Discipline, The, of the North American General Conference: Interpretations of

2060. Informal Opinions and Inquiries about Church Law. The Executive Director of Communication and Administration shall respond to routine inquiries from ministers or members seeking informal opinions about points of Church law or practical applications of The Discipline of The Wesleyan Church. Such opinions are not “official rulings,” but are offered rather as general advice and recommendations to assist church leaders and members in the proper, day-to-day administration of the Church. The Executive Director of Communication and Administration shall keep a log of such inquiries processed by that office for periodic reporting to the General Superintendent. 2061. Official Rulings. Official rulings are formal clarifications of Church law and authoritative interpretations of The Discipline of The Wesleyan Church that become the temporary law of the Church, subject to being overruled or sustained by the next session of the General Conference. The General Superintendent shall prepare or may instruct the Executive Director of Communication and Administration to research and write initial drafts of official rulings when such are properly requested or whenever the General Superintendent deems necessary for the proper administration of the Church:

(1) A request for an official ruling shall be submitted to the General Superintendent, in writing, by the following: the General Board, the Executive Board (1785), a general official, the governing board of an institution or subsidiary corporation, a district conference (1180:35), or a district board of administration (1233:23).

(2) The General Superintendent shall consult with the Executive Board of the General Board prior to giving final approval to and signing all official rulings or interpretations.

(3) A ruling may be appealed to the Board of Review by the party submitting the original request or by the General Board (370; 375:2; 1180:37; 1233:23; Gen. Bd. Policy on Ch. Disc. 5445:2). All appeals must be filed with the Executive Director of Communication and Administration within sixty days after the date the official ruling is published by the General Superintendent. An official ruling that is not upheld by the Board of Review shall be null and void, unless the action of the Board of Review is overruled by the General Conference (375:2; 380).

6800. This section contains the official interpretations of The Discipline of The Wesleyan Church by the General Superintendent which have been sustained by the General Conference and are therefore in full force and effect as Church law (1935). Each interpretation is identified by the paragraph number of The Discipline to which it refers.

Whenever a revision of The Discipline makes an interpretation unnecessary or renders it obsolete, the interpretation is to be deleted from The Discipline by order of the General Conference (Minutes of the 1976 General Conference, proceeding 276).