Daily Christian Advocate Proceedings of the 2012 Southeastern Jurisdiconal Conference of The United Methodist Church “Whom Shall I Send?” VOLUME XVIV, No. 1 Lake Junaluska, N.C. Tuesday, July 17, 2012 This year’s Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference will see changes from previous years. The work God has been doing and will do in each participant’s life and through our shared experience will be unique. In this sense, conference is always a new experience. Delegates and guests familiar with the Jurisdictional Conference experience have come to anticipate a familiar pattern undergirding this dynamic spiritual event. The SEJ is known for vibrant opening worship, intense spiritual balloting process to elect bishops, inspiring celebration of ministry shared across the jurisdic- tion, and cherished fellowship with old and new friends in Christ. While seeking to preserve these familiar aspects, the 2012 con- ference will have a number of new dimensions as participants adapt to a shorter conference experience. The Southeastern Jurisdic- tional Conference Planning Group responded to a motion made in the closing hours of the 2008 confer- ence session calling for conference to be reduced by one day. This year’s event begins on Wednesday and concludes on Friday. “When you remove nine hours from the available agenda time, we knew that we would not be able to conduct conference without making significant changes to our processes,” said Dr. Brad Brady, Jurisdictional Conference Secretary. The planning groups for the 2012 conference session reviewed every facet of the conferencing experience. Dearly held values and traditions are being protected as much as possible. Everything is being done to enhance the spiritual aspect of the gathering while making the best use of time and resources available. “When the planning groups decided on the theme, ‘Whom shall I send?,’ there was an awareness that what we are about in the discern- ment process around the election Today’s Schedule SEJ Conference sees changes 8:30 Nominaons Commiee (Susan Todd Lounge) 9:00 Commiee on Episcopacy (Harrell Center 202) 9:00 College of Bishops (Terrace 319) 10:00 Delegaon Page and At- Large Page Orientaon (Stuart Auditorium) 1:00 Introducons of Episcopal Nominees (Coordinated by Commiee on Episcopacy, Stuart Auditorium) 2:45 Round Robin Sessions (Shackford) 7:30 Nominaons Commiee (Susan Todd Lounge) 7:30 SEJ Racial Ethnic Delegates Meet Episcopal Nominees (Internaonal Room, Lambuth Inn) 7:30 Gilbert-Lambuth Presentaon sponsored by SEJ Archives & History (Memorial Chapel) Inside Find the list of room assignments for the week, a UMNS arcle on episcopal elecons, helpful infor- maon and how to meet the SEJ nominees for bishop. While balloting will be done with hand-held electronic devices and at a faster pace than previous years, conference leadership will be intentionally sensitive to the Spirit’s movement as we monitor the pace of balloting. —Dr. Brad Brady Connued on page 2
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Daily Christian AdvocateProceedings of the 2012 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference
of The United Methodist Church
“Whom Shall I Send?”VOLUME XVIV, No. 1 Lake Junaluska, N.C. Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Today’s ScheduleSEJ Conference sees changes8:30 Nominations Committee (SusanToddLounge)9:00 Committee on Episcopacy (Harrell Center 202)9:00 College of Bishops (Terrace319)10:00 Delegation Page and At- Large Page Orientation (Stuart Auditorium)1:00 Introductions of Episcopal Nominees (Coordinated by Committee on Episcopacy, Stuart Auditorium)2:45 Round Robin Sessions (Shackford)7:30 Nominations Committee (SusanToddLounge)7:30 SEJ Racial Ethnic Delegates Meet Episcopal Nominees (International Room, Lambuth Inn)7:30 Gilbert-Lambuth Presentation sponsored by SEJ Archives & History (Memorial Chapel)
InsideFind the list of room assignments for the week, a UMNS article on episcopal elections, helpful infor-mation and how to meet the SEJ nominees for bishop.
While balloting will be done with hand-held electronic devices and at a faster pace than previous years, conference leadership will be intentionally sensitive to the Spirit’s movement as we monitor the pace of balloting.
—Dr.BradBrady
Continued on page 2
2 Daily Christian Advocate
of bishopsisindeedpartof God’sdynamicwork,”saidBrady.
