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2009 Constitutional Amendments

Background
The 2008 General Conference passed changes to the Book of Discipline and to the Book of Resolutions. The 2008 General Conference passed thirty-two amendments to the Constitution of The United Methodist Church, which is found in the beginning of the Book of Discipline, and is the foundational document establishing and governing The United Methodist Church. 

The constitutional amendments each received at least a two-thirds vote of the General Conference, but they require further approval by members of annual conferences this year. The 2009 Annual Conference will receive, review and vote on each of the Constitutional Amendments.

Each Annual Conference and Central Conference will receive the same amendments and an aggregate vote of two thirds of all those voting  across all the annual conferences will be required before these amendments will be approved.

Informational documents
Please click on the link below to read the following information:

• a cover letter from the Missouri Annual Conference
• the proposed Constitutional Amendments
• the General Conference rationale
• the Missouri Conference rationale

Amendment documents digital edition | Amendment documents (PDF) | Draft ballot (PDF)

Missouri Conference rationale
The Missouri Conference rationale came from a team consisting of General Conference Delegation and conference leaders. This is to help you prepare for voting on the Constitutional amendments, and is a revised version of a similar document prepared by the delegation of the West Ohio Conference.

The summary lists some of the common arguments for and against each amendment, in an attempt to bring clarity. We are not suggesting that we agree with the viewpoints expressed, nor do we endorse the validity of the arguments.

At Annual Conference
Floor discussion at Conference should focus upon the amendment language, not these rationales. These amendments cannot be amended; they can only be voted on as yes or no.

The proposed amendments will be presented on the floor on Friday, and on Saturday afternoon there will be a workshop led by members of the delegation for discussion.  On Sunday afternoon they will be brought to the floor for your consideration and vote.

Questions
To submit a question to be addressed at the Annual Conference workshop, please e-mail the Missouri Conference. Note, we will not respond to the questions until then.