The Korean Methodist Church is to hold its 33rd general conference from October 30 to 31 at Gyesan Jungang Church in Incheon. Ahead of the conference, KMC will hold an election on October 2 to select the next president of the Council of Bishops. The position has been empty since this past January, when the court ruled that the last election, which had selected Rev. Jun Myung-ku, was void. The installation of the new president will be carried out at the general conference.
On June 1, KMC held a meeting of the General Conference executive committee (photo) at its headquarters meeting room in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and decided on this schedule for the general conference and the Bishops Council presidential election. The KMC election commission held a meeting on May 31 and selected Rev. Lee Gi-bok (Daejon Haneulmun Church) as its chair.
Rev. Lee said, “Due to the urgent situation of our general conference, I’ll prevent possible disputes by ensuring the transparency of all the election procedures.”
The KMC General Conference will complete its electoral roll by June 22 and officially announce the election on August 14. Candidate registration will take place from September 12 to 13.
During the KMC executive committee meeting on this day, some members expressed opposition to the current acting Bishops Council president regime. At the conclusion of the opening service, some committee members argued that there was a problem with the eligibility of acting president Lee Cheol and that his selection should be voided. The argument lasted for more than 90 minutes.
One member said, “Acting president Lee is ignoring former president Jun’s right to appeal, and as representative of the KMC General Conference is trying to give up the right to appeal. Acting President Lee said, however, “I’ve never given up the appeal right, so there’s no reason to continue this dispute,” and pleaded, “Because we need to resolve our emergency, let’s go ahead and deal with the discussion items.”
Article and photo by reporter Jang Chang-Il (jangci@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Original Article in Korean:
기감, 감독회장 선관위원장에 이기복 목사: 총실위 열고 선거 절차 확정 … 10월 2일 감독회장 선출
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2018-06-04 17:17
