Preface to Commentaries on Recent JCDs

Overview of Recent Decisions

I have dreaded doing the commentaries on the Council’s decisions on the legislation put forward related to avoiding the feared split of United Methodism.   Had I been a member of the Council, I doubt I would have supported the majority at many points, something you may see when I finally settle myself down and analyze the decisions of these past two sessions.

Rather than bring my full opinion to the conflict within the denomination as expressed through the work faced by the Judicial Council, let me point you, dear reader, to my own blog where I am freer to say what I think needs to be said.

But let me quote one colleague regarding the conflict just so you have some idea of where my perspective lies and decide to explore it.  To explore, go to https://jerryeckert.blogspot.com/.

Here is the one quote from the Rev. Dr. Chomingwen Pond, retired pastor, former missionary, and former professor of theology at Africa University:

“What we need now is the Gamaliel Solution (Acts 5:34-39). When Peter and the Apostles were arrested and the religious leadership wanted them killed, Gamaliel, a highly respected teacher of Israel, reminded them that they had faced similar situations at least twice before, and that when the leader was killed, their followers melted away. So in this case be careful. If it is of human origin, it will disappear of its own accord; if it is of God, it will endure--and you may find you are fighting God!”

Update:  My dread waned the more I read the decisions.  The Council was "by-the-book" all the way.

I am very sad to report that within weeks of her words quoted above, Dr. Pond passed away.  Her life, ministry, and spirit are more than worth honoring.

Commentary on Judicial Council Decisions 1361 to 1368

The following observations are intended to encourage you to read the decisions of the Judicial Council for yourself. These blog posts are in no way church law in any form but could help you understand some important aspects of the decisions.  Should you feel I have made an error of fact or interpretation, please let me know (email at aj_eckert@hotmail.com) so it can be corrected.

I began offering commentaries in November of 2008, starting with JCD 1099.  This brings them up to date.  While I have not considered going back to the earlier decisions of the Council, there have been a few that have drawn comments that you may discover on this blog.

Please feel free to send your questions about any ruling by the Judicial Council, past or present, for my observations based on your question.  Like this blog, my answers carry no weight of law.  But maybe we can both learn something.

I've included the URL for each of the rulings. That should allow you to click it or paste it so you can go directly to the decision. I’ve added subject titles and have put in labels that can be picked up by search engines.

Each decision’s commentary is posted separately so this review doesn't seem so long! And by using the list of contents in the left margin of this blog, you can go to whichever decision is of interest to you.

The phrase “the Council” when used refers to the Judicial Council.

Rulings of the Council may be referred to as JCDs (Judicial Council Decisions) or JCMs.  Judicial Council Memorandums do not provide decisions of law but may refuse to take jurisdiction, remand, or show a question is not legally appropriate under Council rules.  On rare occasions, the Council may provide their rationale in a memorandum.

Associates in Advocacy (AIA) publishes updated indexes of all Judicial Council decisions and memoranda. If you are interested, contact Rev. Michael Brown, 158 Saxony Ct., Vallejo, CA 94591.  

The Judicial Council website now offers a search function which covers every JCD since 1940.  Go to http://www.umc.org/decisions/search.  The web page gives you several options for finding any decision(s) you may want.  To go to a listing of every decision, leave the boxes empty and just click on the “Search” bar.  To follow up on a theme such as “separation of powers,” or if you remember a short phrase from a decision, or know the conference or a person involved, type that into the “Keywords” box.  Then click on “Search.”  To go to a specific decision by number, ignore the “Keywords” box and type the number into the “Decision Number” box and click on “Search.”  Follow the instructions given on the page to search based on other things like approximate date of the decision.  Clicking on “Search” for all these options provides a list of possible decisions.  Scan those listed to find the most likely decisions that can be of help to you.  To get into the decision itself, click on the red text.

Once in a particular decision, you will not find your phrase highlighted.  To highlight a key phrase you search for, do “Ctrl f” on PC compatible computers or “Command f” on Apple computers.  That gives you a drop down box at the top of the page.  Type in your phrase, click on “Enter,” and the phrase will be highlighted in that decision.

Another source of help to find and understand particular decisions, I found articles about people and decisions in United Methodist News Service under www.UMC.org/.  I clicked on “News and Media” at the top of their page, clicked on “United Methodist News” to get to their home page and then clicked on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand corner.  That opened a box at the top of the page.  I could put in key words, names, or numbers followed by clicking on “Enter.”  The search function will let you know which articles had that content.  There are articles going back as far as 1952, though the articles are not in chronological order.  I also do not think every article has yet been digitized and posted on the site.

