The Wesleyan Church continues to prayerfully prepare for a successful 14th General Conference. An important element of a successful conference is good conferencing skills.
General Conference business is conducted using parliamentary procedures. These procedures detail where and how our voting choices will be made.
Official delegate seating is contained within the conference bar. The platform and designated delegate seating area comprise the conference bar and is where official voting occurs. Each delegate packet will contain a diagram outlining district and affinity group seating. Delegates must wear their official name tag to gain access into this area.
Delegates are expected to attend every General Conference business session. If an emergency requires you to be excused from attending a particular session, notify General Secretary Janelle Vernon at vernonj@wesleyan.org or caseyt@wesleyan.org before the session is scheduled to begin.
The governing structure for General Conference business proceedings follows “Robert’s Rules of Order,” unless specifically suspended by the General Conference. A few basic procedural guidelines such as addressing the conference chair, recognized speaking only, and how to make a motion or amendment are covered in detail by Assistant General Secretary Tony Casey in this video.
A “Robert’s Rules of Order” cheat sheet adapted from boardeffect.com is available here for you to review. If you prefer a deeper coaching on parliamentary procedure, read the practical, concise guide called “Robert’s Rules of Order in Brief.”
It is requested that delegates provide the chair new motions, substitute motions, amendments and other references using the “Memorial Amendment Sheet” included in your delegate packet. A sample amendment using the “Memorial Amendment Sheet” is available here.
Thank you for taking time to watch the video and familiarize yourself with these specific details in the next few weeks leading up to the 14th General Conference.
If you missed previous Delegate Orientations, all posts are available by clicking here.
