Center in planning for the event.
"We will be developing health and wellness related protocols for the meeting site, including promoting preventive measures that attendees can take such as hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette," said Kim Simpson, Commission chairperson.
###
About General Conference
General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, which meets once every four years. The conference can revise church law, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for church-wide programs.
Media contact:
Diane Degnan
615.742.5406 (o) 615.483.1765 (c)
By Heather Hahn
Jan. 31, 2020 | UM News
Organizers of General Conference got an update on two challenges that could particularly affect The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly later this year.
They discussed both the process for late-arriving legislation and problems that could prevent delegates from receiving needed visas.
The "Advance Daily Christian Advocate" for General Conference 2020/24 is now available for download here. It is translated into all 4 official languages, English, French, Kiswahili, and Portuguese. All 3 volumes are available as PDF documents.
From the page:
The Advance Daily Christian Advocate (ADCA) contains the agenda, rules, delegate listings, petitions, reports from the general agencies/commissions and study committees, information for delegates, and codes of conduct for the General Conference.
The official written languages of the General Conference for publication of the Advance edition include English, French, Kiswahili and Portuguese. Bound printed volumes of the ADCA may be purchased from Cokesbury. These PDF versions are provided for your convenience.
It is also available as a website (from the ADCA):
The Daily Christian Advocate is now available as a website. Go to www.dailychristianadvocate.org, where you can access all Delegate Handbook materials, general agency reports, petitions, and everything else in the Advance Daily Christian Advocate electronically using your computer, smartphone, or tablet. During General Conference, the website will be updated daily with the reports, legislation, and proceedings of the Conference.
Go to www.dailychristianadvocate.org to create your account and login.
[Tbe revised Social Principles are one of few proposals to be submitted to the 2020 General Conference to have world-wide, central conference input.]
By Kathy L. Gilbert
Dec. 12, 2019 | UM News article
The United Methodist Church has a long history of tackling complicated, controversial and contemporary topics such as polygamy, child marriage, abortion, violence and treatment of migrants.
While much attention currently is focused on the church’s stance on LGBTQ people, it is not the only human struggle the church prays about and addresses.
For the past eight years, a diverse group of writers and editors has been revising the denomination’s Social Principles, which since its founding has been an expression of the Wesleyan commitment to social holiness for The United Methodist Church.
Read more: Revised Social Principles reflect worldwide church
The UMC is in turmoil, and a General Conference in 2020 in Minneapolis will determine the future. Rev. Jeremy Smith of Hacking Christianity has this reflection on the logo of the conference. He says there are 23 bridges connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul across the Mississippi, and that there are perhaps better bridges which could have been used for the graphic logo. He mentions a suspension bridge, which struck me as particularly apt because of the fact that the connections are held up by cables suspended from strong supports, much like how (in my view) God's grace can hold us up as we seek better connections between each other, held up by God's arms.