FAQ’s

Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline of the Global Methodist Church is intended to serve as a resource for all who wish to join in a “methodical,” practical, and warm- hearted pursuit of loving God and serving others as Jesus’ disciples in the world. Beginning with confessions rooted in Scripture and shaped by the great teaching of the Church universal, the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline provides the essential structure for the Global Methodist Church from its official launch on May 1, 2022 until its convening General Conference twelve to eighteen months later. It is offered with the prayer that it will help guide us in a new season of the church’s life as we make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.

The process of dissafiliation within the GMC church can be found in the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline on page 101 and is as follows:

903. PROCESS OF DISSAFILLIATION. After at least a 90-day period of discernment and prayer, a congregation of the Global Methodist Church may disaffiliate from the denomination by a majority vote of its church conference.

Please visit the GMC Benefits page to access information about our benefits program and to locate members of the Benefits Team. For specific questions you can reach out to the GMC benefits team or contact a VA GMC ambassador today for additional assitance.

GMC Benefits Team Contact

• Rick Van Giesen, Benefits Officer | rvangiesen@globalmethodist.org
• Teri Casson, Benefits Team – Pension | tcasson@globalmethodist.org
• Brenda Harris, Benefits Team – HealthFlex| bharris@globalmethodist.org

According to the Global Methodist Church’s Book of Doctrines and Discipline local church's own all their property and assets. Since it is widely assumed that the local churches, and annual conferences and central conferences that are strongly inclined to join the Global Methodist Church do not want to be part of a denomination with a “trust clause” (i.e., where local church property is held in trust for a general church), it is almost certain the Global Methodist Church will never adopt one. Therefore, local churches in the Global Methodist Church will own all their property and assets in perpetuity.

Email us directly at communications email requesting to be added and we will collect all of the information that we will need.

To join the Global Methodist Church, the following motion must be adopted by a simple majority at a congregational meeting:

“I move that _____________ Church become a member congregation of the Global Methodist Church, that it affirms and endorses the doctrinal standards (Part One), Social Witness (Part Two), and church governance of the Global Methodist Church as set forth in its Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline, and agrees to be accountable to such standards, witness, and governance. Our leadership and trustees are authorized to take all actions necessary to implement this motion.”

A person authorized by the church must then complete and submit a digital church application. As part of completing the digital church application, you must upload the minutes of the meeting at which the motion above was adopted. Church applications can only be submitted using the digital church application. If you have questions about the church application process, please email applications@globalmethodist.org.

Individuals certified as a lay speaker in the UM Church, can automatically be accepted into the GMC, provided they have met the below requirements in the UM Church of b and c:

• b. Satisfactory completion of a course in lay ministry, approved by the Commission on Higher Education and Ministry, covering the church’s doctrine, history, polity, and basic Bible knowledge.
• c. Satisfactory completion of at least one advanced course in lay ministry, approved by the Commission on Higher Education and Ministry, on an area of ministry (e.g., preaching, worship leading, caring ministry, etc.). Coursework or training in other settings may be counted to meet this requirement at the discretion of the board of ministry.

If you are transferring from another denomination then you will want to contact the Board on Ministry team for specifics on your transfer. When emailing please provide the team with any kind of education that you have received for your certification.

