Centenary alumni participating in United Methodist Church General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina
SHREVEPORT, LA — Three Centenary graduates are among the more than 800 voting delegates at the 2024 General Conference of the United Methodist Church that opened yesterday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Louisiana has a delegation of 12 representatives present at General Conference: three clergy delegates, three lay delegates and six reserve delegates.
Representatives from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States will convene for the first UMC General Conference since the planned 2020 conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. General Conference generally meets every four years, so the last regular session of the UMC’s governing body was in May 2016, nearly eight years ago.
General Conference is the UMC’s highest legislative body and has the authority to make revisions to the Book of Discipline, containing doctrine, the constitution, church law, and rules and procedures; and to the Book of Resolutions, which outlines the denomination’s position on current social issues. The legislative body also approves budget allocations for UMC ministries around the world and elects members of important denominational leadership bodies, such as the Judicial Council.
Voting delegates at the General Conference are half clergy and half lay leaders who are chosen by annual conferences, the denomination’s regional governing bodies. In the Louisiana delegation, Adam Philley '09, the director of music ministry at Broadmoor UMC in Shreveport, was elected as the only reserve lay delegate. Rev. Katie McKay Simpson '04, senior minister at University UMC in Baton Rouge, will serve as a clergy delegate, while Marissa Teauseau Horvath '10, pastor at First Hammond UMC in Hammond, was chosen as a reserve clergy delegate.
"General Conference is such an important event in the life of the United Methodist Church,” said Reverend Lindy Broderick, Centenary College chaplain. “It is a time for 'holy conferencing' when delegates from all over the world meet in fellowship with one another as they make decisions for the church as a whole. With the support of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit, delegates discern how to best support God's ministry in the world. Part of Centenary's mission is to 'prepare global citizens for productive lives of vitality and purpose.’ Our Centenary graduates who are serving as delegates to General Conference are a testament to that leadership."
The postponed 2020 General Conference runs through May 3, 2024, in Charlotte. News and other resources related to the conference, including a livestream of proceedings, is available at resourceumc.org.