Council of Bishops Announces Ratification of Constitutional Amendments

United Methodist Communications
Office of Public Information
810 12th Ave. S.
Nashville, TN 37203

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2006

Contact:
Stephen Drachler[email protected]
615) 742-5411 office (615) 456-4710 cell

Council of Bishops Announces Ratification of Constitutional Amendments

Washington, DC-The United Methodist Council of Bishops announced today that all eight amendments to the church's constitution passed by the 2004 General Conference have been ratified by the annual conferences. The new amendments will become effective immediately.

The process for amending the Constitution of The United Methodist Church requires a two-thirds majority vote of General Conference delegates. Annual conferences must then ratify the amendments by a two-thirds affirmative vote. The results of the voting are reported to the Council on Bishops, where they are verified and counted. The results are then reviewed and certified by the Council of Bishops.

The vote counts for each of the amendments were as follows:

Amendment I, which specifies that a fair and open process be utilized to elect General Conference delegates: 36,323 yes; 1,098 no

Amendment II, which adds home missioners to the classifications over which General Conference has authority to define and fix powers and duties: 36,614 yes; 920 no

Amendment III, which deletes an obsolete phrase: 36,554 yes; 830 no

Amendment IV, which guarantees that the person responsible for promoting work of the mission agency of The United Methodist Church is a member of the annual conference: 36,134 yes; 1,316 no

Amendment V, which adds home missioners under Episcopal appointment to the membership of the annual conference: 36,350 yes; 1,124 no

Amendment VI, which supports the addition of the conference director of lay speaking ministries to the list of lay members of the annual conference: 36,270 yes; 1,100 no|

Amendment VII, which provides a definition of clergy members of the annual conference: 26,211 yes; 11,005 no

Amendment VIII, which allows for adoption of enabling legislation at the same General Conference as the amendment is voted, contingent upon required ratification by the various annual conferences: 32,901 yes; 4,555 no

Anyone with a question about the amendments may contact InfoServ, the denomination's official information service, at 1-800-251-8140. To see the amendments in full, visit our website at/interior.asp?mid=10625.