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Legislative Guidelines

The Global Young People’s Convocation is a global event for the purpose of celebrating the mission and vitality of young people in The United Methodist Church, raising the joys and concerns of young people from the global community, developing young people as leaders for effective ministry in local churches and communities of faith, highlighting emerging trends in youth and young adult ministry, and providing a common forum that embraces the global reality of the church.

During the convocation there shall be opportunities for Jurisdiction and Central Conference delegations and individuals to discuss and vote on legislation in a forum known as the United Methodist Young People’s Legislative Assembly.

Youth, Young Adults and Adult Workers from around the world will gather at the Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly in Berlin, Germany in July 2010. The Legislative Assembly shall be made up of voting members of youth, young adults and adult workers from each jurisdiction and central conference.

The goal for the Legislative Assembly of the Global Young People’s Convocation is to make the voices of young people around the world be heard in the life of The United Methodist Church. The legislation that is brought forth shall reflect the purpose of gathering young people from all over the world to recognize and respond to the needs of young people across the globe. It shall help the Church gain a greater cultural understanding of young people and the issues they face and provide a way to capture the voice of young people raising their joys, concerns, hopes and dreams for the Church. And it shall provide everyone with insight on how the proposed petitions could reflect the issues, perspectives and wisdom of young people around the world.

During the Legislative Assembly, there will opportunities for all participants to discuss petitions in committee groups organized by topic, and as a full legislative body. The purpose of these discussions is to provide a setting in which various points of view on the petitions can be expressed and heard. During these times, groups shall remain mindful of including all voices present (age, race, status, gender, country of origin, delegates, non-delegates, etc.).

After the committee discussions, a representative from each group shall present their recommendations of the legislations to the Legislative Assembly. The assembly shall be given time to comment on the legislations before they are taken into a vote.

Throughout this process, each delegate is urged to prayerfully consider petitions submitted with intent to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The Legislative Assembly shall be chaired by two youth and two young adult each representing the regions (US, Africa, Europe and Philippines). Two of them are the Co-Chairs of the Division representing the US and the Philippines. The other two shall be selected before the event. Bishops of the UMC shall serve as advisory board during the Legislative Assembly. A United Methodist bishop from the United States and young people who will be attending the Global Convocation will convene the resolution process of the Legislative Assembly.

Only delegates of the Legislative Assembly will be able to vote although non-delegates may participate in discussion. This practice maintains the continuity and equal representation by jurisdictions and central conferences that exist at the Legislative Assembly of the Global Young People’s Convocation. Robert’s Rules of Order will be implemented for the final decision voting on the legislation. Robert’s Rules of Order are available online here.

Results of the voting will be presented to the entire GYPC gathering following the final legislative session. To become an official position of the Legislative Assembly of the Global Young People’s Convocation, two thirds of the votes cast at the Legislative Assembly of the Global Young People’s Convocation must be in support of the resolution.

Legislation adopted by the Legislative Assembly may be referred to the Division on Ministries with Young People and sent directly to the General Conference of The United Methodist Church carrying the name "United Methodist Young People’s Legislative Assembly."

Legislation that will be considered at the Legislative Assembly of the Global Young People’s Convocation must be submitted prior to the event in order to format and translate each petition. Each petition must address only one issue/topic, and must include the name and contact information of the person submitting it. Anyone may submit petitions. Legislation will be grouped by topic and all legislation, petitions, and programming must be in accordance with ¶806.9 and ¶806.10 of the 2008 Book of Discipline of The UMC.

Instructions for submitting petitions can be found here.

Sample legislation can be found here:
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3

For consideration, petitions must be postmarked or emailed by December 31, 2009 to the Global Young People’s Convocation office of the Division on Ministries with Young People, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. This allows time for formatting, translation, printing, and distribution to the delegates. Again, the postmark deadline is December 31, 2009 and no legislation will be accepted after December 31, 2009.

Resolutions can be emailed to globalconvo@gbod.org or mailed to:

Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly Division on Ministries with Young People General Board of Discipleship 1908 Grand Avenue Nashville, Tennessee 37212 United States

For additional information about the legislative process please contact globalconvo@gbod.org.

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