According to the Standing Rules of the Florida Conference, Par. 206 2(d), “All submitted resolutions must be received by the Conference Secretary by Jan. 31 to be considered at the regular Annual Conference Event later that year.” The Florida Conference Secretary is the Rev. Beth Gardner, pastor at College Heights United Methodist Church in Lakeland. Her email address is bgardner@flumc.org, phone 863-682-8191.

If you are considering a resolution for the 2023 Annual Conference, the Jan. 31 deadline is firm.

Each resolution must address only one issue if the resolution does not address the Discipline. If a resolution does affect the Discipline it 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 resolution may call for the amendment of those paragraphs also to make them consistent with one another.

Every resolution requiring implementation will include: a. financial impact to the Conference; b. name of the implementing organization or persons; c. if communication or referral is required, will designate the person or persons responsible for the communication or referral, Gardner advised.

Any resolution needs to be submitted by a Conference agency, a clergy or lay member of the annual conference, or a lay member of a local church whose Church Council has endorsed the resolution.  The Committee on Resolutions has interpreted this Standing Rule to mean that all signers of a resolution need to meet that criteria.

For more information on the Resolution process, see Paragraph 206 of the Standing Rules of the Florida Conference, found on page 254 of the 2020 Journal (access it online here: https://www.flumc.org/files/fileshare/journal/2020+journal+-+final.pdf)