In
the last article I talked about General Conference which is the highest
legislative body of the global, not just national, United Methodist
Church. You may remember that I said
that the United Methodist Church as a whole does not legally exist; it is not
incorporated as such and there is no single headquarters.
The
work of the United Methodist Church at the general level is carried out by the
general boards and agencies. Each is
separately incorporated as a legal entity, each is independent of one another,
and each receives the mandate for its work from, and reports directly to,
General Conference. You may also remember that there was a move during General
Conference 2012 to switch to a smaller structure including a central governing
board and central office. This was ruled
by the Judicial Council (more about them in a future article) as
unconstitutional, per the UMC Constitution, because it required the general
boards and agencies to directly report to another body other than General
Conference.
There
are 12 general boards and agencies. Each
has a Board of Directors of varying size and make-up as directed by General
Conference in the Discipline, but
each includes bishops, representatives from each Jurisdiction and Central
Conference, (more about these later) and others to insure diversity and
expertise. Each has a president, traditionally
a bishop, and a staff headed by a General Secretary.
General
Council on Finance and Administration cares for the overall financial,
legal, and administrative concerns of the general church and provides resources
and advice to local churches. Each of
the general boards and agencies handles its own funds under the guidance of
GCFA.
General
Board of Church and Society leads the church in response to social issues,
provides resources to local churches on social issues, and communicates the UMC
position on social issues to political leaders, the media, and all of
society. Only the General Conference can
adopt official positions on social issues on behalf of the whole UMC and does
so through the Social Principles in the Discipline
and in The Book of Resolutions. GBCS is charged to put forth only the
official position of General Conference.
If GBCS wishes to address an issue that has not been addressed by
General Conference, it may only do so in its own name and not in the name of
the UMC. Any other United Methodist
individual or group addressing a social issue may only do so in their own name
and not in the name of the UMC unless they are simply stating the official
position adopted by General Conference.
General Board of
Discipleship provides
leadership and resources to the church in the areas of Christian education,
evangelism, worship, stewardship, spiritual formation, ministry of the laity,
discipleship formation, age-level and family ministry, adult and older adult
ministries, and ministry with young people.
Upper Room Ministries (publishers of The
Upper Room Daily Devotional) is under the GBOD umbrella but is funded by
its own sales and donations.
General Board of Global
Ministries is the
mission and relief arm of the UMC. It is
responsible for world evangelism and for the deployment of missionaries,
deaconesses, and home missioners in the US and elsewhere. It is also responsible for congregational
development in the US and elsewhere.
Through UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) it provides
disaster relief and recovery and development throughout the world. UMW (United Methodist Women) is still related
to GBGM but it is now a completely separate organization.
General Board of Higher
Education and Ministry
oversees and resources the policies regarding certified, licensed,
commissioned, and ordained ministries and oversees United Methodist related colleges
and seminaries.
General Board of Pension
and Health Benefits provides
pension, health insurance, and other benefits for clergy and lay employees of
the UMC.
The United Methodist
Publishing House is
the printing and publishing arm of the church which publishes all of the
official books of the church. Abingdon
Press and Cokesbury are also part of UMPH.
General Commission on
Archives and History cares
for the history and the historical records of the church.
General Commission on
Communication/United Methodist Communications (UMCom) provides communication resources to
the whole church including news service, public relations, websites, and
advertising.
General Commission on
Religion and Race provides
leadership for race relations, the elimination of racism, and the full
inclusion of people of all races in the church.
General Commission on
the Status and Role of Women provides
leadership for the full inclusion of women in all aspects of the life of the
church.
General Commission on
United Methodist Men
provides leadership for United Methodist Men.
The
Connectional Table is made up of the
leadership of all the general boards and agencies and other members from around
the church and provides coordination of mission and ministry among the general
boards and agencies. Remember, each
general board and agency reports directly to General Conference.
