Sanders is Nominee for UMC Judicial Council

Rev. Dr. Beth Sanders, superintendent of the North West District, has been nominated as a candidate for election to the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church. The members of the Judicial Council are elected by the General Conference. 

The election is scheduled for Monday morning, April 29. 

Members of the Judicial Council often have a legal background like Sanders, who practiced law in Atlanta for seven years before answering a call to ministry. 

The Judicial Council is the highest court of the church. It determines the constitutionality and legality of acts or proposed acts of the General, jurisdictional, central, and annual conferences based on the church’s constitution and other parts of The Book of Discipline. The Judicial Council is made up of nine members who are elected during regular sessions of General Conference. All of the Judicial Council members and alternates serve in a volunteer capacity.

The number of Judicial Council nominees to be elected in 2024 is up to the delegates of the General Conference. 

A term is 8 years and members can serve two successive terms. A member who has served 16 years must sit out for at least four years before standing for another election. Each General Conference elects the number of members whose terms expire at that session. Members sometimes have a legal background; several active and retired judges have served. 

This year is unusual because members elected to one term have now served 8 years due to the postponement of General Conference.  

If elected, this wouldn't be the first time a North Georgia United Methodist served on the Judicial Council. Sally Curtis AsKew, a member of Oconee Street UMC in Athens and spouse of the late Rev. Albert Askew, served two terms on the Judicial Council. A retired law librarian, she later became clerk of The United Methodist Judicial Council.