judicial council

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 [...]

Breaking news: SCJ College of Bishops recommends Bledsoe for NW Tex/New Mexico

December 17, 2012 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor 4 Comments

The South Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops has recommended that Bishop Earl Bledsoe be assigned to oversee the Northwest Texas and New Mexico Conferences. The jurisdiction’s episcopacy committee had voted to retire [...]

Will it be revolution or strangulation for UMC?

December 4, 2012 Posted by Special Contributor 8 Comments

By Christy Thomas, Special Contributor… The United Methodist Church cannot be re-formed. It’s over for us with our current structure. The Judicial Council’s decision to revoke the involuntary retirement of Bishop Earl Bledsoe over issues of violation of procedural minutia found in the Book of Discipline (not over the question of his effectiveness, which was not being ruled upon) has forever made this clear. It is over. It’s easy to get frustrated with the Judicial Council for the rulings of the last few months. Their work has thoroughly reversed decisions [...]

Text of Judicial Council decision reinstating Bishop Bledsoe

November 12, 2012 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor Leave a Comment

Here’s a corrected text of Judicial Council Decision 1230, reinstating Bishop Earl Bledsoe to active status. IN RE: Appeal of Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe Challenging the Action of the South Central Jurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy and the 2012 South Central Jurisdictional Conference DIGEST Due to the numerous errors in violation of the principles of fair process and the inability to articulate what constitutes “best interests of the bishop and/or the Church” as provided in ¶ 408.3(a) of the 2008 Discipline, the Judicial Council overturns the action of the South [...]

Filed Under: General, News Tagged With: Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe, episcopacy committee, judicial council

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 [...]

Council sets fall date for Bledsoe appeal

August 13, 2012 Posted by Sam Hodges, Managing Editor Leave a Comment

Bishop Minerva Carcaño gives the Episcopal Address at the 2010 Western Jurisdictional Conference. UMNS PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONFERENCE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

The UMC’s Judicial Council has set Nov. 9-11 as the dates for its consideration of Bishop Earl Bledsoe’s appeal of his involuntary retirement. The council said in a statement that the meeting will likely be in Phoenix. The statement did not say whether there will be oral arguments. This will be a special meeting. The council had already set the docket for its scheduled October meeting, though one of the items on that docket is a request by the South Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops for a judgment on whether part of [...]