General Instructions for Charge Conference Forms

FORMS  1-8

• Must be completed and submitted electronically to the District Office at least TWO WEEKS prior to your Charge/Church Conference.
• The District Office must be notified of any business to be conducted that is NOT on the Form 1 Charge/Church Conference Preparation Sheet two weeks prior to the Charge/Church Conference.
• If completed forms were sent electronically to the District Office, only hard copies of pages requiring signatures need to be given to the District Superintendent or presiding elder at the Charge/Church Conference. If not sent electronically, then a complete hard copy set of forms (with signatures) is to be given to the District Superintendent or presiding elder at the Charge/Church Conference.

FORMS 9-11 are due January 31, 2023
FORMS 12-13 are due March 15, 2023
FORM 14 is used only at the time of a pastoral change in the parsonage and is due 2 weeks after the exiting pastor moves out

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FORMS

• All forms (except form 4) should be filled out using Adobe Acrobat
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from:  https://get.adobe.com/reader/
  • When downloading, you can uncheck the extra boxes for McAfee because it is not needed for this.
• To access the forms go to https://susumc.org and then from the menu, select Resources and then Charge Conference
• Filling in the forms
  • Please make sure you are in Adobe Reader when filling in the forms and that the blank forms are downloaded to your computer.  DO NOT FILL IN THE FORMS FROM A WEB BROWSER TAB.
  • You may only type in the blank.
  • The tab key will move you to the next blank
  • By using Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can fill in the form and also save the form with all your data filled in.
  • To print a hard copy, just print the form from Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Form 1 – Please read carefully and gather all required information
• Form 2
  • Remember these names and figures represent changes from since the date of 2019’s charge conference
  • Don’t forget to enter the total professing membership number
  • Membership books should be audited to ensure accuracy
• Form 3
  • Read the information on the form regarding your charge’s number of delegates
  • No signatures needed
  • If there is no one to be elected for Lay Member and/or Alternate please put NONE in the first name space for Lay Member
  • No one who is elected as a Lay Member or Alternate may be a Lay Member at Large
  • Church councils CANNOT replace a Lay Member – a Charge Conference is required to elect a new Lay Member
• Form 4 - instructions are a separate document.
• Report of the Lay Leadership and Development Committee must be included for vote for all church officers, committee members. There is no Form for this report, format is at the church’s discretion
• Form 5
  • Please read the rationale and standards document
  • Answer questions with Yes or No (Y or N is acceptable) and offer explanations as necessary
• Form 6 – Pastoral Compensation
  • Download and use the worksheets/instructions
  • Use form 6 for CLERGY only
  • If you have lay supply, Certified Lay Minister (CLM) or a DS hire, use Form 6b
• Form 6b – Compensation for Laity serving a church for extended time period
  • Compensation for Lay Supply, Certified Lay Minister or DS hire
  • These are LAY employees and subject to employee withholding; church pays FICA
• Form 7
  • Review church Safe Sanctuaries Policy to ensure all items on the checklist are included
  • ALL churches must have a Safe Sanctuaries Policy (even if children are not present)
• Form 8
  • All persons who wish to be first time Lay Servants or to continue their Lay Servant/Lay Speaker/CLM status must submit a form
  • The courses required for continuation must be completed – see instructions
  • Pastors, check to ensure that the requirements have been met before signing
  • Pastor’s signature indicates pastor’s approval for continuation
  • If the Lay Servant’s church is served by Lay Supply, CLM or DS hire, only the Superintendent’s signature is needed
  • Questions can be directed to Kim Shockley at kshockley@susumc.org
• Form 9 and 9a – Due Jan 31, 2023
  • Trustees report to include ALL assets of the church – all accounts, endowments, property, etc.
  • Please see the instruction pages for these reports
  • Ensure that any changes – purchase, sale, building, major remodeling – are reported to the insurance company
  • Form 9a is required for all churches with a day care/pre-school/children’s ministry that charges tuition or fees
• Form 10 – Due Jan 31, 2023
  • Only needed if there is property, accounts or investments held by a Charge rather than an individual church
• Form 11 - Due Jan 31, 2023
  • Include copies of CEU Certificates
  • If you have completed individual, independent studies or seminars that do not offer CEU’s, contact Ryan Kraus, rkraus@susumc.org with information regarding the study and request CEU’s
• Form 12 - Due Mar 15, 2023
  • All accounts related to the church MUST be audited to protect both church and treasurers
  • All churches must have a policy for sound financial practices in handling church funds
  • If no such policy exists, the Finance Committee shall create one
  • An excellent resource is “Financial Information for Churches and Pastors”
  • Pastors and churches may want to visit gcfa.org for helpful information such as:
    • GCFA Tax Packet
    • GCFA Audit Guide
• Form 13 – Due March 15, 2023
  • Only needed for accounts held by a charge rather than an individual church
• Form 14 – Due one week after pastoral move from parsonage
  • Inspection is to be done after movers have loaded the van and before the pastor leaves town
  • Pastor, S/PPRC chair (or rep), Trustee Chair (or rep) shall do a walk through
  • Form 14 shall be sent to district office within one week of the move

