Select a link by clicking on the drop-down menus and dragging your cursor to the link you want. You will automatically go to that link after you select the link. The "Go" button is used to reselect the link (if you navigate back to this page).
If you want to use the drop-down menu interface, go to the first Connections page.
Our Annual Conference Session is where clergy and lay representatives from United Methodist churches from the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley to the Oregon border and all of Nevada except for the Las Vegas area (over 1000 delegates) gather together for the annual meeting. It is held in Modesto, CA in mid-June (before or after Father's Day) from Wednesday to Saturday. Beginning in 2020 we will move to meeting from Friday to Monday, so only two work days are missed. Nick Strobel and Gay Lynne Natho are the lay delegates and our pastor is the clergy delegate for our church. You can also see the first part of the ACS 2010 report for a photo-journal that gives you an idea of what an Annual Conference Session is like.
Annual Conference Session links: 2022 -- 2021 -- 2019 -- 2018 -- 2017 -- 2016 -- 2015
Nick Strobel's Annual Conference Session 2022 Report. This report from the 2022 Annual Conference Session held in Sacramento June 10-13 is from one of our two lay delegates, Nick Strobel. There are a number of pictures with it and A LOT of links for further exploration and background information.
The "Journal" from the most recent Annual Conference Session is on the Resources / Journals page of the Cal-Nevada UMC website. The Journal gives a complete record of what happened at an Annual Conference Session. See the "Previous Journals" page for the records of previous AC sessions.
Powered by the Holy Spirit, 'Rethink Church' serves as a catalyst that moves the denomination, and those we hope to reach, into dialogue -- and ultimately, into transformative, collaborative action. What if church were a verb? What would it look like? Go to "RethinkChurch.org" for more about changes underway in the United Methodist Church.
Every four years representatives from the United Methodist churches in Alaska, California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Hawaii gather to plan programs for the next four years and elect bishops for the annual conferences in the western United States.
Every four years representatives from United Methodist churches all over the world gather to set direction for the entire denomination for the following four years. General Conference is the only body that officially speaks for the denomination.
The 2016 General Conference met in Portland, Oregon from May 10 to May 20, 2016. Coming out of that General Conference was the Commission on a Way Forward that looked at a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph of the Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and explore options that help to maintain and strengthen the unity of the church.
Link to General Conference coverage including LiveStream
There will be a Special Session of General Conference in February 2019 to act upon the recommendations from the Commission on a Way Forward.
https://www.umnews.org/en/news/opinions-still-vary-on-the-way-forward .
Also see Chart of Overview of Plans to 2019 General Conference
See the article from the UM News service mentioned above for more background material of the plans and the various groups lobbying for particular plans. The Council of Bishops, California-Nevada Annual Conference, Western Jurisdiction and other groups have endorsed the One Church Plan.
To find out more about General Conferences in general, see the General Conference 101 page or see the materials in our website about the UMC organization from our link below. (Although the GC 101 page is dated 2007, it still provides a good tutorial about General Conference.)