Annual Conference: What happened Sunday and Monday?
By Jessica Brodie
Annual Conference kicked off Sunday, June 8, with a Commissioning, Ordination and Retirement Recognition Service.
Presided and preached by South Carolina’s Resident Bishop Leonard Fairley, the evening ordained three full elders, ordained one full deacon, commissioned eight as provisional elders, commissioned two as provisional deacons and recognized the orders of one who was previously ordained in another Methodist denomination and is now a full member of the South Carolina Annual Conference. It also recognized 32 retiring clergy.
Monday
Worship was also the start to Monday’s full day of business. Fairley preached an opening worship service, then called the 54th session of Annual Conference to order.
This year’s Annual Conference embraces the theme “See the Possibilities, the Promise of a Seed,” drawing from Jeremiah 29:5-7.
In addition to greetings, organizational motions and the consent calendar, Monday saw a number of actions:
Two changes to Standing Rules: Annual Conference approved two changes to Standing Rules Monday, one to SR46 (adding the conference secretary to the list of members of the conference’s Ministry Advisory Team) and one to SR50 (the change reduces the size of the Board of Pension and Health Benefits from 18 to 12, comprising one-third laymen, one-third laywomen and one-third clergy).
Motion passed expressing concern over federal cuts: Annual Conference passed a motion Monday to go on record expressing concern about the federal government making deep cuts to needed federal jobs, health care, education nonprofit agencies, universities and discrimination without justice against the vulnerable, immigrants and LGBTQ+. Proposed by the Rev. John Culp, the motion further noted that the Council of Bishops has addressed the cutting of USAID for world poverty, and the General Board of Church and Society has released four social justice position statements reflecting this.
Introduction of the budget: Council on Finance and Administration President D. Smith Patterson, with the Rev. Sara White, offered the first reading Monday of CF&A’s proposed $10.3 million 2026 budget. The vote will be Wednesday. The budget is $1.4 million less than 2025’s budget. CF&A shared that an $800,000 rebate from 2023 separating churches will be applied, so churches will only be apportioned $9.5 million.
Five resolutions pass: The body approved five resolutions Monday, four with little fanfare and one twice-amended that took an hour and forty minutes to debate. The five resolutions passed are as follows: LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Ministry; Our Responsibility for Personal Health; Upholding the Dignity of All Mothers; Supporting South Carolinians Living with Dementia; and Recommit to Collegiate Ministry as a Priority of the Church. Originally, only the four latter resolutions were automatically and properly before the body, as they had been properly formatted and submitted by a conference board or group. But the Rev. Steve Simoneaux, chair of the Committee on Resolutions and Appeals, said they felt the LGBTQIA+ Inclusion resolution should go before the body. The LGBTQIA+ Inclusion resolution asks the conference to create a conference-level South Carolina Inclusion Team to support LGBTQ+ people, amplify their voices and equip local churches with helpful LGBTQ+ resources. The body amended the resolution to delete a call for monitoring conference committees and policies, as well as to specify that—as the team would begin this year, and as budget recommendations are made far in advance—the first two years of funds for the team would be provided by donations. (The other resolutions passed with no debate, with the exception of Our Responsibility for Personal Health, which added “avoiding harmful substances” to the list of health commitments.)
AC licensed 18 new local pastors: On Monday afternoon, Annual Conference examined and then licensed 18 new local pastors to serve the Annual Conference.
Praise and Prayer: Monday ended with an Evening Service of Prayer and Praise preached by Dr. Luke Rhyee on “What Would Be Your Epitaph?”, drawing from Philippians 1:21.
What’s ahead Tuesday?
Annual Conference continues in full swing Tuesday as the body considers four amendments to The United Methodist Church constitution, hears from South Carolina’s Ministry Advisory Team with updates on the bishop’s four Jeremiah Teams, and considers a host of other business on the schedule.
The biggest event Tuesday is slated for after lunch, when the body will join conferences around the world to vote on regionalization and three other amendments to the denomination’s constitution: expanding gender and disability inclusion in church membership; standing against racism and colonialism; and clarifying requirements for clergy-delegate elections. (See https://advocatesc.org/articles/amendments2025 for a full breakdown of each amendment.)
The amendments were all passed by the required two-thirds vote at the 2024 General Conference. But because they will change the UMC constitution, they require ratification by at least two-thirds of the total voting members of all the annual conferences combined.
To clarify, that does not mean a two-thirds vote at each annual conference is needed but rather two-thirds of all 127 annual conferences around the world.
The language of the amendments cannot be changed. Votes will be simple “yes” or “no” votes on four ballots.
The results won’t be known until after all annual conferences—in the United States as well as in Europe, Africa and the Philippines—have held a vote. Votes are expected to be finished by October. Then, in November, the Council of Bishops is expected to tally all votes and certify any ratifications.
Also today, the body will hear a report from the Ministry Advisory Team, which has been working since November through Bishop Leonard Fairley’s four Jeremiah Teams to assess and then transform how the conference is structured, how it operates and how it aligns with its stated priorities.
The four teams are Missional Priorities, Strategy for the Black Church and Ethnic Ministries, District Alignment and Conference Staff Alignment.
Also on the agenda Tuesday are reports from the Commission on Equitable Compensation, Board of Pension & Health Benefits, Conference Connectional Ministries and Committee on Nominations, among others.
At 5 p.m., the Rev. William F. Malambri will preach a memorial service celebrating the lives of clergy and spouses who died over the past conference year.
Tomorrow’s lineup
Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the final day of Annual Conference. In addition to the passage of the budget put forth from the Council on Finance and Administration, the body will finalize the rest of the business of Annual Conference, as well as fix the appointments of ministers for the coming year.
Full overview about Annual Conference coming Friday!