Electronic Balloting Whileballotingwillbedonewithhand-heldelectronicdevicesandatafasterpacethanpreviousyears,conferenceleadershipwillbeintentionallysensitivetotheSpirit’smovementaswemonitorthepaceof balloting. “Wewillbepreparedtotakesomebreaksalongthewayasneces-sarytoallowtimeforinformalcon-ferencingandtoallowtheprocesstobreathe,”saidBrady. Thetraditionof havingthepresidingbishopreadtheballotresultsandallowingforaformalan-nouncementinthecaseof anelec-tionwillcontinue.Onceabishopiselected,therewillbeapausetoallowthecustomaryreceptionof thenewbishoptotakeplace. “Anyonewhohaswitnessedsuchamomentwillneverforgetit,”saidBrady“Itisaholymomentwhentherealizationthatapersonhasbeensetapartfortheworkof bishopreallyiscrystalized.MostpeoplesaytheHolySpirit’spresenceispalpableinthatmoment.” Inadditiontotheplanninggroup’sdecisiontomovetohand-heldelectronicballoting,theRulesCommitteereviewedtheJurisdic-tion’splanof organizationandrulesto find ways to add more flexibility totheconferencingexperiencegiventheabbreviatedschedule.
Four Proposed Rule Changes TheRulesCommitteewillbepresentinganumberof rulesandstructuralchangesintheopen-ingsession,whichareintendedtostreamline and add necessary flexi-
bilitytotheconferencingexperience,saidDr.TimMcClendon,committeechairperson. Thesechangesfallintofourcategories. The first of the proposed changesisaroundtheeliminationof anumberof committees.Somepreviouslyexistingcommitteeswillhavetheirworkfoldedintoothercommittees;otherswillbeeliminat-edduetothenatureof work. “Withashortenedconfer-enceourcommitteefelttheneedtoadjustthestructureforoptimumstewardshipof timeandresources,”saidMcClendon.“Werecognizethatmostof ourbusinessrequiringac-tioncomesfromoneof ourexistingcommittees. “Wearenotalegislativebodyinthesamesenseof GeneralConference.WearemuchmoreliketheAnnualConferencewheretheCommitteonFinanceandAdmin-istration oversees the financial work andproposesabudgetforconfer-encereview,amendmentandadop-tion,”saidMcClendon.“Likewise,thenewCommitteeonCoordinationandAccountabilityisabletoreviewtheworkof allourministriesandmakerecommendationstothecon-ferenceontheirbehalf.” Afterlookingatandconsid-eringallof theseitems,theRulesCommitteewillproposeeliminatingallStanding(Legislative)Commit-tees. Thesecondof theproposedchangesdealswithagendaitemsthatwereformerlyrequiredwith“shall”language.Thecommitteewillrec-ommendchangingthistopermissive“may” language. The specifications abouthowtheagendawouldunfoldeachdaywouldbereworkedtoallowfor flexibility each quadrennium. Theseproposedchangesareadirect
resultof theshortenedlengthof thisyear’sconferencesession. Thethirdof theproposedchangescomesasaresultof hav-ingtwoveryactivejurisdictionalcommitteeslookingattheplanof organizationandrulesoverthelastquadrennium.TheCommitteeonCoordinationandAccountabil-ityalongwiththeCommitteeonFinanceandAdministrationareof-feringanumberof suggestionsthatwould provide clarification and help the plan of organization reflect best practiceslearnedoverthequadren-nium. Thefourthproposedchangeintheplanof organizationwillbetoallowreservedelegatestoserveasballottellers. “Mostdelegationstreatreservesasfullmembersof theirdelegation.Allowingthesepersonstoserveasatellerfurtherincorpo-ratesreservesintotheconferenceexperience,”saidMcClendon. TheserulechangeswillbepresentedintheopeningsessiononWednesdaymorning,July18.TheRulesCommitteewillbeaskingdelegatestoadoptthechangesandforthesechangestobeimplementedimmediatelyuponadoption. “Someof thesestructuralandrulechangesarenecessarysothatwewillbeincompliancewithourownrulesaswebeginourworktogether,”saidBrady. Therewillbeanadditionalproposedchangearoundtheposi-tionof theJurisdictionalConferenceSecretarythatwillberemovedfromtheinitialRulesCommitteereportforlaterdiscussionandactiondur-ingtheCommitteeonCoordinationandAccountabilityreport. Theentirereportof theRulesCommitteeisfoundintheAdvance Daily Christian Advocate.
‘Changes’ continued from page 1
Daily Christian Advocate 3
DAILY CHRISTIAN ADVOCATESoutheastern Jurisdiction of
With help from Brad Brady, Meredyth Earnest, Ken Howle and Stephanie Drum. Printed by Cornerstone Printing, Waynes-ville, N.C., Suzi VanderMeade, Business Manager
Go Green - Get Your Free MugBesuretoredeemyourticketforyourfreeLakeJunaluskamugwhileyouarehere—anduseitthroughouttheweek.Thisisagreeninitiativeonbehalf of LakeJunaluska.
