JCM 1223

http://archives.umc.org/interior_judicial.asp?mid=263&JDID=1346&JDMOD=VWD&SN=1201&EN=1229

LEGALITY OF THE USE OF FUNDING IN EAST AFRICAN ANNUAL CONFERENCE

A Western Pennsylvania pastor presented a referral to the Judicial Council challenging the use of funds from his district by a person in the Eastern Africa Annual Conference and the validity of complaints involved.

The matter was deferred to the spring 2013 session.

One colleague knowledgeable about the matter stated that the Council was making sure it gave the bishop every chance to respond to each of the allegations brought in this referral. There were communication and mailing problems related to preparations for the hearing that needed to be addressed. Under the pressure of the large docket the Council was handling this session, the hearing the Council held only further showed the complexity of the situations under consideration.

We are a global church when a lay person in the U. S. can charge a person on another continent with illegal use of funds and a body that is one third international gets to adjudicate it. That’s pretty neat! At this point in time, it also slows the judicial process….