The 2020 New England Annual Conference Session scheduled for June 11-13 has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
We will hold a one-day online session on Oct. 17, 2020 to care for the necessary business of the Annual Conference as outlined in the Book of Discipline. 
 
The Annual Conference Agenda Committee has extended the deadline for submitting new and/or revised proposed 2020 legislation and for submitting reports to Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. The publication of the Pre-Conference Materials will follow; no later than Sept. 17, 2020. 
 
This year’s Annual Conference will be a new experience for all of us, and we know that there will be quite a bit of learning and adapting to do. We will do our best to communicate clearly and often about what’s coming. Patience and grace will be blessings to all of us as we move forward. 
 
Some events and traditions that are part of our time together at Annual Conference will be cared for in other ways. Others will simply not be able to happen in 2020. These things are important, and we will do our best to honor all of them appropriately. We will offer more about all of these plans as they develop.
 
Clergy Session/Ordination and Commissioning
The Clergy Session will also be a virtual gathering, and will take place 9 a.m. to noon on June 11, 2020.
 
Holding the Clergy Session on the date originally scheduled allows the credentialing of clergy candidates to take place in a timely way. The Historical Questions will be addressed in the Clergy Session.

Clergy must register in advance in order to receive logon credentials. Click to register for clergy session Deadline to register is May 29, 2020.

Clergy who cannot attend must notify Annual Conference Secretary John Blackadar. Email him at secretary@neumc.org. 
 
Plans for the Service of Ordination and Commissioning for the class of 2020 are still being made in consultation with the Bishop, the Board of Ordained Ministry, and this year’s class of candidates. We will announce more information as it becomes available. 
 
Laity Session
The Board of Laity has announced it will host a virtual Laity Session beginning at 10 a.m. on Sept. 26. More details will be shared about this event as plans come together. 
 
Registration
There will be no registration fee for this virtual Annual Conference session, but attendees will need to register in order to get access to the meeting and their voting credentials. You will need to register for the October session, even if you already registered for June. Registration will open after July 1. Everyone who registered for the June session is entitled to a full refund of any fees paid. You will receive an email regarding refunds shortly. 
 
Training for participants
A virtual session will be new for all of us. GNTV, which has provided A/V for our sessions in recent years, will manage this virtual session for us. 
 
Annual Conference members will be invited to join an online training session (a number of sessions will be scheduled) to learn about how speaking from the “floor,” voting, and other procedures will work in this virtual session. This will be offered prior to the clergy session as well as the AC session. During the training, members will have the chance to ask questions and practice with the online voting system. 
 
Some things will remain the same: We are pleased that Marcia McFee and Mark Miller will be with us online serving as our worship and music leaders respectively. 
 
As we embark on this new way of conducting our Annual Conference, we can look to our guiding scripture, Acts 2:42-47 (CEB), which reads, in part: “A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs …” and know that we are bound to be awed by what we – with God – can do.

Visit our Annual Conference page