In February, Bishop David Graves, episcopal leader of the South Georgia Conference, announced there would be a special session of the Annual Conference held on Saturday, August 20, 2022. The meeting will begin at 10 am and will be held via Zoom and is anticipated to last no longer than one hour.
The purpose of the special session is to vote on any matters related to local church disaffiliations within the South Georgia Annual Conference. Only matters pertaining to the call made by Bishop Graves can be considered.
There are two items of business on the agenda for the called session: completing the process of disaffiliation for churches who have met the requirements outlined in paragraph 2553 in The Book of Discipline and voting on an adjusted 2023 budget.
In the first item of business the South Georgia Conference will vote to ratify the decision of sixty-two local churches to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church. Click here to read the full resolution, which includes the names of all churches to be voted on.
In the second item of business, the Council on Finance and Administration (CFA) is proposing three adjustments to the 2023 budget approved in June. These proposed reductions total $223,847, which will ensure that remaining churches do not have increased apportionments resulting from local church disaffiliations. Click here to read more and see the adjusted budget.
Registered clergy and lay members to Annual Conference will receive their voting credentials and a link to the Zoom meeting on Tuesday, August 16. Retired clergy not serving a church and clergy on medical leave will automatically receive their credentials on this same day.
A live stream link for non-voting members will be made available on the conference website, www.sgaumc.org, the morning of August 20.
The agenda for the called session is as follows: