Ivory Coast hasn’t joined UMC, court says

African UMs to have
2 representatives at
Fort Worth meeting
United Methodist News Service
The 579,000 church members in Ivory Coast aren’t fully part of The United Methodist Church after all.
As a result, they will have two—not more than 40—delegates at the 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth.
That Judicial Council decision was announced Nov. 6.
The ruling means the Southwest Texas Conference isn’t as likely to lose delegates to the next session of the denomin-ation’s top legislative assembly. Southwest Texas had 12 voting members—six clergy and six laity—at the 2000 and 2004 sessions.
Meeting Oct. 25-28 in Cincinnati, the church high court ruled that the 2004 General Conference had authority to limit the Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) conference to two General Conference delegates.
The 2004 General Conference action “was not a final act of admission” of the Methodist Church of Cote d’Ivoire into The United Methodist Church, the council decision said. “By its terms, the legislation contemplated that further action would be taken by the 2008 General Conference,” the ruling said.
The ruling cited Book of Discipline Paragraph 502 as authority for a General Conference to provide for the composition and allocation of delegates.
But the top court said the 2004 action “has led the church into a veritable no-man’s land where the questions are many and the answers are few.” As a result, the 2008 General Conference, which meets April 23-May 2, would need to complete the admissions process.
The council scolded 2004 General Conference delegates, saying their action “deviated” from the Discipline.
“The General Conference cannot function effectively as a committee of the whole,” the ruling said.
On the final morning of the 2004 General Conference, delegates considered a recommendation from the Commission on Central Conference Affairs to add Cote d’Ivoire to the West Africa Central Conference.
The committee recommended that the question be referred to the West Africa Central Conference, the Commission on Central Conference Affairs and the General Board of Global Ministries. They were to work on Cote d’Ivoire’s official entry into the denomination.
Instead a substitute motion was offered from the floor and adopted. It included four separate actions:
> Adding Cote d’Ivoire to the West Africa Central Conference and authorizing that conference to elect a bishop to serve a new Cote d’Ivoire Episcopal Area.
> Saying no money for the bishop would come during the 2005-2008 quadrennium from the Episcopal Fund.
> Giving Ivory Coast two delegates to the 2008 General Conference.
> Calling for legislation at the 2008 General Conference “to include the Cote d’Ivoire Episcopal Area in the Episcopal Fund of The United Methodist Church.”
“The original resolutions contemplated following the provisions of Paragraph 537 of the 2000 Discipline,” the council ruling said. “The substitute motion offered referred to Paragraph 535.3 of the 2000 Discipline. The aftermath of the harried discussion and precipitous action on the substitute motion has led many to believe that the church of Cote d’Ivoire has joined The United Methodist Church under the provisions of Paragraph 575. Such a process has not been achieved. In fact, none of the processes that lead to church affiliation were perfected by the General Conference action.”
In a signed dissent, four of the nine council members—Rodolfo Beltran, the Rev. Dennis Blackwell, the Rev. Keith Boyette and James Holsinger—said they believed the action of the 2004 General Conference was unconstitutional.
“The General Conference, and now this Judicial Council, has acted in a way which substantially disenfranchises what statistically is the largest annual conference in The United Methodist Church,” dissenters said.
“And applying the logic of our colleagues, it creates a situation where other annual conferences can likewise be denied proportionate representation so long as they are provided with the minimal representation of one lay and one clergy delegate. This is a dangerous precedent and one which reflects poorly upon the global nature of our church. 
“Four of the seven members of the Judicial Council present and voting (at) our fall 2006 session have voted to hold the action of the 2004 General Conference in allocating two clergy delegates to the Cote d’Ivoire Episcopal Area unconstitutional. Paragraph 2608 of the 2004 Discipline requires that ‘(a)n affirmative vote of at least six members of the council shall be necessary to declare any act of the General Conference unconstitutional.’
“Following the conclusion of the 2004 General Conference, the West Africa Central Conference elected Rev. Benjamin Boni to the episcopacy of The United Methodist Church, as it was authorized to do by the action of the 2004 General Conference and by Paragraph 543.2 of the 2004 Discipline. The West Africa Central Conference then assigned Bishop Boni to the Cote d’Ivoire Episcopal Area, composed of the Cote d’Ivoire Annual Conference, as it was authorized to do by the action of the 2004 General Conference and by Paragraphs 543.5 and 543.8 of the 2004 Discipline.
“As a result of the action by the 2004 General Conference and the subsequent meeting of the West Africa Central Conference, the Cote d’Ivoire Annual Conference came into existence and was immediately entitled to all of the rights and privileges of any annual conference in The United Methodist Church.”
In oral arguments for the case, Sam Dixon of the General Board of Global Ministries told council members that the Methodist Church of Cote d’Ivoire is a strong church with a long history that is “ready to fully participate in United Methodist activities around the world.”
Cote d’Ivoire “should be brought into our family with open arms,” he said.
Dixon said the latest survey numbers sent to the General Council on Finance and Administration by the General Board of Global Ministries tallied 579,000 members in the Methodist Church of Cote d’Ivoire, but only 123 ordained clergy and around 500 local pastors. Three districts there are involved in a civil war, making an accurate count difficult, Dixon said.
Jim Allen, general counsel for the fiscal agency, said no one is really sure how many members and pastors Cote d’Ivoire has and that more research is needed.