2019 Special Session of General Conference

The Council of Bishops announced the call to a Special Session of the General Conference on Feb. 23-26, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri.

The special meeting of The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking assembly will be limited to acting on a report by Council of Bishops, based on the proposals from the Commission on the Way Forward. The 32-member commission, appointed by the bishops, was authorized to examine paragraphs in The Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and to explore options to strengthen church unity.

General Conference, which usually meets every four years, is the only body that can speak for the denomination.

“The Council of Bishops encourages the entire church to continue in deep, unceasing prayer for Holy Spirit breakthroughs for the Commission on a Way Forward and the Special Session of General Conference,” said Dakotas-Minnesota Area Bishop Bruce Ough, the president of the Council of Bishops, in a letter released Tuesday, April 25, 2017.

More information at www.umc.org/topics/general-conference-2019-special-session

More information on the Commission on a Way Forward at www.umcna.org/cowfinformation