Section I. Conferences

¶10

Regional conferences exist, and they cover the whole church rather than only the part of it outside the United States.

2024 Discipline: ¶10
On the ballot paper: ¶9
Article: III → II
Change: Amended

Numbers trade contents here. The provision now at ¶10 is the one previously at ¶11; what used to stand at ¶10 moves to ¶11. The comparison below follows the provision, not the number.

Rewritten rather than tweaked — only 6% of the wording survives. Read the two texts side by side rather than the diff.

What changed

Central conferences become regional conferences, and the words “outside the United States of America” come out. The old paragraph established a category for everywhere the United States was not; the new one establishes a category that includes it. The proviso that no conference may be organised on any ground other than geography moves here.

Before

Book of Discipline 2020/2024, ¶10

There shall be central conferences for the Church outside the United States of America and, if necessary, provisional central conferences, all with such powers, duties, and privileges as are hereinafter set forth.

After

Petition 21039, as ratified

There shall be regional conferences for the work of the worldwide Church and, if necessary, provisional regional conferences, all with such powers, duties, and privileges as are hereinafter set forth, provided that in The United Methodist Church there shall be no regional or jurisdictional conference based on any ground other than geographical division.