Receive Election Results via TextToreceiveup-to-the-minuteballotreportsfromacrossthedenomi-nation,text“Elections”to(615)482-1777andreceiveresultsastheycomein.Providedbyumc.org.
Credentials•Delegateandreserves’namebadgeswillbedistributedonTues-day,July17,beginningat12:30p.m.inStuartAuditorium.Anydelegateorreservewhodoesnotpickupthenamebadgepriorto1p.m.cangettheirswhenthedelegationmeetsinitsassignedroomatShackfordHallimmediatelyafterthesessioninStuartAuditoriumforindividualsessionswithepiscopalnominees.•Bishopsandbishopspouseswillreceive their name badges at the first meetingof theCollegeof Bishops.
•CommunicatorswillreceivetheirnamebadgesinthePressRoom.•MonitorswillreceivetheirnamebadgesfromJenniferDavisattheirOrientationSession.•AllotherswillreceivetheirnamebadgesatthefrontdeskinStuartAuditoriumbycontactingJohnPinson.•Conferenceguestsarewelcomedtoattendtheconference,butwillnotbe issued official credentials.
Child CareJuly1wasthedeadlineforregister-ingforchildcare.Walk-inswillbecharged$25perchildpersessionona first-come, first served basis. Child careisavailableintheWilsonChil-dren’sBuilding.PleasecontacttheDay Camp office at 828-454-6770 or JarrettRutlandat828-400-4661formoreinformation.
ParkingParkingisavailableindesignatedareasacrossthecampus.Securitywillbe present to direct traffic. For per-sonsstayinginLakeJunaluskahous-ing,theremaybeparkingincloseproximitytothelodgingalthoughnospaces are reserved specifically for theseguests.ForthosewithHandi-
Friday, July 20 Collegeof Bishops’Luncheon Lunch LambuthInternational
6 Daily Christian Advocate
Jurisdictional conferences to elect 11 U.S. bishopsA UMNS ReportBy the Rev. J. Richard Peck*
Theattentionof thedenom-inationwillbefocusedbeginningJuly18onthejurisdictionalconfer-ences,where11newU.S.bishopsareexpectedtobeelectedinthreejurisdictions. LikeGeneralConference,theworldwidelegislativegatheringthatmetApril24toMay4inTam-pa,Fla.,jurisdictionalconferencesmeetonceeveryfouryears.Half thedelegateswillbelaypeople,andhalf willbeclergy.The Book of Discipline,thedenomination’slawbook,stipu-latesthateachannualconferenceisentitledtosendtwicethenumberof delegatestojurisdictionalconfer-encesthatitsenttoGeneralConfer-ence.Therewere606delegatesfromU.S.annualconferencesatthe2012GeneralConference. TheCouncilof Bishopsestablishesthebeginningdatesforthe five U.S. jurisdictional conferenc-es.Centralconferences––groupsof annualconferencesinAfrica,EuropeandthePhilippines––fol-lowsimilarprocedurestoelectandassignbishops;however,theydonotmeetatthesametime,andbishopsarenotelectedforlifeastheytypi-callyareintheUnitedStates. Bishopsarerecommendedtoaparticularepiscopalareabyajurisdictionalcommitteeontheepis-copacycomprisingonelayandoneclergymemberfromeachannualconferenceinthejurisdiction.Theassemblyapprovestheassignmentsorasksthecommitteetogobacktowork.Simultaneousmeetingspermittheassignmentorelectionof bish-opsacrossjurisdictionalboundaries.
Number to be elected Bishopsmustretireif theyreachage68onorbeforeJuly1of theyearof jurisdictionalconferenc-es.Theymaychoosetoretireearlier. GeneralConferenceap-provedaplanthatwillresultinonefewer bishop in four of the five U.S. jurisdictionsbeginningthisyear. Theformulanowentitleseachjurisdictionwith300,000churchmembersorfewertohavefive bishops. Jurisdictions with more than300,000membersareentitledtooneadditionalbishopforeach300,000membersormajorfractionthereof. Thefollowingthreejurisdic-tionswillhaveelections: •TheSoutheasternJurisdic-tionalreadyhasonefewerthantheformulaallows;thejurisdictionwillmeet to elect five bishops replacing five retiring bishops.
