This Week's Current Week in Review

The Current Week in Review

September 16, 2022

IGRC reorganization plan update

Bishop Frank J. Beard and the IGRC Reorganization Task Force have been meeting and discussing plans for helping the IGRC transition from 10 districts supervised by eight superintendents to five districts supervised by five superintendents.

The task force, working with the bishop, has developed a recommendation that will now be shared with the Extended Cabinet. The Extended Cabinet will work on this plan and other issues related to Conference reorganization at its fall retreat Sept. 18-22.

The Extended Cabinet will offer their input to the Board of Laity and to the Connectional Table. These groups will be meeting in October and will receive and offer suggestions for development and implementation.

The Connectional Table and the Reorganizational Task Force will work with Conference Agencies to complete the plan for implementation that will be shared at the next gathering of the Annual Conference.

Please keep Bishop Beard and our lay and clergy leaders in your prayers as they work to assist our Conference in being better prepared “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”.

Delegates to participate in virtual candidate forums

The IGRC General and Jurisdictional Conference delegation will participate in a Jurisdictional Candidates' Forum which will be held all day Saturday on Zoom.

For many, this will be the first time for delegates to meet the 10 candidates and ask questions of them. Nine of the 10 candidates recorded interviews with the NCJ Committee on Episcopacy and each candidate, in order to be considered, have completed questionnaires which have been filed with the NCJ Secretary.

Delegates could be electing as many as three bishops to assume office Jan. 1, 2023 when they meet in Fort Wayne, Ind. Nov. 2-5.

VIEW THE VIRTUAL CANDIDATE FORUM

VIEW CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRES

Judicial Council releases fall docket

The #UMC Judicial Council has released a 24-item docket for its fall session. Because of the pandemic, the Judicial Council has been meeting online and deliberations are not yet scheduled. Briefs are due Oct. 12 and reply briefs are due Oct. 22.

Among the 24 items on the docket is a request for a declaratory decision regarding the status of delegations elected in 2019 for the 2020 GC and whether the May 2024 GC session will require new elections of delegation and the reapportioning of the allocation of delegates.

SEE THE FALL 2022 DOCKET

We are the church. Together. Let's #BeUMC.

Additional resources for remaining Methodists

United Methodist Communications has developed a campaign aimed at assisting United Methodists in amplifying their voice about why they are United Methodists and plan to be in the future.

Four themes and a series of core values will help you share why you are United Methodist and what makes you optimistic for the future as we move toward becoming a more perfect Church.

These key themes are intended to highlight what unites us as United Methodists and what we are working towards, together. When sharing your #BeUMC story, you should do so in a way that is authentic to your experience and context. Each key theme includes examples of different ways people might talk about it.

A set of core values is aligned with each key theme. Choose the core values that most closely relate to your United Methodist experience. Maybe you’ll choose to highlight a different core value each month in order to show the diverse ways you live out your faith and how your congregation lives into those areas.

A new video series, What United Methodists Need to Know, and a new slideshow resource that enables congregations to inform their membership on why to remain United Methodist will be released in the near future.

Former communications staffer heads to Purdue University

Former editor and writer for The Current has been selected as a communicator at Purdue University. Stephen J. Hustedt has spent the past nine years as Conference communicator for the Upper New York Conference and seven years prior to this, was Conference Communicator in the Desert Southwest Conference.

“I have greatly valued my time with the Upper New York Conference and the United Methodist Church as a whole,” Steve said. “And I especially value all the amazing people I have been blessed to be in ministry with over the years.”

The Rev. Bill Gottschalk-Fielding, UNY Director of Connectional Ministries and Executive Assistant to the Bishop said, “Steve is a skilled communicator who has always led first and foremost out of his faith. He loves Jesus and everything he is up to in our world and loves to help churches tell that story.”

His award-winning work has been recognized by both the United Methodist Association of Communicators (UMAC) and the Religion Communicators Council.

Charge conference forms online

Forms for charge conferences which will be held in the fall are now available through your Church Portal Page.

To access the documents, click on Church Portal on the IGRC Homepage or go to: https://www.igrc.org/churchportal to find the log-in page. Select your District from the dropdown menu. This will trigger a second drop-down menu where you select your Church. The passcode is the church's six-digit GCFA number which can be found on the monthly remittance form for apportionment payments.

In preparation for charge conferences in the fall, the Finance Office has prepared two pages of information that will assist you in your budget building for 2023.

A document outlining the Clergy Benefits and Costs for 2023 includes action taken by the 2022 Annual Conference with regard to minimum salaries for full-time elders and full-time local pastors.

A second document Important Numbers for Charge Conference provides additional information and background. The Apportionment calculations and the Charge Conference forms will be published in the next few weeks.

Churches that have been identified as receiving an additional member to annual conference for equalization purposes should elect that person at the church's charge conference.