The United Methodist Church’s top court has declared the proposed new funding structure for U.S. bishops that was passed at the 2024 General Conference unconstitutional.
In the decision, released April 25, were revisions General Conference made to Paragraph 404.2 in the Book of Discipline — the provision that governs the distribution of U.S. bishops.
The Judicial Council struck down the additions of Paragraphs 404.2(d) and (e). Those subsections allowed a jurisdiction to request additional bishops beyond the minimum of five as long as it would:
- Assume full financial responsibility for the additional bishops.
“The Constitution does not contemplate a unified episcopacy in name only, but one that exists in fact, structure, and access across the whole Church,” the church court said in Decision 1523.
“The funding structure created by ¶¶ 404.2(d) and (e) violates the principle of a unified superintendency and episcopacy guaranteed in the Constitution ¶ 46, Article I, the exclusive funding authority of the General Conference 17.9, Article IV, and Judicial Council Decisions 1208, 1366, 1378, and 1499 ... .”
Basically, the church court concluded that in putting the onus on jurisdictions, the (d) and (e) subsections defied the way The United Methodist Church's connection is supposed to work. Under the constitution, the bishops both serve and are supported by the whole denomination, not individual regional bodies.
In Decision 1523, the Judicial Council was responding to questions brought by the General Council on Finance and Administration seeking clarity on how it could fulfill its responsibilities related to the revised Paragraph 404.2.
Previously, each U.S. jurisdiction had a guaranteed minimum of five bishops while an additional bishop could be allotted for each additional 300,000 church members or “major fraction” of that amount.
Now, the revised paragraph stated that the number of U.S. bishops “shall be determined on a missional basis” as approved by General Conference on the recommendation of the Interjurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy. The revised paragraph also includes other criteria, including the denomination’s funding capacity, that the committee must consider in making its recommendations.
The General Council on Finance and Administration argued that Parts (d) and (e), especially, also created ambiguities related to the finance agency’s responsibilities in the budgeting, collection and distribution of the Episcopal Fund that supports the work of bishops.
General Conference rewrote the paragraph in a series of votes on April 30, 2024. The denomination’s top lawmaking assembly supported part of the legislation proposed by the Jurisdictional Study Committee, a group authorized by the 2016 General Conference. The delegates also made amendments on the floor. The legislative work, along with the edits made by the Committee on Correlation and Editorial Revision, resulted in a new process for determining the number of bishops in each U.S. jurisdiction, calculating their costs and recommending a four-year budget.
The Judicial Council ruled that most of the finance agency’s questions about the paragraph were moot because Paragraph 404.2(d) and (e) were unconstitutional.
The measure “transforms a missional and connectional discernment process into a financial gatekeeping process,” the decision added.
In practical effect, subsections (d) and (e) empower the finance agency to not merely budget for bishops’ offices but to determine “whether a jurisdiction may access episcopal leadership at all — an authority the Constitution does not confer,” the decision said.
While the Judicial Council struck down Paragraph 404.2(d) and (e), the church court has left subsections (a) through (c) untouched. As a result, the church court determined that one of GCFA’s questions was not moot and needed clarification.
Before the release of Decision 1523, the leaders had committed to continue that collaboration. The interjurisdictional committee plans to recommend the number of U.S. bishops later this summer to help the finance agency and Connectional Table as those leadership bodies begin work this fall on the 2029-2032 denominational budget proposal that will go before the next General Conference.
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excerpt from a story by Heather Hahn, assistant news editor for UM News
This story shows the impact of the General Administration Fund—one of seven apportionment funds of The United Methodist Church—to maintain the structures that keep the Church connected, transparent, and accountable. Your church’s support enables the coordination of General Conference, the Judicial Council, and other systems that ensure integrity and stewardship in our shared mission.
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