1. A certified lay minister is a professing member of a local congregation who has received special training in Wesleyan doctrine and our denominational polity, and endorsement by the church in order to serve the church as laity. This category encompasses all those who were previously named certified lay servants, certified lay speakers, certified lay ministers, deaconesses, home missioners, and lay missioners. Certified lay ministers may work in any area of the church’s ministry, including leading, teaching, proclaiming/preaching, evangelizing, worship, and caring ministry. As laity, a certified lay minister is not subject to the approval or appointment of the bishop or presiding elder, although they may request the lay minister serve in a ministry capacity outside his or her own local church.
2. Qualifications. Persons desiring to be certified lay ministers must fulfill the following qualifications:
   1. Professing member of a local Global Methodist congregation (or its predecessor) for at least two years.
   2. Satisfactory completion of a course in lay ministry, approved by the Commission on Higher Education and Ministry, covering the church’s doctrine, history, polity, and basic Bible knowledge.
   3. Satisfactory completion of at least one advanced course in lay ministry, approved by the Commission on Higher Education and Ministry, on an area of ministry (e.g., preaching, worship leading, caring ministry, etc.). Coursework or training in other settings may be counted to meet this requirement at the discretion of the board of ministry.
   4. National background check.
   5. Written recommendation by the pastor and endorsement by majority vote of the pastor- parish relations committee and the charge conference.
   6. Interview and approval by the annual conference board of ministry. A public service of commitment recognizing the certification is recommended.
3. Renewal of Certification. Certification for lay ministry may be renewed every three years by the annual conference board of ministry based on the following:
   1. An annual report to the charge conference and annual conference board of ministry outlining what ministry had been done during the year and giving evidence of satisfactory performance.
   2. Endorsement by majority vote of the charge conference annually.
   3. Written recommendation for renewal by the pastor.
   4. Completion of an additional national background check every three years
   5. Satisfactory completion of at least one additional advanced course in lay ministry, approved by the Commission on Higher Education and Ministry, in the last three years.
4. Conditions of service.
   1. A certified lay minister serves as a volunteer, but an honorarium and expenses for pulpit supply or other specialized ministries outside one’s own local church are appropriate. A certified lay minister serving as a lay staff member of a church or other ministry should be equitably compensated for their work.
   2. Certification as a lay minister may be transferred to another annual conference if the person relocates. Subsequent renewal in that new annual conference is in accordance with ¶ 402.3.
   3. Persons who held active certification in a predecessor denomination shall automatically be received as certified lay ministers in the Global Methodist Church, provided that they have met the requirements of ¶ 402.2b-c through coursework in the predecessor denomination, subscribe to the doctrinal standards and Social Witness of this Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline, and agree to abide by its discipline. Subsequent renewal is in accordance with ¶ 402.3. Those not meeting the requirements of ¶ 402.2b-c are not certified but may work toward certification and are not required to repeat coursework they have already completed.

The Global Methodist Church has Ambassadors that are able to answer any questions you may have about the Global Methodist Church. If you need an ambassador to come to speak to your church about the GMC contact us today to get an ambassador scheduled to visit.

You can contact Mike Huff (Virginia Annual Conference) Chair of Finance and Administration at mhuff@gmcvirginia.org or your Presiding Elder

General Church Connectional Funding (1%)

Pay by Check: Make checks Payable to “Global Methodist Church” and send to:
Global Methodist Church
P.O. Box 1360
King George, VA 22485

Pay Online: https://globalmethodist.org/connectionalfunding/

Virginia Annual Conference Connectional Funding (3%)

Pay by Check: Make checks Payable to “Global Methodist Church of Virginia” and send to:
PO Box 2812 Virginia Beach, VA 22450

Pay Online: https://gmcvirginia.churchcenter.com/giving

The local church treasurer or designee shall calculate the amount to be remitted by January 30 of each calendar year based on the prior year’s local church operating income.

See the attached document for a more detailed example of what is and is not Operating Income.

There is an excellent article and calculator for determining Connectional Funding located at on JCT Accountings website.

The pastor(s) and leadership of the local church shall interpret connectional funding to the members of the local church so that connectional funding is embraced by such membership and regularly share information with the members of the local church to educate and interpret such connectional funding.

The Transitional Leadership Council or its designee may designate a local church as a missional church and exempt such a church from paying general church or annual conference connectional funding for up to five years from the date of designation. Missional churches shall be church plants, church re-starts, or churches located in or serving economically disadvantaged communities.

Churches seeking deferment of Connectional Funding may petition for a waiver. Churches seeking a waiver for the 1% general church Connectional Funding may petition the TLC directly.

Churches seeking a waiver for all or part of the GMC of Virginia Connectional Funding may petition the Virginia Provisional District. The Virginia Provisional District will review the waiver requests and consider a connectional giving deferment until the Convening Conference of the GMC. After the Convening Conference of the GMC in September, 2024, additional petitions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The local church treasurer or designee shall calculate the amount to be remitted by January 30 of each calendar year based on the prior year’s local church operating income.

