Skip to Main Content

A Message from the Bishop: Election of General Conference Delegates

Posted: March 21 2023 at 06:29 PM

A Message from the Bishop:

Election of General Conference Delegates: Decision Released by Judicial Council

Grace and peace to you in the name of Christ.

I write today related to the composition of our delegation in light of a new ruling released by the United Methodist Judicial Council.

In June 2019, the Northern Illinois Conference elected delegates to serve at the 2020 (now 2024) General Conference. At their 2022 annual conference, the Northern Illinois lay and clergy members passed a resolution calling for new elections, unless the Judicial Council required the current delegation to serve.

On March 21, 2023, the United Methodist Judicial Council released Decision 1472, stating that “annual conferences are permitted to hold elections to fill vacancies due to death, resignations, or otherwise, up to the maximum number of allocated delegates, provided vacancies cannot be filled with reserve delegates.”

I have been watching this work carefully over the past few months related to the intent of the 2022 annual conference to elect a new delegation if permitted. With today’s ruling, we are obligated to remain with the delegation elected in 2019 and cannot honor the intent of the legislation in 2022. In the event of death, resignations, or otherwise, reserve delegates would move up in the delegation and elections would only take place to fill the appropriate vacancies.

The 2024 General Conference will be held April 23 to May 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 2024 Jurisdictional Conference will be held July 10 to 13 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Please pray for your delegation and the service they render as together we fulfill the mission of the United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Peace,

Bihop Schwerin Signature

Dan Schwerin, Bishop
Northern Illinois Conference UMC

News & Announcements

Hispmanreadbible

A Scripture and a Prayer for the Church After a Shooting Death

Bishop Dan Schwerin offers a prayer and meditation on scripture following the news that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man leaving the…

Nic Collections End July 2024 Cmyk

Have you made your contribution?

In an effort to be more transparent, the Finance and Administration office is going to be consistently sharing where we are as a conference are in regards to the giving versus what is needed fo…

From The Bishop Leads Us Not Into Temptation

From the Bishop: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

As the nation's president talks about sending the National Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement troops to Chicago, Bishop Dan Schwerin urges United Methodists to return oft…

Rockford Work Camp Cmyk

Summer Community Experimentation Strengthens Faith

This summer, churches across Northern Illinois embraced Bishop Schwerin’s call to experiment with new ways of being the church—reshaping Vacation Bible Schools, hosting local…

Print