wfn.org | General Conference delegates to reflect changing demographics

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 5, 1999	Contact: Joretta Purdue*(202)546-8722*Washington
10-71B{069}

NOTE:  You may wish to use the General Conference logo with this story.

By United Methodist News Service

United Methodists could take a lesson in demographics from the subtle shifts
in the number of delegates that will be elected to participate in the next
gathering of the denomination's highest legislative body. 

This spring, eight annual (regional) conferences in the United States will
elect a larger delegation than they did four years ago. Eighteen conferences
will experience a decrease.

Six of the conferences with increases are in the nine-state Southeastern
Jurisdiction. They are Mississippi, North Alabama, North Carolina, North
Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. The other two are the Eastern Pennsylvania
Annual Conference in the Northeastern Jurisdiction and the Southwest Texas
Annual Conference in the South Central Jurisdiction.

Of the five U.S. jurisdictions, only the Southeastern Jurisdiction will
elect a larger total than it did four years ago. The other four
jurisdictions decreased, with North Central losing eight, and the others six
each, for a total of 830 delegates from the United States.

Limited by the constitution of the church to not more than 1,000, the number
of delegates each annual conference is entitled to elect is determined by
the number of United Methodists in the annual conference as it relates to
the total in the denomination. The figures are calculated by Carolyn M.
Marshall of Veedersburg, Ind., General Conference secretary.

The central conferences, in Africa, Europe and the Philippines, include some
of the areas where the United Methodist Church is growing fastest. Central
conferences will elect 152 members of General Conference this year, compared
with 138 for the 1996 gathering. Concordat churches - also located outside
the United States, except for Puerto Rico - will send a total of 10 voting
delegates.

All 992 members of the next General Conference will be elected this year.
United Methodists in the United States hold annual conference sessions in
May and June, but conferences outside the United States meet at other times
ranging from January for Liberia to December for Zimbabwe. 

General Conference will be held May 2-12, 2000,  in Cleveland. 

The Virginia Annual Conference gained two seats, so it will choose 32
delegates - the largest group in the church. West Ohio will have 30
delegates, as it did in 1996

North Georgia gained two for a total of 26, and Western North Carolina lost
two for a total of 26. No conference will have 24.

Three U.S. annual conferences - East Ohio, Iowa and Texas (Houston Area) -
will elect 22 delegates each. 

Twenty members of General Conference will be chosen by each of  six
conferences: Illinois Great Rivers, Baltimore-Washington, Western
Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Mississippi and North Carolina.

Since General Conference is half clergy and half lay, each delegation is
also evenly divided. The smallest conferences have two delegates. Only five
conferences in the United States have that few: Yellowstone and the
missionary conferences of Rio Grande, a Spanish language conference;  Red
Bud in Appalachia; Alaska; and Oklahoma Indian. 

Five conferences have four delegates, and six have six. The other U.S.
conferences fall somewhere between six and 20.

Many of the annual conferences that make up the central conferences will
have two delegates each, including all those in Europe and the Philippines.
Since there are 17 annual conferences in the Philippines, that central
conference will account for 34 delegates. For the first time, the Russia
Provisional Annual Conference will elect voting delegates - just two. 

The most populous central conference is the Democratic Republic of Congo
(the former Zaire), whose nine annual conferences will account for 46. North
Katanga is the largest outside the United States and will send 16 delegates;
Central Congo, 10; and North-West Katanga, eight. Some reconfiguration of
conferences in this area followed the recent civil war. The old Southern
Zaire Conference no longer exists, but three new ones have been created. The
total number of delegates for the area has remained the same as last
quadrennium. 

West Africa Central Conference accounts for 26 delegates: Liberia, 12;
Sierra Leone, eight; and Nigeria, six.

The number of delegates to be elected by each conference follows:

Conferences by jurisdiction		Number of delegates

North Central
Dakotas					 4
Detroit						12
East Ohio					22	
Illinois Great Rivers				20
Iowa						22
Minnesota					12
North Indiana					14
Northern Illinois				12
South Indiana					14
West Michigan				  8
West Ohio					30
Wisconsin					12

	Northeastern
Baltimore-Washington			20
Central Pennsylvania				16
Eastern Pennsylvania				16
New England					12
New York					16
North Central New York			10	
Northern New Jersey				  4
Peninsula-Delaware				  8
Southern New Jersey				  8
Troy						  6
West Virginia					14
Western New York 				  6
Western Pennsylvania				20
Wyoming					  6

	South Central
Central Texas					12
Kansas East					  6
Kansas West					10
Little Rock					  6
Louisiana					10
Missouri East					  8
Missouri West					10
Nebraska					10
New Mexico					  4
North Arkansas				  8
North Texas					12
Northwest Texas				  6
Oklahoma					20
Oklahoma Indian Missionary			  2
Rio Grande					  2
Southwest Texas				12
Texas						22

	Southeastern
Alabama-West Florida			14
Florida						26
Holston					16
Kentucky					14
Memphis					10
Mississippi					20
North Alabama				16
North Carolina				20
North Georgia					26
Red Bird Missionary				  2
South Carolina				22
South Georgia					14
Tennessee					12
Virginia					32
Western North Carolina			26

	Western
Alaska Missionary				  2
California-Nevada				12
California-Pacific				16
Desert Southwest				  4
Oregon-Idaho					  4
Pacific Northwest				  8
Rocky Mountain				  8
Yellowstone					  2

	Central Conferences
		Africa
East Africa					  2
Eastern Angola				  2
Mozambique					  2
Western Angola				  2
Zimbabwe					  2
Central Congo					10
East Congo					  2
North Katanga					16
North-West Katanga				  8
Oriental and Equator Congo			  2
South Congo					  2
Southwest Katanga				  2
Tanganyika/Tanzania				  2
West Congo					  2

		West Africa
Liberia						12
Nigeria					  6
Sierra Leone					  8

		Central and
	       Southern Europe
Austria Provisional				  2
Bulgaria Provisional				  2
Czech and Slovak Republics			  2
Hungary Provisional				  2
Macedonia-Yugoslavia Provisional		  2
Poland						  2
Switzerland-France				  2

		Germany
Germany East					  2
Germany North				  2
Germany South				  2
Germany West				  2

	     Northern Europe
Denmark					  2
Estonia					  2
Finland - Finnish Provisional			  2
Finland - Swedish Provisional		  2
Norway					  2
Russia Provisional				  2
Sweden					  2

		     Philippines
Bicol Mission Philippines			  2
Bulacan Philippines				  2
Central Luzon Philippines			  2
East Mindanao Philippines			  2
Middle Philippines				  2
Mindanao Philippines				  2
North Central Philippines			  2
North Mindanao Philippines			  2
Northeast Philippines				  2
Northern Philippines				  2
Northwest Philippines				  2
Palawan Philippines				  2
Philippines					  2
Philippines East				  2
Southwest Philippines				  2
Visayas Philippines				  2
West Middle Philippines			  2

	Concordat Churches
Caribbean & the Americas			  2
Great Britain					  4
Mexico					  2
Puerto Rico					  2

	SUMMARY
North Central Jurisdiction		          182
Northeastern Jurisdiction		          162
South Central Jurisdiction		          160
Southeastern Jurisdiction		          270
Western Jurisdiction				56
Central Conferences			          152
Concordat Churches				10

		TOTAL DELEGATES          992

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