GENERAL CONFERENCE HELPFUL RESOURCES

Websites:
2008 General Conference
Worldwide Nature of the Church
State of the Church Report

Agenda:
General Conference Agenda

Online Petition Tracking:
Legislation tracking

Issues:
Overview of issues faceing delegtes at the 2008 General Conference

Visitor's and Media Guide:
General Conference 2008 Visitor's and Media Guide
Issues facing the 2008 delegates

Bulletin Insert:
General Conference bulletin insert for use in the local church

Prayer Calendar:
Prayer Calendar for the month of April

Seating:
Plenary Seating Assignments
Plenary Floor Plan

Committee Paragraph Assignments:
2008 Legislative Committee Paragraph Assignments

Organization and Rules of Order:
Proposed Plan of Organization and Rules of Order (77 pages, takes a while to download)

Audio and Video Resources:
DVD (Delegate Informational Video) click here to view
Audio and Video Clips from the Briefing click here to access
Budget presentation by Don House to the Southwest Texas Conference (Part One), select "GCFA Budget" to the right of "Featured Video"
Budget presentation by Don House to the Southwest Texas Conference (Part Two)

United Methodist News Service stories related to General Conference: http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2637419/k.5D69/General_Conference_News.htm

Media Resources:
"Introduction to General Conference" This Flash presentation illustrates how this legislative event fits into our connectional system, and explains how the meeting itself works.
"Exploring General Conference" Select the course under "United Methodist Basics" and complete a simple registration process to take this free, online course.

General Conference Information from the General Agencies:
General Board of Discipleship
General Board of Global Ministries
General Board of Church and Society, select the "General Conference" tab.
General Council on Finance and Administration
General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns
General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
General Commission on Religion and Race
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women: General Conference Tools
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women: General Conference Petitions
General Commission on United Methodist Men, select "General Conference 2008" at the bottom of the home page.
General Commission on Communication (United Methodist Communications)
General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits

Other Websites:
MethoBlog
UM Portal

Recommended Book by Hal and Charlene:
Staying at the Table: The Gift of Unity for United Methodists by Scott J. Jones

Advance DCA:
If you do not automatically receive the Advance Daily Christian Advocate but would like to, you can order from Cokesbury by clicking here.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND GENERAL CONFERENCE

Exploring General Conference - Online Training Course
(UMCom) Anyone wanting to learn more about General Conference and how it works can take a free five-session online course called "Exploring General Conference" through United Methodist Communications. To register, visit http://training.umcom.org.

General Conference Multimedia Resources
(UMCom) Significant multimedia resources related to the 2008 General Conference already are available online at GC2008.umc.org. Among them are video and audio recordings of panel discussions from the Pre-General Conference News Briefing, held in January in Fort Worth and sponsored by United Methodist Communications to provide information to delegates and journalists about significant issues facing General Conference.