Additional Delegates Allocated for Convening General Conference

On the recommendation of the Transitional Commission on the Convening General Conference (TCCGC), the Transitional Leadership Council (TLC) of the Global Methodist Church (GM Church ) has approved a second allocation of 104 delegates to the Convening General Conference being held in San Jose, Costa Rica, September 20-26, 2024. An initial allocation of 260 delegates was distributed to the provisional annual conferences in March of 2024. At that time, the TLC announced it would make a second distribution of delegates in early June to account for the continued growth of the GMC, including the addition of new churches, new pastoral assignments, and new provisional annual conferences.

Since the March 2024 allocation, the GM Church has added 472 churches, 482 new full time equivalent pastoral assignments and three new provisional annual conferences. Anticipating this growth, the TLC reserved the balance of the anticipated approximately 350 delegates to the Convening General Conference to be distributed in June to ensure all regions of the church would be represented at the initial legislative assembly. In this second allocation, 104 additional delegates have been distributed among the 31 provisional annual conferences.

The calculation to allocate delegates in both March and June was based on a formula that counted the number of congregations and the number of full time equivalent pastoral assignments in each provisional annual conference. The formula weighted the number of churches at one-third and the number of pastoral assignments at two-thirds in arriving at each conference’s proportion of the whole.

In making its recommendation to the TLC, the TCCGC prepared a report explaining how delegates were allocated both in March and now in June. The report sets forth the following information:

• Blue Columns: Data from the March 2024 delegate allocation.
• Light Green Columns: Newly added churches and full-time equivalent pastoral assignments between March 1 and May 31, and the resulting additional delegates allocated.
• Dark Green Columns: Total delegates and alternates, combining March and June allocations.

Importantly, no annual conference experienced a decrease in their delegate count. In instances where the total number of delegates increased, previously designated alternates and reserves may now advance in their roles according to election order. Delegates and alternates are equally divided between clergy and laity.

Out of the 104 delegates just allocated, the Transitional Leadership Council has reserved 30 delegate positions to accommodate the dynamic situation outside the United States, where non-US regions are in the process of potentially aligning with the GMC. The TLC will allocate these 30 delegates as necessary to such regions to ensure representation for these areas should they become members of the GM Church.

Transitional Connectional Officer, Rev. Keith Boyette, commented: "The allocation of additional delegates reflects the growth and diversity of the Global Methodist Church. Our goal is to ensure that every part of our church is represented fairly and effectively at the Convening General Conference. This decision underscores our commitment to inclusivity and global representation."

With this second allocation, the Allegheny West Provisional Annual Conference remains the largest delegation with 34 delegates. The Democratic Republic of Congo Provisional Annual Conference delegation will be the largest non-US delegation with 26 delegates.

Plan of Organization Amended

At the request of the Transitional Commission on the Convening General Conference, the Transitional Leadership Council amended the Plan of Organization and Covenant of Our Life Together on Monday, June 3. The amendments which are highlighted on pages 3, 6, and 11 of a marked up version of the Plan provide greater clarity for the administration of the Convening General Conference. The current version of the Plan can be viewed here. Adoption of the Plan will be one of the first agenda items to be addressed by delegates to the Convening General Conference.