• the following items are to be included in local church operating income: giving from identified and not identified donors, investment income utilized for operations, building use fees and rental income, and other unrestricted operating income.
• The following items are to be excluded from local church operating income: benevolences (outside ministries supported by the local church), capital campaign receipts, borrowed funds, fundraisers for non-operating expenses, receipts for reduction of indebtedness, memorials, endowments, and bequests whether restricted or non-restricted, receipts for Global Methodist Church special mission programs, grants and support from other organizations, sales of land, buildings or other church assets, and other non-operating income received.

See the Operating Income Examples for a more detailed example of what is and is not Operating Income.

There is an excellent article and calculator for determining Connectional Funding located at JCT Accountings Website.

The GMC has apportionments but we call them Connectional Giving/Funding. Connectional funding is addressed in ¶ 349 of the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline. All local churches are asked to contribute 1% of their operating income to the funding of the general church. Among a number of things, these funds are used to cover the costs required for organizing the church, to recruit and train its leaders, to incubate and support its growth in challenging locations all around the world, and to invest in planting new churches and revitalizing existing ones. In one way or another, the funds are to support the entire connection in fulfilling the Global Methodist Church’s mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.

Where provisional annual conferences are not yet operating, local churches are also asked to pay an additional one percent of their operating income to underwrite the formation of annual conferences in their regions. Where a provisional annual conference has been established, the connectional funding rate is established by the initial conference leadership and then ratified at a convening annual conference meeting. At subsequent annual conference gatherings, lay and clergy delegates representing local churches will set the connectional funding share amount between one to five percent of a congregation’s operating income. These resources are for annual conference operations.

Virginia has set this funding about at 3% of local church operating income to the funding of the Virignia District. This funding will among other things, fund to cover the requied organzing of the church, our convening gatherings bi-annually, trainings, and more. The Virginia leadership team has made our budget slim in order to keep our connectional giving as low as possible while providing the most we can to our local churches.

The Global Methodist Church is recognized as a tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 501(c)(3). The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determination letter is attached. All contributions, made on and after March 18, 2022, to the Global Methodist Church are deductible as charitable contributions to the extent applicable by governing federal and state laws.

The IRS suspended receiving and processing group exemption applications in 2020. Thus, the Global Methodist Church cannot apply for a group exemption covering local churches which are part of the Global Methodist Church.

However, the law firm of Gammon & Grange, PC, which represents the Global Methodist Church, has issued its opinion letter stating that local churches are exempt from taxation pursuant to a mandatory exception in IRC § 508(c)(1)(A). Local churches are not required to file an application (IRS Form 1023) with the IRS to qualify as tax exempt under IRC §501(c)(3). Contributions to such local churches in the United States are eligible for tax deduction pursuant to IRC §170(b)(1)(A).

While affiliated churches are automatically considered 501(c)(3), certain vendors and local governments may require additional documentation from a third party to prove their 501(c)(3) status. Churches that complete the Tax-Exempt Confirmation Form will receive an official letter via email within one week that can be used to prove their 501(c)(3) status.

When the IRS reopens the process for applying for a group exemption under IRC §501(c)(3), the Global Methodist Church will file for such a group exemption to cover local churches who are members of the Global Methodist Church. To preserve the opportunity to be included in a group exemption granted to the Global Methodist Church in the future, local churches who are members of the Global Methodist Church should not file a separate application for recognition of IRC §501(c)(3) status, but instead should rely on the automatic exemption pursuant to IRC §508(c)(1)(A).

An article to help your church getting a letter from the GMC on your specific churches status based on affiliation can be found on JT Accounting's website

To apply to be a clergy member of the Global Methodist Church, the clergyperson must complete and submit a digital clergy application. As part of completing the digital clergy application, you will upload certain documents such as a copy of ordination certificates or licenses evidencing your current ministerial credentials, diplomas from educational institutions, and transcripts of courses completed. During completion of the digital clergy application, you will initiate a background check as part of completing the digital clergy application. Church applications can only be submitted using the digital clergy application. If you have questions about the clergy application process, please email applications@globalmethodist.org.

We are so excited that God is calling you to start a new GMC in your area! There are several steps in the process to follow, the first of which is getting in touch with our Church Planting and Multiplication Team. Please contact team lead, Rev. Keith Boyette, at kboyette@gmcvirginia.org to begin a conversation.