8 constitutional amendments ratified

Bishops announce
votesby conferences
on proposed changes

United Methodist News Service
WASHINGTON—The Council of Bishops announced Jan. 18 that annual conferences had ratified all eight amendments to the church’s constitution passed by the 2004 General Conference. 
The new amendments are effective immediately.
The process for amending the Constitution of The United Methodist Church requires a two-thirds majority vote of delegates to the General Conference, the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly. Annual conferences must then ratify the amendments by at least a two-thirds composite affirmative vote of members in all sessions.
The 2005 Southwest Texas Annual Conference session in June approved all eight proposals by wide margins.
Results of voting in each conference session are reported to the Council on Bishops, where they are verified, counted, reviewed and certified.
Vote counts for each amendment were:
> Amendment 1, which specifies that a fair and open process be used to elect General Conference delegates: 36,323 yes; 1,098 no.
> Amendment 2, which adds home missioners to the classifications over which General Conference has authority to define and fix powers and duties: 36,614 yes; 920 no.
> Amendment 3, which deletes an obsolete phrase: 36,554 yes; 830 no.
> Amendment 4, which guarantees that the person responsible for promoting work of the United Methodist mission board is a voting member of the annual conference session: 36,134 yes; 1,316 no.
> Amendment 5, which adds home missioners under episcopal appointment to the membership of the annual conference: 36,350 yes; 1,124 no.
> Amendment 6, which supports the addition of the conference director of lay speaking ministries to the list of lay members of the annual conference: 36,270 yes; 1,100 no.
> Amendment 7, which provides a definition of clergy members of the annual conference: 26,211 yes; 11,005 no.
> Amendment 8, which allows for adoption of enabling legislation at the same General Conference as the amendment is voted, contingent upon required ratification by the various annual conferences: 32,901 yes; 4,555 no.
The nearly 11 million-member United Methodist Church has 63 annual conferences in the United States and 52 conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.
Questions about the amendments may be directed to InfoServ, the denomination’s official information service, at (800) 251-8140. Full text of the amendments can be read at http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=10625.