Annual Conference 2019 to Elect Delegates to General Conference 2020

Members of the North Georgia Annual Conference will elect delegates to the 2020 General and Jurisdictional Conferences during the 2019 Annual Conference Session, June 11-14, at the Classic Center in Athens. 

General Conference is the global gathering of The United Methodist Church where mission and ministry priorities are established and The Book of Discipline is reviewed for revisions. General Conference is the policy-setting body of The United Methodist Church. The 2020 General Conference will be held May 5 through May 15 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

The self-nomination process for laity was open Jan 1 through March 4. A candidate forum was also held April 13 at St. James UMC Atlanta for lay members of the 2019 Annual Conference to hear from confirmed candidates for the 2020 General Conference Delegation. 

 The Board of Laity will hold a second candidate forum on Tuesday, June 11, at 10 am during Annual Conference in the Grand Hall of the Classic Center.

A list of candidates and a Lay Candidate Handbook with information and a statement from each candidate will be posted at www.ngumc.org/2019-lay-candidates. The Lay Candidate Handbook will also be included in the Annual Conference Handbook. 

Clergy approved a new election process for 2019. The new process allowed clergy to express their interest and availability to represent North Georgia at the 2020 General and Jurisdictional Conferences. The clergy self-nomination form was available in Data Services February 1 until March 4. A listing of clergy interested in serving on the delegation will be included in the Annual Conference Handbook.

Elected delegates can expect significant expenditures of time, work, study, and money in preparation for representing the North Georgia Conference.

General Conference consumes approximately two weeks of time including travel, followed by the North Georgia Annual Conference, which lasts three or more days, and the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference duration is approximately four days. Delegates must commit a minimum of four weeks within a three month period from April through July 2020 in addition to time in preparation and study. 

The Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference will be held in July in Lake Junaluska, N.C. The Jurisdictional Conferences coordinate the connected ministry and mission of the region and elects and assign bishops for leadership in the 15 annual conferences in the southeast.

The North Georgia Conference will elect 11 clergy and 11 lay delegates to the 2020 General Conference and an additional 11 clergy and 11 lay delegates to Jurisdictional Conference, plus five clergy and five lay reserve delegates.  

Voting will be done using handheld electronic devices that were tested during Annual Conference 2018. Voting will be held throughout the business sessions of conference until all delegates have been elected.