2019 Annual Conference approves LGBTQ resolution, 2020 budget, elects delegates, selects future annual conference sites
A delegate casts a ballot for delegates to the 2020 General Conference at the 2019 Annual Conference. Photo by jlynn studios.
Members of the 2019 Dakotas Annual Conference adjourned on June 8, 2019 after considering several business items. More than 500 attendees voted on various items including a resolution related to LGBTQ persons, the 2020 budget, delegates for the 2020 General Conference, delegates for the 2020 North Central Jurisdiction Conference, and the sites that annual conference will be held 2021-2024.
Richard Wahlstrom, a member of Canyon Lake United Methodist Church in Rapid City, South Dakota, brought forth a resolution to eliminate discriminatory language, restrictions, and penalties in the Book of Discipline regarding LGBTQ persons. Members of the 26thsession of the Dakotas Annual Conference approved the resolution by a vote of 220 to 136. Read the complete resolution here.
The 2020 budget was approved for a total of $4,295,234 apportioned funds for conference ministries and $2,845,965 for clergy pensions and health. Jodi Cataldo, who serves as member of the Luke 10 ministry team, made a motion that requested that the Conference Council on Finance and Administration develop a plan to move towards a 10 percent request for apportioned funds by 2023. The current rate for apportioning funds for ministry is 16 percent. The motion failed. View a video about the 2020 budget here.
The members of the annual conference accepted a proposal from the Sessions Committee to hold annual conference in Bismarck, North Dakota and Sioux Falls, South Dakota for 2021-2024. Annual Conference will be held in Bismarck, North Dakota in 2021 and 2023. The Dakotas Conference will be in session at, Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2022 and 2024. Read more details here.
Delegates for the 2020 General Conference and North Central Jurisdictional Conference. General Conference will be held, May 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. General Conference delegates elected are: Rev. Rebecca Trefz, clergy delegate, Kara Togel, lay delegate, Rev. Sara Nelson, clergy reserve delegate, and Beata Ferris, lay reserve delegate. View a video about volunteering for the 2020 General Conference here.
The Dakotas Conference elected these delegates to the North Central Juriscdictional Conference (NCJ) in Fort Wayne, Indiana in July of 2020. Clergy delegates are: Rev. Rebecca Trefz, Rev. Sara Nelson, as well as Rev. Ray Baker, first reserve, Rev. Roger Spahr, second reserve, and Rev. Jenny Hallenbeck Orr, third reserve. Lay delegates are: Kara Togel, Beata Ferris, as well as Jane Hincks, first reserve, Jodi Cataldo, second reserve, and Tanner Carlson, third reserve.
In 2020, the Dakotas Conference and the Minnesota Conference will meet jointly in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Watch a video explain the joint session here.
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