Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church

Join us this Sunday!
8:30 in Cox Chapel (Traditional)
9:30 Sunday School in Education Bldg.
11:00 in Sanctuary (Blended)


Don't have an account? Click here to register for one!

Phone: 214-352-4889
Fax: 214-352-6649
Email: office@cochranchapel.org
Location:9027 Midway Road Dallas, Texas 75209

Pastor's Blog

Annual Conference

Posted by Joseph Stabile

In the Methodist church we toss around the term "Annual Conference" but do we all understand just what it means. Probably the most simple description is that the Annual Conference is a territorial boundary of the United Methodist Church. So here we are in the North Texas Annual Conference that comprises over 50,000 square miles of north Texas; including Dallas north to the Red River and east to west from Sulpher Springs to Wichita Falls. Within that geographical area are all of the local Methodist churches, about 300 of them, that make up our Annual Conference. Each Annual Conference is presided over by a Bishop and is divided up in smaller territorial groupings called Districts. In our Conference there are now four Districts of which we belong to the Metro District made up of Dallas County.

The second understanding that we have of Annual Conference refers to the yearly gathering of the clergy and elected lay delegates from each local church for the purpose of doing the administrative decision making for the greater territorial area called the Annual Conference. United Methodist clergy do not have membership in the local church, their membership in the church is held in the Annual Conference. During meetings of the Annual Conference there must be one lay person elected as a delegate for each clergy person, so there is an equal number of clergy and lay members for the Conference. That means approximately 1000 people will gather for the two and one-half days of meeting. And it is here each year that the administration of the Conference is decided upon by these clergy and lay delegates.

Each Annual Conference is also part of a larger administrative structure called "Jurisdictional Conference". In the case of the North Texas Annual Conference, we are part of what is known as the South Central Jurisdictional Conference which is made up of the all of Conferences in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. One of the main functions of Jurisdictional Conference is to appoint Bishops to preside over the Annual Conferences.

The ultimate decision making body of the United Methodist Church is "General Conference". This Conference happens every four years as Methodist clergy and lay delegates gather from all over the world. This is the body that makes polity and doctrinal decisions for the whole of the Methodist church. As in each Conference there must be an equal number of clergy and lay delegates and the Bishops, while presiding over General Conference, do not have a vote. This year at Annual Conference we will be electing the clergy and lay delegates who will represent the North Texas Annual Conference to both General and Jurisdictional Conferences which will be held in 2012.

Our Annual Conference session will be the first week of June. Please pray for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit to be with all of the delegates as we move forward toward next year's General Conference.

Posted May 31, 2011 | View

(941 Views)

Home | Campus Info | Links | Contact Us