General Conference petitions lost through e-mail

By United Methodist News Service*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - General Conference petitions sent via e-mail before noon on July 27 need to be resubmitted due to technical problems, according to officials with the 2008 General Conference.

The petitions were not delivered because of problems with the e-mail address petitions@umpublishing.org.

Petitions submitted by U.S. mail to the petitions secretary, as well as petitions submitted through the General Conference Web site, are not affected, however.

"I have been assured that the e-mail address is now functioning properly, and I regret the inconvenience that this situation has caused," said the Rev. Fitzgerald Reist, secretary of General Conference.

For future submission, anyone who does not receive an acknowledgement of the receipt of a petition within three weeks should contact the office of the Rev. Gary Graves, petitions secretary, at (270) 274-4590.

Oct. 26 is the deadline for organizations, clergy members and lay members of The United Methodist Church to submit a petition to the denomination's top legislative body. The worldwide United Methodist gathering will be April 23 to May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Detailed instructions for submitting petitions are available online.