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Annual Conference

Elections for General and Jurisdictional Delegates 2026

The 2028 General Conference will be held in Minneapolis, MN from May 8-18, 2028 and the Jurisdictional Conference will be held July 12-15, 2028, hosted by the California-Nevada Conference. When we gather in June, we will elect our delegates to the General and Western Jurisdictional Conferences following the procedures detailed in our conference rules, as found below. In Cal-Pac, we will elect 4 delegates to General Conference (2 clergy, 2 lay) and an additional 20 delegates (10 clergy, 10 lay) to Jurisdictional Conference. In addition, we will elect 8 reserve delegates (4 clergy, 4 lay) to step in should the need arise.

The General Conference, the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, meets once every four years to consider the business and mission of the global church. The conference can revise church law, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for church-wide programs.

General Conference delegates are assigned to a legislative committee. They study resolutions that have been submitted for changes to the Book of Discipline. They divide into work groups to summarize and present information to the entire delegation to address legislation. With the jurisdictional conference, the election of new bishops takes priority in addition to providing direction to the ministry priorities of the jurisdiction.

Delegates should be able to commit to the entirety of the General Conference in Minneapolis and must be able to attend the Western Jurisdictional Conference. In addition, there will pre-meetings with the other members of the delegation before the General and Jurisdictional Conferences. After the Conference, delegation members are expected to offer follow-up presentations and reports at the 2028 and 2029 Annual Conference Sessions, at a minimum. In addition to General and Jurisdictional Conferences, lay delegates are voting Lay Members of the California-Pacific Conference until the next delegation is elected, and should plan to attend and participate or present at these annual meetings until 2030.There is also an expectation that some delegates, most likely the General Conference delegates, would participate in the first U.S. Regional Conference when it is organized in 2029 or 2030.

It is expected that the first-elected lay and clergy delegates to General Conference take on additional leadership responsibilities for the delegation, including coordinating meetings with other groups like the jurisdictional delegations. It is customary for the lead to alternate between the first-electeds, with the lay delegate in charge for 2028.

Travel expenses for full delegates will be reimbursed based on a per diem set by the General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Support for other members of the delegation attending General Conference will be determined according to the 2028 conference budget.

It is an honor and responsibility to serve as a delegate. It provides you the opportunity to be involved in the denomination and work with United Methodists throughout the nation and world, praying, worshipping together and deciding legislation.

More information about the process at our Annual Conference is below. We also recommend reviewing this resource from the Secretary of the General Conference during your discernment: You Want to Be a Delegate to General Conference?

Who is eligible to be a delegate?

Clergy Delegates

Per BOD ¶36, Clergy Delegates must be Members in Full Connection in the California-Pacific Conference at the time of the election. 

Lay Delegates

Per BOD ¶37, Lay Delegates must

  • have been professing members of The United Methodist Church for at least the two years preceding their election.
  • have been active participants in The United Methodist Church for at least four years preceding their election.
  • be members of a California-Pacific Conference church at the time the General or Jurisdictional Conference meets.

Election Process

Below are our conference rules regarding elections of delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conferences. This year, we will take nominations through an online form. Nominations are open now and will remain open as we take nominations from the floor during our session. You may nominate others but they will have the opportunity to accept or decline the nomination. Clergy will vote for clergy and lay members will vote for lay delegates (see voting eligibility chart). In order to be elected, a nominee must receive over 50% of the votes.

Rule IV.B: Election of Delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conferences

  1. The election shall be held in accordance with ¶33-36, The Book of Discipline.
  2. Voters may select any number of names on a printed ballot form or an electronic ballot that does not exceed the number of persons to be elected. More selections on a ballot than the number of persons to be elected will render the ballot invalid.
  3. Where there is duplication of surnames among the persons for whom a vote is to be cast and/or those printed on a ballot form or electronic ballot, both the first and last name of the person(s) for whom the vote(s) is (are) intended shall be written.
  4. Only the official ballot form or electronic ballot (provided by the Secretary of the Conference) will be accepted by the tellers.
  5. All members who wish to vote shall be seated within the Bar of the Conference at the time of the balloting.
  6. Pre-conference nominations shall in no way limit the freedom to nominate any person who is able and eligible, according to the laws of the Church, to serve as a delegate to the General and/or Jurisdictional Conferences. In addition to whatever provisions may be made for a process for pre-conference nominations, there must be a time prior to the casting of the first ballot when nominations are received from the floor of the annual conference. Subsequent nominations from the floor may only be made following a vote, to allow time for consideration between a nomination and the next vote.
  7. On each ballot, all those who receive a majority of votes shall be elected. No delegate may be elected without receiving a majority of the valid votes, which are cast on a particular ballot. This procedure shall be repeated for Jurisdictional Conference delegates and alternates. The number of alternates to be elected shall be at least two lay and two clergy delegates and may be as large as one-half of the number of lay and clergy delegates elected to the Jurisdictional Conference.
  8. The Chief Teller and assistant tellers shall be appointed by the Conference Secretary. Insofar as possible they shall be non-voting persons attending the Annual Conference. They shall be instructed in the balloting and counting procedures before the first ballot is taken including the necessity of confidentiality until the results are officially announced.
  9. As soon as the results of a ballot are tallied, the results shall be announced to the Conference in session and then posted in a previously announced location.
  10. The General and Jurisdictional Conference delegation shall meet immediately following the Annual Conference session at which they are elected. They shall be convened by the Bishop or a designee (a person who is not a delegate or reserve delegate). They shall elect, by written ballot without nomination, a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and a Secretary; the first person to achieve a majority for each office is elected.

Nominations

In order to nominate yourself or someone else, please fill out the form at this link. For each nominee, you will need to provide:

  • First and last name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Delegate type
  • District
  • Age group
  • Ethnicity
  • A description of nominee’s involvement in district and annual conference
  • A description of the nominee’s call to serve as a delegate
  • A photo
Nomination form