2008 Journal Cover Pages.pub - Wisconsin Conference United ...

2008 Wisconsin Conference JournalCo n f e r e n c e Se c r e ta ryAccountabilityThe purpose of the office of Conference Secretary is defined in 603.7 and 606 of the2004 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, which reads in part: “Theannual conference shall keep an exact record of its proceedings according to the formsprovided by the general, jurisdictional, and central conferences.” It is the responsibility ofthe Conference Secretary to maintain and publish these records.Highlights and Accomplishments of the Past YearAs “the keeper of the record” the Conference Secretary indirectly supports the work ofall other conference agencies and officers by gathering information about their work,processing and disseminating that information to the members of the annual conference,recording the actions of the annual conference, and communicating that information to avariety of agencies, organizations, and of course the local churches of the conference. Theconference secretary facilitates the flow of information among the various elements ofthe conference by providing contact information in the journal, and maintains a historicalrecord that can be used in future years as a reference of previous conference actions.At the 2007 Annual Conference Session we elected delegates to the 2008 General andJurisdictional Conferences. The conference secretary’s office oversaw the election process.I am pleased to report that the election process went runs smoothly this year, thanks to thededicated work of many volunteers who served as tellers and the ballot room staff. Thecosts of this once-every-four-year process are routed through the Conference Secretary’sBudget.In 2007 I added a new resource for members of the Annual Conference: the 2007 Pre-Conference Resource Disk. This CD-ROM included not only the items requiring actionby the Annual Conference, but also all the reports of the conference boards and agencies,as well as information about the ordained and pastoral ministry of The United MethodistChurch. This disk was well received, and I am exploring ways to include even moreinformation on the 2008 Pre-Conference resource disk.Plans for the Coming YearFollowing the 2008 General Conference, the Conference Secretary will apply ConferenceRule 2.1.0 in order to calculate the number of Lay Members of Annual Conference thateach pastoral charge in the conference is entitled to elect for the 2009 – 2012 Quadrennium,and notify each charge of that number.The following goals are ongoing each year:• To keep the record of the proceedings of the Annual Conference, and to publish thatrecord in the Annual Conference Yearbook and Journal.• To facilitate the work of the Annual Conference Session through the publication of thePre-Conference Workbook.• To improve the accuracy of the Workbook and the Journal, and to produce them in aformat which makes them easy to read and use.• To explore and implement, where appropriate, new methods of recording, storing andpublishing the records of the Annual Conference.Reports of Boards and Agencies259