guaranteed appointment

Notable UM Newsmaker of 2012 – William Lawrence

January 4, 2013 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor Leave a Comment

There are plenty of critics of the Judicial Council’s high-profile decisions in 2012. But nobody can accuse the council of blowing with the prevailing winds, since it overruled majority actions of both General Conference and the South Central Jurisdiction. The Rev. William B. Lawrence led the Judicial Council through much of this tumultuous year, even as he continued his full-time work as dean of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. For that dual role, he’s a Reporter notable UM newsmaker of the year. The Judicial Council, including Dr. [...]

GC vies with Judicial Council as 2012’s biggest news-maker

December 28, 2012 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor Leave a Comment

Members of the Virginia Conference delegation huddled to discuss possible next steps after Judicial Council ruled agency restructuring legislation to be unconstitutional. The decision came on the afternoon of May 4, the last day of General Conference 2012 in Tampa, Fla., and led many to conclude the $9 million gathering had largely been a bust. UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE PHOTO BY MIKE DUBOSE

Summarizing a full year in the life of the sprawling, conflicted United Methodist Church is always a challenge. Every fourth year, it gets tougher. That’s because General Conference—the quadrennial gathering for setting church policy, law and finances—occurs and influences so much of church life. But the 2012 General Conference faced surprising competition as a news-maker. It came from the UMC’s Judicial Council, which overruled as unconstitutional two major pieces of legislation approved by General Conference delegates. If you were to put a pop song lyric to how things unfolded, it [...]

UMC reformers feeling thwarted by Judicial Council

November 5, 2012 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor 3 Comments

Judicial Council (PHOTO BY KATHLEEN BARRY/UMNS)

The frustration level for reformers of the struggling United Methodist Church appeared to reach a new high as the denomination’s Judicial Council struck down the last major reform standing after [...]

Fall 2012 Judicial Council roundup

October 30, 2012 Posted by Special Contributor Leave a Comment

The Judicial Council for 2012-16 took up a full docket during its Oct. 24-27 session in Elk Grove Village, Ill. From left: Belton Joyner, J. Kabamba Kiboko, N. Oswald Tweh Sr., and Kathi Austin Mahle. Standing from left: Ruben T. Reyes, Dennis Blackwell, Beth Capen, William B. Lawrence and Angela Brown. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.

A report from the Oct. 24-27 meeting of the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, which considered18 cases.

Judicial Council upholds guaranteed appointment for clergy, overturning GC 2012 action

October 29, 2012 Posted by Special Contributor 7 Comments

By Neill Caldwell for United Methodist News Service… ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. (UMNS) — The top court of The United Methodist Church has upheld church rules that ensure security of appointment for elders and associate clergy members, striking down legislation passed by the denomination’s lawmaking assembly last spring. The church’s General Conference, meeting in Tampa, Fla., had approved on May 1 a much-debated piece of legislation that would have deleted language in the church’s Book of Discipline ensuring security of appointment. The legislation also would have added steps for discontinuing elders [...]

Judicial Council upholds guaranteed appointment for clergy

October 29, 2012 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor 1 Comment

The UMC’s Judicial Council has struck down as unconstitutional legislation passed at General Conference 2012 that would have ended guaranteed appointment for clergy. We’ll have coverage of this later, quoting those involved in the case. For now, here’s the decision, which has just been officially released this morning: JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH DECISION NO. 1226 IN RE: Request for a Declaratory Judgment from the General Conference for a declaratory Decision as to the Constitutionality of legislation Approved as Calendar Item 355 Regarding Guaranteed Appointments. DIGEST Security [...]

Some hard truths about the UMC, including that homosexuality isn’t to blame

June 19, 2012 Posted by Special Contributor 3 Comments

By Sky McCracken, Special Contributor, … It’s a quote from a Star Trek movie (First Contact), admittedly with a gender bias, but it certainly applies: “Don’t try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgment.” I think if you’re going to be an elder in the United Methodist Church, it is good advice – and if you are going to be a district superintendent, you really need to be a man/woman and let God be the judge of what you do. That means [...]