6517

6517. Criteria for Advancement to General Conference Status. An Established National/Regional Conference may appeal to The International Conference to be advanced to General Conference status, provided the following conditions have been met and a checklist of documentation accompanies any application for such advancement. It is understood that these criteria will be used for a comprehensive review and composite evaluation of each application. Therefore, it is the overall strength that is being assessed rather than a rigid focus on each criterion. An applicant may request an exception on a specific requirement for cause.

(1) Effective church organization on local, district, and general levels demonstrated by:

(a) An organized district and general conference structure.

(b) A minimum of one hundred fifty fully organized or established churches (not counting preaching points or missions).

(c) A minimum of six thousand full members.

(d) Sufficient number of ordained ministers to support district and general conference levels of administration.

(2) Effective program of discipleship, membership training, and leadership development demonstrated by:

(a) Curricula for discipleship, lay leadership, and membership-training systems that reflect commitment to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.

(b) Active delivery systems for discipleship, lay leadership, and membership training.

(3) Effective program of ministerial education demonstrated by:

(a) An accredited Bible or liberal arts college.

(b) An approved curriculum and standards for ministerial education leading to ordination and reflecting commitment to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.

(4) Evidence of responsible stewardship demonstrated by:

(a) A self-supporting system for financing each of the districts and the General Conference administration.

(b) Properly approved annual budgets for each district and the General Conference administration.

(c) A General Conference budget committee.

(d) Annual externally audited financial reports for the districts and for the General Conference.

(5) Defined and operational programs of evangelism, church planting, education, spiritual formation, cross-cultural mission outreach demonstrated by:

(a) An operational cross-cultural outreach strategy.

(b) A ministry in other countries beyond the nation or region defined by the General Conference.

(c) A process for annual reporting of conversions and baptisms.

(d) An ongoing strategy and record of accomplishment of church planting.

(6) Functioning property holding body (or bodies) per local, area, and national laws, demonstrated by:

(a) Directory information providing the legal name(s) of each such body.

(b) A copy of bylaws or official registration(s) identifying each such body.

(7) Adherence to the Essentials of The Wesleyan Church, demonstrated by a covenant of adherence to the Essentials signed by all the members of the governing body of the General Conference.

(8) A discipline that has been approved by the originating General Conference with required subsequent approvals by The International Conference.