Speaking UMC

Ever wonder what some of the acronyms really stand for in the Baltimore-Washington Conference and The United Methodist Church? Well, here is a short list of our most popular acronyms. You can click on each link for more information about that particular acronym.

AC – Annual Conference or Annual Conference Session
Ad Council – Administrative Council: a blending of the Administrative Board and Council on Ministries in the local church
Advance Or Advance Special: second-mile giving to an approved ministry
Apportionment – An amount assigned to a local church, Annual Conference, or other United Methodist body by a proper church authority to be raised as its share of a church fund. Each Annual Conference uses its own approved formula (note: in the BWC we refer to this as Mission Shares)
Asbury, Francis – Started the Methodist church in the US along with Thomas Cooke (note: the first place they met on U.S. soil is located in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference: Barratt's Chapel)

BAC – Business of the Annual Conference
Benevolences – Gifts to causes that carry out United Methodist mission, ministry and program around the world
Bishop – The episcopal leader of each conference
BMCR – Black Methodists for Church Renewal
BOD – The Book of Discipline
BOOM – Board of Ordained Ministry
BWCUMC – Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church (note: there is always a hyphen between the words "Baltimore" and "Washington" when referring to the Baltimore-Washington Conference)

Cabinet – The meeting of the Bishop and the Superintendents of the Conference.
COB – Council of Bishops, United Methodist
CCYM – Conference Council on Youth Ministries
CFA/CF&A – Conference Council on Finance and Administration
Chancellor – Or Conference Chancellor: the attorney that handles legal work for the Annual Conference
Charge – A term for the local church
Charge Conference – Annual meeting of members of the local church with the superintendent to elect officers, report and conduct other church business
Cooke, Thomas – Started the Methodist church in the US along with Francis Asbury (see Barratt's Chapel, as mentioned above with Francis Asbury)
Cokesbury – The United Methodist bookstore and church supply house
Congregational Development – Another term for new church starts and revitalization
Commissioned – A person who has been approved on probation by the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and is working towards Elder Orders
CONAM – Committee on Native American Ministries
Connection/Connectional – Adjectives that describe the networked nature and commitments of the UMC
COSROW/GCSRW – General Commission on the Status and Role of Women
Connectional Table – A structure of our Annual Conference to gather leaders of our ministry teams for reporting and decision making.
CPP—Comprehensive Protection Plan (part of Board of Pension & Health Benefits)
Cross and Flame – The UMC logo, representing the Holy Spirit with the cross of Christ. It reflects the words of our founder, John Wesley, when he said, “I felt my heart strangely warmed.”

Deacon – A person consecrated and hired by the local church to be in ministry
DCOM – District Committee on Ordained Ministry
Discipline/BOD – The Book of Discipline contains the laws that govern our church. These laws may be adopted, amended or discarded during the meeting of the General Conference
DS/District Superintendent – District Superintendent of the pastors and churches of a given district
District – A sub-region of the Annual Conference

Elder – A clergy person ordained for ministries of Service, Word, Sacrament and Order
Equitable Comp – Equitable Compensation provides salary support to clergy whose churches are unable to provide a full salary and benefit package
ERT – Early Response Team
EUB – Evangelical United Brethren, a predecessor denomination to the United Methodist Church

Fellowship – A new church start that has not yet chartered as a church
Full Member – A Deacon or Elder who is a full member of the Annual Conference

GBCS – General Board of Church and Society
GBGM – General Board of Global Ministries
GBHEM – General Board of Higher Education and Ministries
GBOD – Formerly General Board of Discipleship/renamed to Discipleship Ministries
GBPHB/Wespath – General Board of Pension and Health Benefits
GCAH – General Commission on Archives and History
GCCUIC – General Commission on Christian Unity and Inter-religious Concerns
GCC – General Commission on Communications (United Methodist Communications)
GCF&A/GCFA – General Committee on Finance and Administration
GCORR – General Commission on Religion and Race
GCUMM – General Commission on United Methodist Men
General – Refers to national/international level of the Church
General Conference/GC/UMCGC – The national/worldwide meeting of the Church; General Conference meets every four years
Grade Point or GPA – The formula by which apportionments are arrived

Itinerancy – The system of The United Methodist Church by which clergy are appointed to their charges by the bishop and are under discipline to accept such appointments

JFON – Justice for our Neighbors
Journal or Conference Journal – A record of the meeting of the Annual Conference; includes a directory of clergy and lay leadership and of local churches (CD or printed versions available)
Jurisdictional – Refers to the regional level of the church
Jurisdictional Conference – The Jurisdictional meeting of the church; Jurisdictional Conference meets every four years. An important function of the Jurisdictional Conference is to elect Bishops.

Laity – Members of a congregation; literally “people of God”
Lay Leader – The lay person elected to provide lay leadership at the local church, district or Conference level
Local Pastor – A non-ordained clergy member approved by the district and licensed by the Bishop to perform pastoral duties, including the Sacraments in the church to which they have been appointed

MARCHA – Metodistas Asociados Representando la Causa de los Hispano Americanos (Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans)
MPP – Ministerial Pension Plan

NAMS – Native American Ministries Sunday
NCC – National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
NEJ – Northeastern Jurisdiction
NGO – Non-Governmental Organization

Parsonage – The name of the house provided to clergy by the local church; many churches in our Conference provide a housing allowance rather than a parsonage
PAUMCS – Professional Administrators of the United Methodist Connectional Structure
PPR – Pastor-Parish Relations Committee (See SPRC)

Sessions – The Committee that plans the meeting of the Annual Conference
Social Principles – Statements decided at General Conference that declare our position on issues and areas that relate to our church and our world
SPRC – Staff-Parish Relations Committee (see PPR): The church’s personnel committee

TFWS – The Faith We Sing hymnal
Trust Clause – A denominational law that says that all local church holdings belong to the Annual Conference
Trustees – The group that oversees the property of the local church. There is also an Annual Conference Trustees Committee.

VBS – Vacation Bible School
VIM Also UMVIM – United Methodist Volunteers in Mission

WCC – World Council of Churches
Wesley Foundation – College Campus Ministries
Wesley, John – An Anglican priest, the founder of Methodism
World Service Fund – The primary source of support for ministry through the general agencies. The World Service apportionment allows United Methodists to participate in God’s global mission.
World Service and Conf. – The Annual Conference’s share of the total World Service Fund Benevolences and its approved Annual Conference benevolence

YA – Young adults
YSF – Youth Service Fund