• Addresses for District Superintendents and email for District Administrative Assistants
  • Altoona: Rev. Dr. Joleen Willis, 1381 Plank Road, Suite 104, Duncansville, PA  16635-8458 (District AA  altoona@susumc.org )
  • Harrisburg: Rev. Barry Robison, 303 Mulberry Drive, Suite 200, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050-3198 (District AA harrisburg@susumc.org )
  • Lewisburg: Rev. Dr. Gary Weaver, 31 Baylor Blvd., Lewisburg, PA 17837-9203 (District AA lewisburg@susumc.org )
  • Scranton/Wilkes-Barre: Rev. Judy Walker, 40 Knob Hill Road, Trucksville PA 18708-9683 (District AA scrantonwilkesbarre@susumc.org )
  • State College: Rev. Brenda Leigey, 1200 Haymaker Rd., State College, PA 16801-6943 (District AA statecollege@susumc.org )
  • Williamsport: Rev. Dr. Paul Amara, 2420 Nottingham Rd., Williamsport, PA 17701-4057 (District AA williamsport@susumc.org )
  • York: Rev. Dr. Cathy Boileau, 1910 Kenneth Road, Suite D, York, PA 17408-9087 (District AA york@susumc.org)

Preparing for Church/Charge Conferences

3 Complete Packets should be provided with all forms and with Signatures – one for DS,  one for Pastor and one for Charge Conference Secretary)

Packets for all in attendance should include all items requiring a vote

Materials to be assembled in this order:

1. Minutes of previous Charge Conference(s) – VOTE
2. 2021 Audits if they have not already been approved and received by Church Council – VOTE
3. 2021 Church and Charge Trustee reports to be received - VOTE
4. Shares of Ministry Plan – any church that does not anticipate being able to pay their shares in full shall submit a written plan to address the deficit in the current and future years. Plan should note date that it was approved by Church Council
5. Form 1 – Completed Conference Checklist
6. Form 2 – Membership report; if names are to be presented for Charge Conference removal, names must be listed and provided to all present. Per Discipline, these names must be READ out loud.  Please read them at a council meeting and provided list at CC.   – VOTE only if there are names to be removed
7. Form 3 – Election of Lay Member form – VOTE
8. Report of the Lay Leadership and Development committee – This may be a format of your choosing. All officers and committee members are to be elected by church/charge conference; MUST include S/PPRC chair person, church treasurer (if treasurer is not paid staff) – VOTE
   1. A motion is needed from the floor to nominate members to the Lay Leadership and Development Committee. Persons nominated should be contacted prior to determine if they are willing to serve
   2. A covering motion will be requested to permit Ad Council to fill vacancies between Charge conferences – but that motion does not include replacing a Lay Member or S/PPRC chair
9. Form 5 – Parsonage inspection report. DO NOT SIGN FORM IF AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL INSPECTION WAS NOT CONDUCTED BY TRUSTEE & S/PPRC CHAIRS (OR DESIGNEES) AND PASTOR.
10. Form 6 – Pastor’s Compensation – VOTE
11. Form 6a – CLM’s/ DS Hire Compensation (if applicable) – VOTE
12. Form 7 – Safe Sanctuary Report – attach Safe Sanctuary Policy if changed/updated since last charge conference. All churches MUST have a SS policy whether or not the congregation has children.
13. Form 8 – Report of Lay Speaker(s) – VOTE
14. Candidates for ministry who have been approved by S/PPRC (No form is required, this should be noted on the checklist – prepare small sheets of paper for written ballot if this is the first charge conference vote on the candidate; for continuation, a voice or hand vote is fine) - VOTE
15. Report of Retired Pastors / other clergy with charge conference membership
16. Leases to be approved (all leases should be reviewed by the trustees and pre-approved by Ad Council – copies need not be provided for all present) – VOTE Please list the leases on the form (Parsonage, Preschool, etc.)
17. All INCORPORATED Churches must file Form 15-5110 Annual Statement Non-Profit Corp.  with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the officers elected for 2022 IF THERE IS A CHANGE.  This form is available with the Charge Conference forms.  Instructions are included with the form.  THIS SHOULD BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS ON THE INSTRUCTIONS only – do not send to the district office!  There is no fee for this.  Send by April 30, 2023.

If you run into any technical problems, send support an email, or give the IT line a call and Nate or Larry can help you with this. Email is the best way to reach them right now, but they will get voice mails left at the office as well. The support email is support@susumc.org and the direct office phone number is 717.766.7054.

If you have any questions about the forms that are not technical, contact your district office.