1536–1585

1. Officers

1536. The Presidency (332). The General Superintendent shall preside over the General Conference. When no General Superintendent is present, the General Conference shall elect by ballot an ordained minister as president pro tem.

1539. The Secretary. The Executive Director of Communication and Administration shall be the secretary of the General Conference and shall accurately record the proceedings, preserve them in permanent form, and perform any other such duties as shall be required by the General Conference.

2. Procedure

1541. Delegates. Once a delegate has been seated at the General Conference, an alternate delegate cannot thereafter be seated in place of the seated delegate (1514).

1543. Quorum (336). A majority of all the delegates elected by the districts shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A smaller number shall have the authority to adjourn from time to time until a quorum is obtained.

1545. Voting (338). The ministerial and lay delegates shall deliberate in the sessions of the General Conference as one body. However, upon the final vote on any question, except proposed amendments to the Constitution (200-385), on a call of one-fourth of the members, the house shall divide so that ministerial and lay delegates shall vote separately. It shall require a majority vote of each branch to pass any question upon which the division has been called.

1547. Rules of Order. General Conference business shall be conducted according to the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, except when formally suspended by the General Conference or when other procedures are required by The Discipline (360:1).

1550. Appeals on Questions of Order. The chair shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the General Conference. In case of such an appeal, the vote shall be taken without debate, except that the chair may state the grounds of the decision, and the appellant may state the grounds of the appeal.

1553. Suspension of Rules. The General Conference may suspend for a particular session any statutory law (155) set forth in The Discipline governing the procedures of the General Conference, by a two-thirds majority vote.

3. Memorials

1557. Memorials to the General Conference, including proposed changes to The Discipline other than the Constitution (200-385), may be submitted by a district conference, a district board of administration, the General Board, a General Conference committee, the governing board of an educational or benevolent institution, the governing board of a subsidiary corporation, the general executive committee of an auxiliary organization, or any ten members of the General Conference.

1560. Memorials proposing an amendment to the Constitution (200–385) may be submitted to the General Conference only by a district conference by a two-thirds vote (1180:1), or by the General Board (1655:8).

4. Committees

1563. The General Conference shall have such committees as it may deem necessary. The committees shall be nominated by the General Board, unless ordered otherwise in The Discipline or by the General Conference, and elected by the General Conference.

a. Committee on Memorials

1565. The General Board shall serve as the Committee on Memorials. It shall be the duty of the Committee on Memorials to receive all memorials for the General Conference, classify them, pass on each of them, and submit such memorials to the General Conference, together with the committee’s recommendation, and in such order as the committee shall determine (1655:7). All memorials received no later than November 1 of the year prior to the General Conference shall be classified and printed for distribution to the General Conference delegates no later than sixty days before the opening date of the General Conference. Any memorial received by the Committee on Memorials after November 1 shall only be presented to the General Conference if it is recommended for adoption by the Committee on Memorials and if the General Conference votes to hear it.

b. General Conference Planning Committee

1570. The Executive Cabinet, with such other additional persons as it shall appoint, at least one year before the convening of a regular session of the General Conference, shall constitute a General Conference Planning Committee. The General Superintendent, or a person designated by the General Superintendent, shall serve as chair.

1573. The General Conference Planning Committee shall be responsible to arrange all necessary matters for the General Conference subject to the approval of the General Board or, in the interim of its sessions, the Executive Board.

1576. The Executive Cabinet shall formulate a program for the General Conference, including any worship services and other special features, all of which shall be subject to the approval of the General Board or, in the interim of its sessions, the Executive Board.

c. Committee on Special Nominations

1580. The General Board shall serve as the Committee on Special Nominations (1655:7). The duties of this committee shall be to:

(1) Receive from the General Superintendent recommendations from which to present to the General Conference one or more nominations for each of the general officials elected by the General Conference. In the event an incumbent is not nominated, the committee shall normally present two or more nominations for that office. The general officials involved are: the Executive Director of the Communication and Administration Division, the Executive Director of the Education and Clergy Development Division, the Executive Director of the Church Multiplication and Discipleship Division, and the Executive Director of the Global Partners Division (1590:16).

(2) Present nominations for the members of the Board of Review (1590:18; Gen. Bd. Policy on Ch. Disc. 5400:3; 5405).

(3) Present such other nominations or fulfill such duties as may be assigned to them by the General Conference.

d. General Conference Editing Committee

1585. The General Conference Editing Committee shall be elected by the General Board and shall be responsible for editing The Discipline, the General Conference Journal, and any other item assigned by the General Conference or the General Board. All recommendations concerning the dedication of the General Conference Journal shall be referred to the General Board which shall determine the matter and instruct the committee accordingly. The committee is authorized, in consultation with the General Superintendent, to make any and all changes and additions to The Discipline (except changes to the Constitution, unless otherwise ordered by the General Conference) that it deems essential for implementing the intent of the General Conference in adopting specific legislation, subject to final review and approval of such changes by the General Board or its Executive Board.