Pastor Andy Adams

Although there is a lot of work still to do, our Sunday afternoon prioritization of legislation may indicate the general will of the body. Please note that it is possible for people to vote for MULTIPLE plans and legislation as “high priority” – So, conceivably, some delegates could have voted “high priority” for ALL of the legislation below. The numbers below indicate the people who voted “high priority” for each piece of legislation or plan.

Remember, the rest of today and Monday we will work as a legislative committee to “perfect” each piece of legislation through amendments and substitutions, etc. We will then vote on each piece of legislation/plan and if that is passed by 50.01%, then it will be passed on to the plenary body (all of us) on Tuesday.

Also note, I haven’t reported the breakdown of several other pieces of legislation we voted on because each one would take significant time to explain. Let’s just say none of them were any better than the options below!

Pension Work (applies to ALL plans)
Pension legislation – 518/815 – 63.56%

Way Forward Plans
Traditional Plan – 459/826 – 55.57%
One Church Plan – 403/828 – 48.67%
Simple Plan – 153/819 – 18.68%
Connectional Conference Plan – 102/820 – 12.44%

Exit Plans
Exit Plan (Taylor) – 412/823 – 50.06%
Exit Plan (Boyette) – 406/820 – 49.51%
Exit Plan (Ottjes) – 395/816 – 48.41%

Here’s my brief interpretation. It seems that by a slight margin (50 or so votes) the body seems to prefer the Traditional Plan over the Once Church Plan. Neither the Simple Plan nor the Connectional Conference Plan gained much traction. As a delegate at the 2016 General Conference, this is not surprising. Most of the delegates are the same from 2016 to 2019 and these vote differentials are about the same as we dealt with similar “Local Option” legislation then.

Furthermore, it seems like about 50% of the body favors considering an exit plan for churches who cannot, in good conscience, abide by whatever Way Forward plan we end Tuesday with.

I was encouraged that despite the magnitude of these revelations that nobody cheered and there weren’t any overly disruptive protests. It seems that at least for now, we are continuing to proceed with the work before us with grace and respect.