Hopefully, my commentaries on this blog will be a valued resource in your search for understanding church law and its contexts.  I also hope my directions for navigating in UM sites will help you in your research on the work of the Judicial Council.

All my commentaries on Council decisions are subject to editing, updating, and revision.  You may want to check back from time to time on decisions of special interest to you.

JCD 1361

http://www.umc.org/decisions/78134

Appeal of Administrative Personnel Actions

I was a consultant in a case appealed under Paragraph 2718.3-.4 at the time this decision was before the Council.  I should not offer my commentary until after the case has been resolved.

JCD 1362

http://www.umc.org/decisions/78135

On Removing Delegates

There was a request from General Conference administrators about the authority of General Conference to remove delegates who violate the ethical rules passed by General Conference.  The Council, while citing two previous decisions, ruled that the General Conference did have the authority.

In an impassioned plea in a dissent, it was pointed out that only the annual conference had Disciplinary authority to remove someone it elected.

Nowhere in the ruling, dissent, or original request for a ruing were any reasons for the question to be asked.  

For example, could a delegate facing church trial in his/her annual conference be removed from representing the annual conference by a vote of the General Conference, even if the judicial complaint had nothing to do with the General Conference?

Or could the General Conference vote for some narrow ethical criterion such as participating in a demonstration on the floor of General Conference or lobbying for a particular point of view that the majority do not accept as biblical?

By ruling that the General Conference may remove delegates, the Council has opened the door to just such a political tactic.

There are four basic ways this vulnerability can be overcome.  

One, legislation may be passed to establish criteria that limits such a political tactic.

Two, as globalization continues, waiting until some wedge issues like homosexuality decline because people discover they are no more of an issue than divorce or slavery.

Three, appealing to the Council a particular case where a delegate’s removal is actually voted upon by the General Conference.

Four, challenging any particular narrow criterion when it is proposed to be part of the rules, either by voting it down on the General Conference floor or by appealing to the Council.

There is also the option of providing in the Discipline for a facilitated process to allow an annual conference  to elect a replacement in a timely fashion.  With modern communication technology, this seems a plausible route.

The general principle that a body can make up its own rules of behavior and enforce them in its own way (such an impeachment of a President by the Congress) is not without its problems in a democratic system.

We’ve established that the Council has the last word on which authority is the higher.  That’s called “following the rule of law” or “believing in constitutional law.”  In this era where there are forces trying to break those values down, we need to remember that just as law can be manipulated, those strategies can be countered under law.  That’s what appeal and dissent are all about.  There are orderly if slow ways to respond and make right a situation.

That’s why counsels on both sides of a controversy tend to maintain collegiality.  They may end up on the same side someday.

JCD 1363

It Ain’t There!

There is no JCD 1363.  The chances are that the number was assigned to a case that for some reason, the Council decided late in its deliberations was not ready to a ruling.  

It’s my view that things are getting more complicated and sometimes, last minute discoveries of older church law or something obscure in the Discipline comes up and throws a monkey-wrench in the thinking of the Council.  

It might be that someone on the Council cannot make up his/her mind on a decision where the rest are split and the Council cannot act.  Again, it could be that the decision was held till the last minute and then not possible to resolve.

Most likely, there was an editorial error made.  They are rare but in actual numbers over the years, are the most likely to have occurred.

The Judicial Council makes human errors.  Who knew?!

Curious as we all are, those nerdy enough to want to know, we probably will never get a reason.  And once this kind of error is made, it becomes irrelevant since numbering a decision is like naming a child.  

JCD 1364

http://www.umc.org/decisions/78136

Legality of High Fees to Attend General Conference

Last year, the General Conference Commission set unusually high fees for observers attending General Conference as a way to raise enough money to cover expenses of General Conference.  Minnesota Annual Conference challenged those high fees.  Even though their request for a ruling came late, the Council responded by saying their request was moot because the commission found alternative funding and dropped the high fees.

JCD 1365

http://www.umc.org/decisions/78137

Legality of High Fees to Attend General Conference

Four other annual conferences challenged the high fees that the Minnesota Annual Conference challenged (see JCD 1364 above) with the same result, though their requests for rulings came in on time.

A timeline of events was laid out showing when the high fees were announced, how the conferences responded, and when the high fees were rescinded.