When you hear the term “annual conference,” it could be referring to any one of three things. The annual conference is a regional body, an organizational unit, AND a yearly meeting.
Regional body
The annual (sometimes referred to as ‘regional’) conference is described by the church's Constitution and (other parts of the) Book of Discipline as the “basic unit” of the church.
In the United States, an annual conference may cover an entire state, only part of the state, or even parts of two or more states. There are also three missionary conferences in the United States, which rely upon the denomination as a whole for funding.
The United States has 54 annual conferences, supervised by 46 bishops. There are 75 annual conferences in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines, which are supervised by 20 bishops.
Organizational body
In the U.S., the annual conference has a central office and professional staff that coordinate and conduct ministry and the business of the conference. It likely has a director of connectional ministries, treasurer, directors of program areas (such as camping), communications director, and other staff as deemed appropriate for the annual conference and as required by the Book of Discipline. Clergy and laypersons may also serve on conference boards, commissions, and committees.
Annual Conference sessions
Each typical year an equal number of clergy members and lay members attend their conference’s Annual Conference session for worship, fellowship, and to conduct the business of the conference, which may last 3-5 days. During these sessions, members of the conference hear reports of past and ongoing work; adopt future goals, programs, and budgets; ordain clergy members as deacons and elders; and elect delegates to Jurisdictional and General Conferences (every 4 years). The bishop presides over these meetings.
Sewickley United Methodist Church is part of the Northeastern Jurisdiction, which includes all of the UMCs of Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia. Within the Jurisdiction, we are part of The Western Pennsylvania Conference, which is made up of nearly 800 local churches in 23 western Pennsylvania counties. The Western Pennsylvania Conference is further broken down into 10 districts, Sewickley UMC being part of the Pittsburgh District.
This year’s Annual Conference of the Western Pennsylvania Conference is taking place June 15-17 with a Special Called Session on June 14th. During this Wednesday session, we will be voting on the churches who have already voted to disaffiliate. We will be represented by Pastor Hannah and our Lay Member to Annual Conference, Mitch Hortert. Lay Equalization Members from our congregation are Martha Boward and Wilma Hamilton. Lay Equalization Members help balance out the number of laity with clergy. Rev. Jim Hamilton, a retired elder, and Pastor Laura Powell, a Local Licensed Pastor serving in extension ministry as a Chaplain, will also be there. Please be in prayer for our Annual Conference and all those attending.