LAKELAND — The Florida Conference’s Standing Rules do not
include a clear definition of the responsibilities of the Standing
Rules Committee, according to the Rev. Sue Haupert-Johnson, the
committee’s chairwoman. That’s one reason the Standing Rules
Committee met Nov. 4 to begin the process to improve the conference’s
Standing Rules and make them more user-friendly.
“Right now, it’s horrendous even to try to read them [Standing
Rules],” she said. “For example, the conference treasurer’s
responsibilities are scattered in about four or five different areas.”
The Standing Rules “set up the structure and the purpose of the
conference…beyond what’s in the Book of Discipline,” Haupert-Johnson
said. They are published in the Journal each year and describe the
purpose, responsibility and makeup of conference committees. The
length of term for those serving on committees and when those terms
begin is also included.
Ideally, the Standing Rules would enable church members who want to
serve the conference to research conference committees and know what
gifts are needed to serve. Similarly, the Nominations Committee should
be able to know the expertise required for filling those committees’
vacancies.
“If you want to bring a resolution to the annual conference,
right now it’s murky how that’s done,” Haupert-Johnson said. “There’s
not a place you can go and look at everything that’s going on in the
conference.”
The Standing Rules Committee’s goal is to make the rules more
user-friendly. They will also incorporate changes proposed by
conference committees, including the Council on Finance and
Administration and the Division of Ministry. Other changes, including
the 2000 General Conference changing the director of the Conference
Council on Ministries to director of Connectional Ministries and the
Florida Conference’s new office of Congregational Transformation,
will also be included.
“We also want to create a procedure so the rules are updated
every year,” Haupert-Johnson said. “That will be much easier than
trying to fix them every 10 years.”
The committee’s work will be presented at the 2003 Florida Annual
Conference event and included in the workbook so delegates have time
to read and study the changes. Amending the Standing Rules requires a
two-thirds vote by the annual conference.
