The morning began with a motion to delay consideration of the Traditional Plan Petitions until later in the day, which failed. The Traditional Plan passed to tomorrow's plenary session with 56% of the vote. The Disaffiliation Petition-Taylor and the Disaffiliation Petition-Boyette also passed. After much discussion, including speeches against by Rich Jones and Stan Cosby of our sister conference, NWTX, the One Church Plan failed by a vote of 436 to 386.
A motion to ignore the remaining petitions was brought forth. Rev. Adam Hamilton rose to amend the motion to afford those who supported The Simple Plan the chance to speak. He acknowledged that it had a slim chance of passage, but his desire was to provide Simple Plan supporters the opportunity to be heard. Delegate, "JJ" Warren gave a passionate speech for the Simple Plan. A similar motion regarding the Connectional Conference Plan failed.
There were concerns about Judicial Council rulings regarding constitutionality of the Traditional Plan petitions.
Delegates reminded the body that in 2012 delegates worked diligently to craft "Plan UMC"; however, it was struck down by the Judicial Council in the end. A motion passed to request a declaratory decision to refer plans that will be considered by the plenary body to the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council will bring back rulings tomorrow morning.
Before adjournment, Dr. Susan Brumbaugh, Coordinator of the GC Calendar and NM Conference Delegate reminded the body that 20 delegates could join and add any petition to the plenary agenda. Tomorrow is destined to be another wild ride of parliamentary tactics, passionate speeches, and prayer. No matter your plan preference, tomorrow will be a difficult day. We will keep you posted on events as they occur on social media and provide a wrap-up of the day following adjournment at 6:30 pm CST.
For tomorrow's proceedings, which is likely to be very detail-oriented, it may be helpful to access the Advance Daily Christian Advocate, which includes all the petitions.
Click here.
Today, the livestream was a bit unpredictable. Livestream:
Click here