Jurisdictions with no elections TheNorthCentralJurisdic-tionwillhonorBishopLindaLeeonherretirement.ItalsowillreceivearequestfromthenewlyformedDakotas-MinnesotaEpiscopalAreaforfundingof theexpansionof acomprehensivehigh-qualityvideo
Retired Bishop Marion Edwards kisses newly elected Bishop Paul Leeland during SEJ Conference’s Service of Consecration July 19, 2008, at Lake Junaluska. Bishops Edwards passed away in 2011. A UMNS photo By Bill Norton.
Voting Thereare44episcopalcandidatesnownominatedinthe2012elections.Delegatesarefreetovoteforwhomevertheyfeelismostqualified and not bound to support theirconferencenominee.Eachjurisdictionisallowedtoestablishthepercentagerequiredforelection.Thepercentageisgenerallysetat60percentof ballotscast. Thevotingprocessdiffersamongjurisdictions,butprovi-sionmustbemadefordelegatestovoteforpeoplewhohavenotbeennominatedorendorsed.Confer-encesmustprovideinformationaboutpeoplewhoreceive10votesor5percentof thevotescastonanyballot. Mostjurisdictionsnowuseelectronicvotingratherthanwrittenballots. Thenumberof required
ballotsvariesfromyeartoyear.Occasionallyacandidatewillbeelected on the first ballot, but gener-allyseveralballotsarenecessary.Somejurisdictionsdropnamesof people who receive fewer than five votes.Peoplewhoreceiveonlyafewvoteswillfrequentlyasksupport-erstovoteforanothercandidateonafutureballot.Votingbyballotcontinuesuntilsomeonereachestherequirednumberof votes. Therecordforlengthyelec-tionswasestablishedin1980intheWesternJurisdictionalConference.Inthatyear,theRev.CalvinMcCo-nnellattendedaschairof aRockyMountainConferencecampaigntoelecttheRev.JamisonJonestotheepiscopacy.After47ballots,how-ever,McConnellwaselectedtothatoffice. “I hope no one ever comes neartothatmanyballots,”McCon-nelltoldtheUnitedMethodistNewsService. Thenewbishop’sconse-crationservicewasscheduledfor1p.m.but,sinceMcConnellwasnotelecteduntil5p.m.,theservicewasat9p.m.,longaftertheotherfourjurisdictionalconferenceshadadjourned.“Ihadtoborrowawhiteshirt,tieandrobefortheservice,”saidthenow-retiredbishop. Candidatesforbishopdonothavetolivewithinthejuris-dictionwheretheyareelected.In1984,theRev.LeontineT.C.Kelly,whodiedJune28,2012,attheageof 92,wasservingaspastorof achurchinRichmond,Va.––partof theSoutheasternJurisdiction
––whenshewaselectedbishopinthe Western Jurisdiction. She flew fromtheSoutheasternconferencetotheWesternconferencewhenshelearnedshewasaleadingcandidateinthatjurisdiction.Assignments Bishopsmaybeassignedtothesameareaforuptothreequa-drennia.AssignmentstakeeffectSept.1,2012. Anewlyelectedbishopmaynotbeassignedtotheepiscopalareainwhichheorsheholdsmem-bershipunlesstwo-thirdsof thecommitteeonepiscopacymembersdecidetoignorethatrestriction. Inrarecases,anInter-juris-dictionalCommitteeonEpiscopacy,electedbyGeneralConferencedel-egates,cantransferbishopsacrossjurisdictionallinesif thebishopsandthejurisdictionsagree. Aftertheelectionof newbishops,eachjurisdictioncommitteeonepiscopacyrecommendstothejurisdictionalconferencestheassign-mentof bishopstotheirepiscopalareas.Newbishopsareconsecrated,notordained.Theyremaineldersinthedenomination,buttheybecomeordainedmembersof theCouncilof Bishopsinsteadof anannualconference.*Peck is a retired clergy member of the New York Annual Conference and former editor of Newscope, Circuit Rider, the International Christian Digest and the Daily Christian Advocate. He now edits UM Men magazine.
‘Bishops’ continued from page 6The Southeastern Jurisdiction already has one fewer bishop than the formula allows; the jurisdiction will meet to elect five bishops replacing five retiring bishops.
The Committee on Episcopacy is sponsoring a process by which delegates and guests may become better acquainted with the declared episcopal nominees. A plenary session will be held on Tuesday, July 17, at 1 p.m. in Stuart Auditorium. All nominees will be given a few minutes to address everyone present. Round Robin sessions will be held in Shackford Hall beginning at 2:45 p.m. The break out ses-sions (room assignments listed at right) will be limited to delegates and reserves.