1536–1585

1. Officers

1536. The Presidency (332). The General Superintendent shall preside over the General Conference. When no General Superintendent is present, the General Conference shall elect by ballot an ordained minister as president pro tem.

1539. The Secretary. The Executive Director of Communication and Administration shall be the secretary of the General Conference and shall accurately record the proceedings, preserve them in permanent form, and perform any other such duties as shall be required by the General Conference.

2. Procedure

1541. Delegates. Once a delegate has been seated at the General Conference, an alternate delegate cannot thereafter be seated in place of the seated delegate (1514).

1543. Quorum (336). A majority of all the delegates elected by the districts shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A smaller number shall have the authority to adjourn from time to time until a quorum is obtained.

1545. Voting (338). The ministerial and lay delegates shall deliberate in the sessions of the General Conference as one body. However, upon the final vote on any question, except proposed amendments to the Constitution (200-385), on a call of one-fourth of the members, the house shall divide so that ministerial and lay delegates shall vote separately. It shall require a majority vote of each branch to pass any question upon which the division has been called.

1547. Rules of Order. General Conference business shall be conducted according to the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, except when formally suspended by the General Conference or when other procedures are required by The Discipline (360:1).

1550. Appeals on Questions of Order. The chair shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the General Conference. In case of such an appeal, the vote shall be taken without debate, except that the chair may state the grounds of the decision, and the appellant may state the grounds of the appeal.

1553. Suspension of Rules. The General Conference may suspend for a particular session any statutory law (155) set forth in The Discipline governing the procedures of the General Conference, by a two-thirds majority vote.

3. Memorials

1557. Memorials to the General Conference, including proposed changes to The Discipline other than the Constitution (200-385), may be submitted by a district conference, a district board of administration, the General Board, a General Conference committee, the governing board of an educational or benevolent institution, the governing board of a subsidiary corporation, the general executive committee of an auxiliary organization, or any ten members of the General Conference.

1560. Memorials proposing an amendment to the Constitution (200–385) may be submitted to the General Conference only by a district conference by a two-thirds vote (1180:1), or by the General Board (1655:8).