Memorandum Number 1007

Request from the Northern Illinois Annual Conference for a Declaratory Decision on the Meaning, Application and Effect of ¶¶ 715 and 2532.6 of the 2000 Discipline with Respect to Disabled-Accessibility in Local Church and District Office Facilities.

The powers of a special session of an annual conference are limited to the powers specified in the call for a special session. ¶ 603.5 of the 2000 Book of Discipline. See Decision 397. The record supplied does not include the text of the call for a special session. We are unable to determine whether the motion that authorized the request for a declaratory decision was properly before the special session of the annual conference. We therefore decline jurisdiction.

The 2005 session of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference may request a declaratory decision concerning the meaning, application and effect of ¶¶ 715 and 2532.6 of the 2000 Discipline and should be guided by the provisions of ¶ 2610.2(j) of the 2004 Discipline.

Digest

The Judicial Council declines jurisdiction because the record does not indicate whether the request for declaratory decision was properly before the special session of the annual conference.


Shamwange P. Kyungu was absent. C. Rex Bevins, the first clergy alternate, participated in this decision.