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For a copy of the petition gbwc_superuserelines, click here.

For nine days, from April 23 to May, 2008, The United Methodist Church will gather in Fort Worth, Texas, to craft its rules, set its budget and determine the priorities that will steer the church into the future.

Those who want a voice in those proceedings are beginning now to craft petitions that the 1,000 delegates will consider as they make legislation to revise the denomination?s Discipline and Book of Resolutions.

'Any organization, clergy member or lay member of The United Methodist Church can submit a petition to General Conference,' said Al Clipp, the secretary of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. However, there is a specific format and rules to be followed.

If a person or group would like their petition to be endorsed by the Baltimore-Washington Conference, it must be submitted to Clipp by Feb. 15, following the same gbwc_superuserelines as those required by the General Conference.

However, Clipp stressed, the endorsement of the Baltimore-Washington Conference is not required for a petition to move forward.

When a petition is received by the annual conference it will be considered by members of the conference?s Connectional Table who will recommend concurrence or nonconcurrence. With that recommendation in mind, the petition will then be considered by the full annual conference membership when it meets May 24-26 in Washington, D.C.

According to the General Conference secretary, L. Fitzgerald Reist, II, the following format applies for petition submission:

1. All petitions must be submitted digitally: by e-mail, 3.5-inch diskette, CD, or through the General Conference Web site.
2. Petitions must be typed, double-spaced. Microsoft Word or any other software that allows files to be saved as rich-text format (RTF) may be used.
3. The top of each page of the petition should read as follows: Page Number: (i.e. ? 'Page 1 of 4'); Suggested Title: (i.e. ? 'Establish Quorum'); Discipline Paragraph or Resolution Number: (i.e. 'Discipline No. 506'); Financial Implications: (i.e. ? 'Financial Implications: ?None? or ?Yes?').
4. The bottom of the final page of the petition should include: date; signature of the petitioner; identification of the petitioner: (i.e. ? 'member of local church'; 'secretary of annual conference'); phone; fax number; e-mail address. Each petition must be signed by the person submitting it, accompanied by appropriate identification, such as address, local church, or United Methodist board or agency relationship. Telephone numbers must also be included. Each petition submitted must identify the individual submitting it, accompanied by identification as above, and must contain a valid digital mail return address by which the submitter can be reached. Electronic signatures will be accepted in accordance with common business practice.

In keeping with paragraph 507 of the Book of Discipline, the following gbwc_superuserelines apply to the content of the petition text:

1. Each petition must address only one issue if the Discipline is not affected; if the Discipline is affected, each petition must address only one paragraph of the Discipline, except that, if two or more paragraphs in the Discipline are so closely related that a change in one affects the others, the petition may call for the amendment of those paragraphs also to make them consistent with one another. 
2. State action desired, i.e., 'Amend ? No. __'; 'Add new sub-paragraph after  ___'; 'Delete ? ___ and substitute the following... '; 'Add new paragraph?; etc.'
3. Use bold for proposed additions and strike through for proposed deletions. If more convenient, double underlines may be used for proposed additions and single underlines for proposed deletions. Do not submit petitions that have been prepared by using the 'track changes' feature.
4. All petitions submitted to the General Conference, except those submitted by individual members of The United Methodist Church and local church groups, which call for the establishment of new programs or the expansion of existing programs will be invalid unless accompanied by supporting data that address the issue of anticipated financial requirements of the program.
5.  Rationale for the petition may be included and may not exceed 50 words for each petition.

General Conference will not receive any petitions, in any fashion, prior to May 1, 2007.

According to the Discipline, petitions must be postmarked by a national postal service no later than 180 days prior to the opening session of the General Conference This date is October 26, 2007.

If petitions are transmitted by a means other than a national postal service, they must be in the hands of the Petitions Secretary no later than 180 days prior to the opening session of the General Conference. This date is October 26, 2007.

Petitions, on a 3.5 inch diskette or CD that are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service, should be mailed to: Gary W. Graves, Petitions Secretary, United Methodist General Conference, P. O. Box 85, Beaver Dam, KY 42320-0187.

Petitions submitted via commercial overnight carriers (Federal Express, UPS, DHL) should be sent to: Gary W. Graves, Petitions Secretary, United Methodist General Conference, 302 N. Lafayette St., Beaver Dam, KY 42320.

E-mail petitions should be e-mailed to . Petitions may also be submitted within the General Conference website.

Those wishing to send petitions to be considered for endorsement by the Baltimore-Washington Conference can send them as attachments, via e-mail, to .

The conference prefers to receive the petitions in Microsoft Word format. They can be placed on a disc or CD and mailed to the Rev. Al Clipp, 3040 S. Alabama Ave, Martinsburg, W.Va. 25401-1910.

The petitions that will be reviewed by the Baltimore-Washington Conference Connectional Table and voted on by annual conference members, must be received by Clipp before Jan. 20, 2007.