Volunteers Needed for General Conference 2016

Volunteers are needed for a variety of roles during the 2016 General Conference, The United Methodist Church’s top legislative assembly, which will meet in Portland, Oregon from May 10-20, 2016.

At this time, volunteers are needed for the following positions: 28 recorders, 10 channel “B” identifiers,  20 verbatim transcribers/copy editors and approximately 150 marshals and pages. Preference will be given to applicants who can serve throughout the entire conference.
 
  • Marshals are responsible for assisting visitors and special guests in the visitor and reserved seating galleries, checking credentials to make sure that only authorized persons are admitted to the bar of the conference or that of legislative committees, and other duties as assigned.

  •  Pages assist delegates, secretarial staff, bishops, members of the Judicial Council and official visitors. They distribute approved materials and deliver printed information.

  •  Recorders will serve as members of the staff of the secretary of the General Conference and work in direct support of their assigned legislative committee. Recorders are responsible for entering data such as the time, date, and results of committee votes, as well as making changes to pre-entered petition text to reflect the amendments approved by the committee. This information is prepared for the recorder by the legislative committee secretary who manually tracks this information as it happens. The recorder is not responsible for taking minutes or tracking the discussion of the legislative committee.

  •  Channel “B” identifiers will serve as members of the staff of the editor of the Daily Christian Advocate (DCA), the official record of the activity of the General Conference. Channel “B” identifiers will follow action of the plenary, repeating delegates’ names, annual conferences and vote tallies into a microphone.

  • Verbatim transcribers/copy editors also serve as members of the staff of the editor of the DCA. They are responsible for using Microsoft Word to enter data. They will listen to audio files and transcribe the recordings.

All volunteers are responsible for their own travel and expenses. Any interested in being a marshal or page, should submit an online application before July 31. If you have additional questions, contact Dick Hooton at revshoot@gmail.com. Those wishing to volunteer for a role as a recorder, channel “B” identifier and/or verbatim transcriber/copy editor can apply here through July 1.
 
About General Conference
The General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, and meets once every four years to consider revisions to church laws, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for church wide programs for the next four years. The next General Conference takes place May 10-20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. Follow General Conference on Facebook.