Zilhaver to Respond at Judicial Council Hearing

Connellsville District Superintendent Bob Zilhaver will travel to Switzerland in late October to offer a response during the United Methodist Judicial Council’s hearing on a request from the Council of Bishops (COB) for a decision on the "constitutionality, meaning, application and effect" of two paragraphs in the Book of Discipline dealing with involuntary change of status for clergy. 

The paragraphs were added to the Book of Discipline by the 2016 General Conference acting on legislation forwarded by the Western PA Annual Conference and authored by Zilhaver. They provide a clergy member the right to appeal a recommendation for an involuntary change in status, such as an involuntary leave of absence or involuntary medical leave.

The COB requests that the Judicial Council declare that there must be action by the clergy session on a recommendation for an involuntary change of status before the clergy member has a right of appeal. It further requests that if an appeal is allowed without clergy session action, it should not hold up the change of status. See docket item 
 
The COB petition which Zilhaver will address asks the Judicial Council to address the following questions:

•  Do BOD ¶¶ 2718.3 and 2718.4 allow an administrative appeal on a question of procedure before there is action by the clergy session of annual conference either approving or disapproving the recommendation for involuntary change of status?
• If an administrative appeal is allowed before any action on the recommendation for involuntary change of status is taken by the clergy session, does the appeal automatically stays the recommendation until a decision by the committees hearing the appeal? 
•  If an administrative appeal pursuant to ¶¶ 2718.3 and 2718.4 is taken, does the clergy person remain in good standing and therefore entitled to an appointment pending the outcome of an appeal?

That docket item is among just three that will have oral hearings. The other two deal with:

• Petitions from the COB requesting rulings on the constitutionality of three sets of legislative petitions known as the One Church Plan, Connectional Conference Plan, and Traditional Plan, and
• A request from the Commission on the General Conference for a declaration regarding the meaning, application, and effect of Disciplinary paragraphs related to violation of the General Conference Rules of Order. Specifically, the Commission is asking: Does the General Conference have the authority to remove, by vote, a delegate of the body for a violation of the rules of ethics as printed and passed in the Plan of Organization and Rules of Order for the General Conference when there is a reserve delegate available and when no reserve delegate is available. 

All of the oral hearings will take place on October 23, beginning at 8:30 a.m. CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. The hearings will be open to the public and broadcast on the denomination’s website, www.UMC.org/live, as well as via Facebook at www.Facebook.com/resourceUMC.

Hearings will remain available on the website throughout the month to make it convenient to watch despite time zone differences and will also be archived at www.umc.org/who-we-are/judicial-council-october-2018-webcast.
 
More information about the docket for the meeting, which takes place October 23-26, 2018, is available online. Only Dockets 1, 12 and 13 involve oral hearings. Docket 12 hearings will be divided into three sections corresponding to the three plans coming from the Commission on a Way Forward, with a break between each. This will give an opportunity for comments and questions to be raised separately for each plan.

The schedule for oral hearings is:
Docket No. 1018-12
IN RE: Petition for Declaratory Decision from the Council of Bishops regarding the constitutionality of three sets of legislative petitions known as the One Church Plan, Connectional Conference Plan, and Traditional Plan.
8:30 – 9:40 AM CEST (Part I: One Church Plan) 
Petitioner: Council of Bishops - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes)
Respondent: Rev. Tom Berlin, (10 minutes)
Supporting Amicus: Thomas Starnes, Esq. (10 minutes)
Opposing Amicus: Rev. Keith Boyette, Esq. (10 minutes)
Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
10:00 – 11:00 AM CEST (Part II: Connectional Conference Plan)
Petitioner: Council of Bishops) - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes)
Respondent: Patricia Miller (10 minutes)
Supporting Amicus: Rev. Keith Boyette, Esq. (10 minutes)
Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)
11:20 AM – 12:30 PM CEST (Part III: Traditional Plan)
Petitioner: Council of Bishops - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes)
Respondent: Rev. Thomas Lambrecht (20 minutes)
Opposing Amicus: Thomas Starnes, Esq. (10 minutes)
Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)

Docket No. 1018-13
IN RE: Petition for Declaratory Decision from the Commission on the General Conference regarding the meaning, application, and effect of ¶¶ 13, 14, 15, 34, 35, 36, and 511 of The Book of Discipline 2016 in relation to a violation of the General Conference Rules of Order.
2:00 – 3:00 PM CEST
Petitioner: Commission on the General Conference - Stephanie Henry, Audun Westad, Rev. Gary Graves, Sara Hotchkiss (20 minutes)
Respondent: Council of Bishops - Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes)
Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)

Docket No. 1018-1
IN RE: Petition for Declaratory Decision from the Council of Bishops regarding the constitutionality, meaning, application, and effect of ¶¶ 2718.3 and 2718.4 of The Book of Discipline 2016.
3:30 – 4:50 pm CEST
Petitioner: Council of Bishops -- Bishop Kenneth Carter, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, William Waddell, Esq. (20 minutes)
Respondents: Rev. Robert Zilhaver (20 minutes)
Rev. Kimberly Reisman (20 minutes)
Questions from Judicial Council members (20 minutes)

Decisions of the Judicial Council will be posted on the website 12 to 72 hours after the conclusion of the meeting on Friday at noon.