By Richenda Fairhurst
Annual conference is your opportunity as a United Methodist to have a voice in passing legislation that has an impact on the entire church. You can be an effective advocate in your own church, conference, and denomination. With well over 20,000 United Methodist churches across the US, the actions and values of these churches have significant impact.
When it comes to the governance of the church, every United Methodist is a potential legislator. A call for faithful action begun at the local church can become legislation in the form of a resolution offered at annual conference. Our system of governance allows any member of the church to submit a resolution for consideration. These resolutions, if approved, become church law, governing the behaviors, and spelling out the values of the church.
Now Is the Time to Prepare Your Annual Conference Resolutions
Now is the time to begin submitting resolutions to annual conferences. It’s already February! Deadlines are coming up. Some conferences require that legislation to annual conference be submitted as early as this month; deadlines in other conferences are coming up fast. Check with your conference office to learn the submission process and when proposed legislation is due.
A checklist with how to begin and what to expect is at the end of this post.
Most legislation is written to be applied in one’s own annual conference. But other resolutions are written for multiple conferences or even designed to reach General Conference, which is the body that ultimately governs all United Methodism.
This year at General Conference delegates will be considering a resolution calling for the United Methodist denomination to divest from fossil fuels. This resolution passed in several annual conferences in 2016 and again in 2023. Again, regular United Methodists brought this legislation, and when their annual conferences voted YES, those resolutions were designed so that they then went on to the next level. In 2016 and now 2024, divestment will again be before the highest governing body of the UMC to be considered and voted on by the delegates of General Conference.
Regular United Methodists did this. The legislative process can be a way of creating accountability for leadership, as well as bringing new ideas and urgent changes to the fore. When it comes to legislation, everyone can call for necessary, urgent, and faithful changes. Here, the local youth group is as important as the Council of Bishops.
The local church and local efforts in Methodism have power. Methodists look to church leaders to carry out the prayerful resolutions of the membership of the church. The body of the church, which votes at charge conference, annual conference, and General Conference, is the ultimate decision maker.
Imagine the impact of a resolution in your conference that makes a commitment to net-zero or calls on conference leadership to support the rewilding of the church land to create a wildlife corridor and boost biodiversity. It’s been done! Church members can be true stewards of the sacred places where we gather, feed the hungry, and worship together.
And be not dismayed! Don’t let the naysayers stop you. The legislative process can be challenging, which makes showing up and seeking partners even more important. In 2023, people brought creation care resolutions to annual conferences across the denomination. These resolutions passed by wide margins, including in my home conference in the Pacific Northwest. So, raise your testimony! And be persistent. Being persistent and faithful matter more than anything.
How to Prepare Your Annual Conference Resolutions
You don’t have to start from scratch. The United Methodist Creation Justice Movement created 10 model resolutions, and a number of annual conferences passed one or more in 2023 and have passed other resolutions before that. If your conference was among those that passed resolutions in 2023, consider looking at passing more in 2024. If your conference has yet to pass a resolution to address climate justice/ environmental justice and/or Creation care, now is the time!
How to Begin
- Begin with prayer.
- Call your conference and learn the rules for submitting one or more resolutions for consideration at annual conference. Take note of the committee or persons in charge of receiving the submission, and what the deadline is for that submission.
- Gather your team. Begin with a small group to discern together your next steps.
- Download the 10 model resolutions from the UM Creation Justice Movement, these resolutions are available to use, inspire, and revise as needed to fit to their contexts.
- Review the list of resolutions passed by other annual conferences and this update from 2023. This list will encourage you. If they did it, you can, too!
- Begin drafting your resolution(s). Select from the model resolutions and revise or start fresh.
- Widen your circle. Expand your team to include those who can be helpful supporters and advisers.
- If you are clergy, seek to build strength with colleagues.
- As a lay person, look to the church or district green team, UWF, youth and young adult groups, and your pastor.
- Look also to institutional boards at the conference level, such as the Conference Board of Church and Society, Camping and Retreat, Religion and Race, and CONAM, MARCHA, and where United Methodists may otherwise be connected, such as MFSA. You will find wide support.
- Connect with the UM Creation Justice Movement (UMCJM) if you have questions.
- Once your draft is ready, pray over it. Pray over the effort, the team, and the resolution, raising your heart over this expression of faith. Make time with your team to pray over the submission together.
- Seek supporters who have some role of leadership in the conference, such as district or conference lay leaders, those who chair conference boards, those with lived experience with the issues you seek to address and those most affected by climate and creation stewardship concerns.
- When your draft is ready, submit your resolution(s). Be prepared to make revisions if requested.
- Follow the requests of the conference if they require further preparations and follow ups. Continue to gather support.
- Let the UMCJM know how it goes. Your resolution(s) can help inspire others!
Once the Resolution Is Submitted
- Ask for prayer.
- Be ready to reflect and be open to changes that the conference submissions committee may request.
- Follow up to be sure you know when the conference will officially accept your resolution, when it will be printed in the pre-conference materials, and if they need anything else from you.
- Plan to promote your resolution during annual conference. With your team, develop flyers or brochures that will inform the people (the body) of the annual conference of your resolution and why it matters. Set up a booth, and/or request that supporters also promote the resolution.
At Annual Conference
- Ask for prayer.
- Once at annual conference, be at your booth to answer questions, and visit the booths of supporters to encourage and thank them.
- Your resolution will first go to a committee. The committees are an important first-step to getting your resolution passed at conference. The committee is governed by rules, and the goal is to gain input from the people (the body) of the conference about the resolution. You or a team member will be asked to speak to the resolution, and to say what it is and why it matters.
- During the committee session there may be disagreements. Other participants may propose to change wording, delete passages, or make amendments. These possibilities are all part of the process of going on to perfection! It can be messy. Stay prayerful, be open to the ideas and thoughts of others, and trust the process.
- At the end of the committee process, the resolution (which will now include the changes made by the committee) will get a vote by the committee members. If the committee majority votes no, take heart! You can continue to work on the resolution and resubmit it next year. If the committee majority votes yes, you have “passed out of committee” and your resolution will move to the conference floor.
- Once passed out of committee (by a majority affirmative vote), your resolution will be considered during a plenary session of annual conference. The time and day will be scheduled by the conference organizers.
- During the scheduled time, when the resolution is “brought to the floor” to be considered, you or one of your team will be asked to speak to the resolution, what it is, and why it matters. Following that, much like what happened in committee, the resolution is now “on the floor” of the annual conference, and people will have the opportunity to speak for or against the resolution, as well as to propose changes and amendments. At the end of this discussion, a vote will be called, and delegates will vote yes or no on the resolution.
- If the majority vote yes on your resolution at annual conference, the resolution passes! You have participated in the legislative process and, together with the conference body and your team, have made new legislation for the church.
- Following annual conference, the final wording of the resolution will be printed, and conference leadership will follow up. You also should plan to follow up, as conference staff may have questions, need clarification, and need support to follow through with next steps.
- Be in touch with UMCJM’s Working Team that relates to your resolution for support and ideas that can help your resolution have the impact you desire.
Every annual conference will be slightly different, so be sure to stay in good contact with conference leadership and staff.
And remember, this is what United Methodists do. We are a connectional people, and this is our process. Be not afraid! Do all the good you can. Prayers up!!
The Reverend Richenda Fairhurst is active in the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement in several ways, including founding and hosting the Movement Café. Find her at JustCreation.org