United Methodist Council of Bishops Spring Meeting Recap

In addition to “God’s Renewed Creation” and constitutional amendment voting results, several important issues were on the docket at last month’s Council of Bishops meeting. The spring gathering, held in Columbus, Ohio, consisted of morning and evening plenary sessions as well as committee and covenant group meetings. While the plenaries were open to the public, all other meetings were closed to press. The only exception to this was, as noted in a previous IRD report, a portion of the bishops’ discussion of the constitutional amendment voting results. What follows is a brief recap of three significant issues addressed by the bishops.

General Conference Spokesperson Selected

Among the administrative duties facing the Council was the selection of a bishop to deliver the Episcopal Address at General Conference 2012.  Prior to voting, council president Bishop Gregory Palmer of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference made a brief statement outlining his hopes. Noting that a previous speaker, now retired Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher, had “worked in profound and robust collaboration with other folks who were giving addresses,” Palmer said that “there is an expectation that, however the Episcopal Address is formed and whoever is charged with that responsibility by this house, that they will be somebody that will bend toward collaboration.” After several rounds of voting, Boston Area Bishop Peter Weaver was selected as the council’s speaker.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Touted

In keeping with recent statements and actions, the council devoted time to immigration reform. Also consistent with recent council activity, the bishops criticized Arizona’s new law on immigration enforcement and heartily supported “comprehensive immigration reform (CIR),” which involves liberalized policies ultimately granting citizenship to illegal immigrants and increased legal immigration.

Rivaled only by the General Board of Church & Society, Phoenix Area Bishop Minerva Carcaño has been the most outspoken United Methodist on immigration issues. Carcaño said that Arizona’s soon-to-be implemented law “turns all people of color in Arizona, even legal immigrants and citizens, into criminal suspects.”  Despite the law’s requiring immigration status checks to be incident to a “lawful stop, detention, or arrest,” Carcaño claimed that, “The new law in Arizona requires police officers to stop and question anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant.”

In a show of support for CIR, several bishops signed a poster calling for the UMC “to recognize human, comprehensive immigration reform as the faith issue that it is and hold our officials accountable.” As chair of the United Methodist Task Force on Immigration, Carcaño asked the bishops to assemble teams to “disseminate information about developments in the immigration debate and ways church members can respond.” The bishops’ discussion ended with a prayer by Bishop Julius Trimble of Iowa, in which he prayed that Carcaño’s upcoming trip to Washington, DC to lobby for CIR would be “covered with grace and mercy.”

Size of General Conference Discussed

General Conference Secretary Fitzgerald Reist explained to the bishops that a decision had to be made about the size of General Conference 2012. Although the final determination ultimately lies with Reist, he asked for the bishops’ counsel. While previous General Conferences have included around 1,000 delegates, the General Commission on General Conference is considering lowering the number to around 600. Alan Morrison, a member of the Commission, estimated that the 2012 gathering will cost approximately $8.1 million; the price differential between 600 and 1,000 delegates is nearly $1 million. Morrison also informed the bishops that the Commission is exploring corporate sponsorships as a means of defraying expenses.

Several bishops pushed back against the idea that cost should determine the number of delegates.  It was reported that a $1.2 million bill remains from General Conference 2008.

Kansas Area Bishop Scott Jones said that, while he is concerned about balancing budgets, “The trust factor that binds our connection together strikes me as more important than all of the others.” Speaking in support of decreasing the number of delegates, Holston Area Bishop James Swanson said, “I don’t think our General Conference is working,” and, “we need to find ways for General Conference to be different.” There seemed to be widespread support among the bishops for determining a delegate number that is most conducive to General Conference accomplishing its tasks.