Agenda Volume 3 - Methodist Conference

59. Memorials to the Conference
with the Committee’s recommended
replies in the ordinary course of business,
the Conference shall debate a resolution
based on one or more of the memorials.
This year, the Memorials Committee has
agreed with the recommendation of the
Business Committee that the replies to
any memorials which relate to other items
of business in the Agenda be taken at the
same time as that business, and that the
remaining replies should be taken en bloc.
Any recommended reply to a memorial
which is the subject of an amending notice
of motion will automatically be removed
from en bloc business [see Standing Order
136(2A)].
Throughout each session, the Memorials
Secretary, Martin Harker, is available
to members of the Conference for
consultation on any matter affecting
memorials and the procedures described
above. For example, if any member wishes
to change the recommended reply of the
Committee, the Memorials Secretary
is willing to advise on how and when to
propose either an amendment or the
substitution of a different reply.
The Memorials Secretary will also notify
each Synod and Circuit of the reply the
Conference has made to its memorial.
M1
Stationing
The Whitehaven (9/4) Circuit Meeting
(Present: 35. Voting: unanimous), being
a geographically-isolated Cumbrian rural
Circuit and an area particularly affected
by deprivation, is aware of the difficulty
experienced by some northern Districts
in filling presbyteral appointments for
2012/13, and therefore expresses its
concern that there are no longer any
priority appointments, nor the filling of
superintendencies before other presbyteral
appointments. There is a real danger
that west Cumbrian Circuits could find
themselves without adequate presbyteral
presence in the future. We urge the
Conference and the Stationing Committee
to look again at the invitation system and
explore ways in which greater itinerancy
can be promoted and the principles of
being a connexional Church honoured.
Reply
The Conference thanks the Whitehaven
Circuit Meeting for its memorial and notes
with concern the difficulty experienced by
some Districts in matching presbyters with
some Circuits.
The Stationing Matching Group works
hard to ensure that as far as possible
all Districts are represented fairly in the
matches made, and always conducts a
review of how each District has fared
throughout the process. The matching
process also endeavours to respond to the
personal needs of presbyters. Matching
has been particularly difficult this year,
with a deficit of 38 presbyters in the
process. This year’s stationing process
is the second year of the pilot scheme,
where all appointments are considered in
the first round of matching. With this and
the geographical anomalies in mind the
Stationing Committee has commissioned
a review of all aspects of the process.
The Conference directs the Committee
to report the results of the review and on
770 Conference Agenda 2012