2014 UM Polity Series – General Boards and Agencies

        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.