JCM 1129

http://archives.umc.org/interior_judicial.asp?mid=263&JDID=1245&JDMOD=VWD&SN=1100&EN=1181

From the facts stated in the decision, it appears that someone in Virginia felt that secular law and church law were in conflict over how pensions and benefits were being handled. So a request for clarification was voted and thus forwarded to the Judicial Council.

This is a question more suited to review by the conference chancellor or other legal counsel.

The Judicial Council is not the denomination’s lawyer. So they rightly took no jurisdiction.

If the question behind the request was that someone among the church leadership was not following federal law for handling of one or more particular cases, then seeking a declaratory decision as stated didn’t work. Something was wrong or such a huge conference wouldn’t have backed the request. Matching the possible injustice with the proper legal tool is a real challenge.