Rules on church law

E. Interpretations of Church Law

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).

2062. Reporting Official Rulings. The General Superintendent shall submit a report of all official rulings on points of law, interpretations of The Discipline, or other formal judicial acts, to the next session of the General Board or its Executive Board for their information, and to the next session of the General Conference for final review and approval (1590:22). Upon approval by the General Conference, such rulings become the law of the Church and shall be incorporated into the appropriate section(s) of The Discipline. A record of such rulings shall be inserted in a special appendix of the next issue of The Discipline as follows:

The General Superintendent on (date) officially interpreted (identify item) and the General Conference on (date) sustained (GC- ), thereby authorizing this provision to mean: (insert the ruling).

2064. Rulings on District Actions. The General Superintendent shall rule on the legality of an official action by a district conference, any district board or committee, or a district official as follows: Any three or more members of The Wesleyan Church within a district or developing district may request such a ruling and shall submit their petition in writing, signed by each petitioner (323:6). The General Superintendent shall decide if the official act in question, in whole or in part, is deemed properly taken according to the Constitution (200-385), or other provisions of The Discipline (155-185), stating reasons for the ruling in writing. If the action is ruled as contravening the Constitution or other provisions of The Discipline, it shall be null and void. Appeals from the decision of the General Superintendent may be made by the petitioners or the district board of administration to the General Board of Review (375:2).

2066. Requests for Rulings by the Board of Review. The General Superintendent shall request a ruling from the Board of Review on the constitutionality of an act of the General Conference (375:1), the legality of an act of any General Church board (375:3), and the legality of any issues arising between a district and the General Conference (375:6; Gen. Bd. Policy on Ch. Disc. 5445:1, 3, 4).

2068. Canvassing Votes on Constitutional Amendments. The General Superintendent, with the Executive Cabinet, shall canvas the vote taken by the several district conferences on an amendment to the Constitution originating in the General Conference and, when the amendment has received the required two-thirds vote, shall declare it effective as constitutional law (1590:2). 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).