You may recall there was some confusion regarding the changes to our Charge Conference format last year. Last year, we had a district-wide Charge Conference where all the Charge Conference members went to a single location and voted to approve our Charge Conference reports at the same time. Other districts had been following a similar format for some time before the Metro District adopted this practice.
As more churches have seen declines in membership, worship attendance, and giving, the revenue needed to support district offices has decreased. Thus, the number of districts and district superintendents has contracted to a sustainable number. This means district superintendents cover far more local churches than they once had meaning the number of Charge Conferences simply was not sustainable.
The confusion arose from the fact that, with a district-wide Charge Conference, Chapel Hill UMC did not get to discuss the reports before their approval, though they had been reviewed in Church Council prior to their submittal in Charge Conference. The fact Chapel Hill UMC had a custom to hold a Church Conference to discuss the reports raised the concern further.
We discussed how to address these concerns in our new format last year so we would be prepared as this new Charge Conference format continues. This year’s Charge Conference will be attended via Zoom by our Church Council membership which essentially mirrors the Charge Conference membership per the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church on October 18 at 3 pm. Charge Conference documents have been pre-approved by the Church Council and submitted to the district office for review.
However, as we return to in-person worship this coming Sunday, we will follow worship with an All Church Meeting in which everyone who attends will be able to review the reports prior to our Charge Conference.
We look forward to seeing you in worship, though we still encourage everyone to consider their age and health before deciding if they will attend worship right now. For those who remain home, worship will continue online and you can use the following link to connect to the meeting via Zoom after worship:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5863899805
Meeting ID: 586 389 9805
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,5863899805# US (Houston)
If you would like to view the documents before the meeting, you can view or download them at this link:
http://bit.ly/chargeconference2020
Grace and peace,
Rev. J.D. Allen
Senior Pastor
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