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AC Session Election and Petitions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2023

Greetings my friends,

As we prepare for our time together in June for the 2023 Session of the Mississippi Annual Conference, I at last can confirm that we will be having elections to fill open spots in both our clergy and lay delegates to the 2024 jurisdictional conference.  
 
Pursuant to the recent Judicial Council Decision 1472, “The pre-condition for new elections is depletion of the reserve delegate pool. When that point is reached, and only then, ¶ 33 grants annual conferences “the right to vote…on the election of clergy and lay delegates to the General and the jurisdictional or central conferences” and to elect new delegates up to the maximum number of allocated delegates.”  
 
CLERGY

• With the election of Bishop Connie Shelton, and the impact of disaffiliation, we have one open clergy delegate position for the 2024 jurisdictional conference after all of our current reserves have been placed.
• Election of clergy delegates requires that:
  • ¶35, Article IV – Only those in full connection are eligible for election
  • ¶35, Article IV - Deacons and elders in full connection, associate members, provisional members who have completed all educational requirements and local pastors who have completed course of study or an M. Div. degree and have served a minimum of two consecutive years may vote in the election.
• All eligible clergy members will be balloted. 

LAITY

• With the death of Turner Arant and the impact of disaffiliation, we have two open lay delegate positions for the 2024 jurisdictional conference after all of our current reserves have been placed.
• Election of lay delegates required that:
  • ¶ 36, Article V - Lay members of a church within the annual conference who have been a professing member for at least two years and an active participant for at least four years.
  • ¶36, Article V – Lay members of the session of the annual conference are allowed to vote.
• Standing Rule 10 – On March 20, 2023, the extended cabinet, acting under the authority granted by Standing Rule 27, suspended Standing Rule 10, allowing for us to change the stated April 1 deadline for the submission of lay nomination information for the pre-conference journal. Lay members who wish to be considered for election and have their information shared in the pre-conference journal must electronically submit a completed Lay Delegate Nomination Form by May 15, 2023. This does not preclude any lay person who meets the requirements from being nominated from the floor. 

You can find a listing of all current General Conference delegates here and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference delegates here. 

RESOLUTIONS AND PETITIONS

I would like to remind everyone that pursuant to Standing Rule 7, resolutions and petitions need to be submitted electronically to the conference secretary by May 30, 2023, to tharper@mississippi-umc.org. The required summary, in addition to the petition or resolution text, will be placed in the pre-conference journal in June. 

Rev. Trey Harper
Mississippi Conference Secretary
Spiritual Leadership Director

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