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UMC Bishops announce dates for postponed 2020 Jurisdictional Conferences

May 26, 2020 / By Council of Bishops

The Council of Bishops (COB) has announced new dates for the 2020 Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States which have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States will be held November 10-12, 2021. The days prior to and after can be used at the discretion of each Jurisdictional Conference.

In the call letter to Jurisdictional Conferences secretaries and heads of delegations, COB President Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey noted that the dates chosen by the bishops intentionally followed the postponed 2020 General Conference, which will now take place August 29 - September 7, 2021, at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

The bishops have the authority to set dates for the Jurisdictional Conferences as per Division Two - Section II - Article IV of The Constitution of The United Methodist Church (¶26 of The Book of Discipline, 2016).

As per ¶30 of The Book of Discipline, Central Conferences outside the United States will be held within a year following the postponed 2020 General Conference that will now be held in 2021.

“The Council of Bishops encourages the entire United Methodist Church to continue in deep, unceasing prayer for the Holy Spirit to guide us through these unprecedented times of challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. God, who has been with us on this journey, will see us through and bring us together in praise and worship,” the call letter stated.

Click here to read the letter sent to the Heads of Delegations, Jurisdictional Conference Secretaries, Secretary of the General Conference and the Chairperson of the Commission on the General Conference.