Status: passed by majority vote, October 2010
Written by: Board of Bishops
Whereas:
1. We sense the call of the Lord to move toward the accomplishing of our mission as a church; and
2. We recognize the need to be strategic in our stewardship of time and energy, as well as financial resources; and
3. We recognize the strategic nature of the General Conference as a gathering of the FMC’s national clergy and lay leaders; and
4. We recognize the strategic, missional value of including and resourcing a much wider segment of the FMC during our General Conference gatherings; and
5. We note that in recent General Conferences most of the resolutions have not risen to the importance of matters of constitution or mission accomplishment, but have most to do with matters of structure and procedure for the mission; and
6. We acknowledge that in recent General Conferences the plenary sessions have often not allowed for the General Conference Body to process all resolutions; and
7. We often refer (sometimes great) numbers of resolutions to the BOA for final disposition; and
8. We have embraced across the U.S. church administrative and procedural patterns that entrust the “business” of the church to smaller and highly competent committees and boards (i.e., the business of the Annual Conference and the Society’s Annual Meeting is now mostly processed by the Local BOA, specialized committees and tasks forces); and
9. We gather as Annual Conference and Annual Meetings of the Society to celebrate what God has done, recall our identity and mission as a church, strategize for mission accomplishment, and launch a new year of mission endeavor; and
10. We recognize the constitutional right of all members, societies, and Annual Conferences to petition the General Conference (par. 4010.c) and we continue to value the wisdom God reveals through individual members and smaller groups within the corporate Body; and
11. We seek to spend no more money than necessary in support of our General Conference gatherings and see the value of a shorter time frame for our gatherings;
Therefore, be it resolved:
1. Members, Societies, and Annual Conferences submit resolutions to the General Conference through the General Conference delegates of the Annual Conference who shall constitute a Resolutions Committee, as has been our custom; and
2. Each Annual Conference Resolutions Committee shall process resolutions submitted to it and assign one of the following letter grades: A to recommend adoption; B to recommend wider consideration; and C to recommend rejection. Such Resolutions shall then be forwarded to the Board of Bishops.
3. The BOA of the FMCNA shall elect a General Conference Resolutions Review Committee (GCRRC) to review all resolutions. This committee shall consist of the Bishops, plus one additional clergy and four lay people. All members of the GCRRC shall be duly elected members of the General Conference.
4. The GCRRC shall determine which resolutions rise to the level of constitutional or strategic missional priority, and therefore should be considered by the General Conference through its Ministry Committees. Such resolutions shall be forwarded to the General Conference Secretary to be put into a standard form, distributed to General Conferences delegates, and processed according to the standing rules of the Conference; and
5. All other resolutions shall be forwarded to the BOA of the FMCNA for processing and to the General Conference gathering; and
6. The BOA of the FMCNA shall issue a report on the disposition of all resolutions it has processed and send it to all delegates of the General Conference; and
7. It shall be the right of any delegate of the General Conference to move that a resolution be considered by the Body. Such a motion must be approved by a majority vote of the General Conference for consideration and action; and
Be it further resolved:
8. The General Conference give priority time to celebrating God’s mighty acts with and through the FMC, deepening our understanding and renewing our commitment to the mission of the FMC, and resourcing the strategic members and participants in the gathering with a view to launch the church in mission over the coming quadrennium. By priority time we mean both quantity of time and the prime time-periods over the course of the General Conference gathering.
Be it still further resolved:
9. The General Conference of 2011 approve the actions of the Board of Administration in adopting the above procedure so it is in effect for its gathering in the summer of 2011. In order for this action to be carried out, it must be approved in advance of the 2011 General Conference.
Therefore, this resolution shall be submitted to the delegates of the 2011 General Conference for their approval by September 7, 2010 for consideration and action by electronic balloting by September 30, 2010.
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