Judicial Council rules on Elders’ role

The Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church ruled recently in a case involving the Baltimore-Washington Conference to respond to the whether or not non-elders may preside at charge conferences.

Bishop John Schol ruled that the case was hypothetical because there was no issue about charge conferences before the clergy executive session and because there was no instance mentioned in the request for a ruling that a non-Elder had presided at a charge conference.

The council, which met in April, put aside the bishop’s ruling of law and quoted the Book of Discipline, “The district superintendent shall preside at the meeting of the charge conference or may designate an Elder to preside.” They also cautioned the Baltimore-Washington Conference to not allow non-Elders to preside at charge conferences.

“The Cabinet fully understands the decision of the Judicial Council; and has been and continues to be committed to fulfilling the disciplinary mandates related to conducting charge conferences,” said the Rev. Ianther Mills, who serves as dean of the Cabinet of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

For a copy of the Judicial Council Decision 1148 visit http://archives.umc.org/interior_judicial.asp?mid=263&JDID=1268&JDMOD=VWD.