Giving voice to young people: Legislation and Representation in the United Methodist Church, presented by Ms. Earlie Pasion-Bautista at the Young Leaders Summit 2014, organized by Young People's Ministries http://pinoyyouth.org

1. GIVING VOICE TO
YOUNG PEOPLE
IN THE CHURCH
SUBTITLE

2. Young people
12-23 youth
24-40 young adults

3. Structural Levels
General Conference
Central Conference
Annual Conference
District Conference
Charge Conference
Division on Ministries with Young People
(DMYP) (General Board of Discipleship)
National Council on Young People’s Ministry
Board of Christian Education and Discipleship
Conference Council on Youth Ministry
Conference Council on Young Adult Ministry
District Council on Youth Ministry
District Council on Young Adult Ministry
Youth Council
Young Adult Council

4. REPRESENTATION
 Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly — five
youth and five young adult elected from each central conference
 Connectional Table — one youth and one young adult from DMYP
 Division on Ministries with Young People — one (1) youth and one young
adult elected from each central conference
 General Agency Membership — recommended that membership to
general agencies be inclusive of gender, racial and ethnic persons, age,
person with disabilities and size of church
General Conference

5. REPRESENTATION
 National Council on Young People’s Ministry - 14 members: five (5) from
the UMYFP, five (5) from the UMYAFP, including the National Presidents of
the two organizations
 National Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly
 Coordinating Council – one youth and one young adult from each
episcopal area
 Central Conference Boards and Agencies – UMYFP and UMYAFP National
Presidents as automatic members to BCED, BOL and BCS. One young
person in the BOT.
Central Conference

6. REPRESENTATION
 Annual Conference Session — annual conference UMYF president, chair of the
conference college student organization, one youth representative ages 12-17
and one youth representative ages 18-30
 Board of the Laity — president or chair of the conference council on youth
ministries and two youth elected by the annual conference upon nomination of
the conference nominating committee
 Council on Youth Ministry — two thirds of the council membership shall be youth
 Council on Young Adult Ministry – members shall be young adult representative
of the general population including college students, working persons, single,
and married.
 Conference Boards and Agencies — qualified youth as recommended by the
conference council on youth ministry
Annual Conference

7. REPRESENTATION
 Council on Youth Ministry — two thirds of the council membership shall be
youth
 Committee on District Superintendency — two at-large members, all of
whom should be selected with special attention to the representation of
racial and ethnic persons, youth, young adults, older adults, and people
with disabilities
District Conference

8. REPRESENTATION
 Church Council — youth representative
 Program Ministries — United Methodist Youth Fellowship (¶256.3b)
 Youth Council — at least three fourths of the council membership shall be
youth (¶256.3c)
 Civic Youth-Serving Ministries — youth representatives determined by the
church council
 Committee on Pastor-Parish Relations — one member may be youth
Charge Conference

9. Participating in the Church’s
Decision-making Process
Be present
Know your rights and responsibilities
Know the current issues
Have the courage to speak up
Write legislations
Get elected as delegate

10. How to propose legislations?
 Know the provisions of the Book of Discipline, Book of
Resolutions, and Conference Plan of Organization and
Rules of Order.
 Know the guidelines, format and deadlines of
submission.
 Write your petition with a good rationale.
 Attend legislative sessions and discussions.

11. [Observations and
Recommendations]
QUESTIONS?