AC 2021 Question and Answers

Hey all. I appreciate your hard work. I was just curious as to when and how we may learn results of the voting.

Members who received paper ballots have to return them by Wednesday. We expect to have the results posted no later than Monday, June 21. Thanks for asking.

Where do I find online the information to read about each vote I have to complete?

www.AC2021.org. You'll find the Supplement which has information about all of the information considered today. You'll also find videos with more information than was presented today. The Program and Reports book has all of the conference reports - but you don't need to read that to vote. Thank you for participating!

How can I get an ID number to vote. Have not gotten the first one all week.

where can I view the supplements before I vote?

You can find the supplement at this link: https://wnc.brtapp.com/files/websites/www/ac2021/2021p%26r_supplement.pdf

About Petition 2a: Please define terminated. Do we provide pension benefits to clergy terminated for cause?

The General Conference adopts the provisions of the Clergy Retirement Security Plan (CRSP) for United Methodist Clergy, and those provisions are managed by Wespath on behalf of the denomination, the conference, local churches and clergy. Vesting (unconditional entitlement to a share in a pension fund) of pension benefits earned occurs immediately for all clergy for pension contributions for both the defined benefit portion and the defined contribution portion. That is of course also true of personal contributions by individual clergy to the United Methodist Personal Investment Plan (UMPIP). The word “terminated” in the Resolution Relating to Rental/Housing Allowances for Retired, Disabled, or Former Clergypersons of the Western North Carolina Conference is necessary because the resolution is intended to allow all vested pensions or other amounts paid to active, retired, terminated, and disabled Clergypersons to be considered to be deferred compensation and paid to active, retired, terminated, and disabled Clergypersons in consideration of previous active service, and therefore eligible for the Internal Revenue Code sections related to special housing allowance provisions for clergy. The Resolution Relating to Rental/Housing Allowances for Retired, Disabled, or Former Clergypersons of the Western North Carolina Conference is adopted each year by the Annual Conference as part of the report of the Board of Pension & Health Benefits report, as required by Internal Revenue Code provisions.

When I try to view the documentary, I can only "see" the trailer????

When you choose "watch," it should give you a page to make a donation. If you input your information and choose $0, it will take you to the documentary. Of course, donations to the ministry are welcome.

I did not receive any voting info on the 8th...nor the 9th?????

If you did not receive your voting information, please contact your district office to obtain it. If you cannot get your district office, please submit a request at help@wnccumc.net. Include your name, church, and district.

Some homes might have more than one delegate but only one computer but the directions are that each voter must use a different electronic device to vote. What are options to get around this issue?

Since you'll have about a 12 hour window to vote, you could each log in at different times on your device, with your unique log-in information and vote.

it appears that we can only vote on the day of the conference and that there are no "test" to verify that we can get signed up before that day. Correct?

That is correct. The voting portal will open around noon and close at midnight. We shouldn't need a test for it. You will vote for each item listed and we will tally the votes once all ballots are received. We will use the same system on Friday for the clergy session so in a way, that will be a test.

Are ALL Methodists churches still required to wear mask in N.C. Western Conference and if so why after Governor Cooper and CDC latest general order in May not requiring?

You can find the information about COVID response at this link: https://www.wnccumc.org/covid

Will a recording of Annual Conference be available following the sessoin?

The meeting will be recorded on both the Youtube and Facebook platforms that we are publishing. The recording will be available immediately after it is complete

P&R Supplement states that PDF documents of Disaffiliating Churches will be available on the AC2021.org site. Additionally, the link currently in the P&R Supplement takes the viewer to the AC2020 site. When will these documents be available for viewing in order to be able to review prior to voting on June 8? Thank you!

The disaffiliating churches are at www.AC2021.org. They are currently linked on the left side. We will try to get a red button created for them. Thanks for the broken link. We'll fix it.

If I did not receive a link for voting, how can I get one?

ID numbers and voting information were sent today, June 8th. We will send a reminder email on Friday, June 11th. If you are clergy, you can also access your information in the clergy dashboard. Voting instructions will be included in that email. If you still didn't receive it, please open a ticket at help@wnccumc.net.

For the 2020 Budget it looks like we approved 85,000 for the episcopal office operations line item. Did we get an explanation for the 10 fold increase over the 2020 line item? Do we have YTD receipts for the 2021 budgeted amount?

Please refer to page 18 of the 2020 Program and Reports book for the CFA report at www.AC2020.org. While the conference did receive an episcopal GCFA grant in 2020, thus reducing expenses, the future of such is still left to uncertainty until the General Conference can meet and act on a budget.

When will registration open up for Annual conference?

You don't have to register for Annual Conference. We know who the lay and clergy members are and communicate directly with them. There will be a postal mailing the first week of May. If you haven't received it by May 14, please contact your district office. Please check www.AC2021.org for Annual Conference information.