Petitions/recommendations to the 2026 Pacific Northwest Annual Conference Session need to be in the Conference Office by Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Per conference rules, resolutions submitted by this date shall be included in the Pre-Conference Handbook (PCH) which will be available in May.

Accepted petitions will also be included in the PCH to allow members the opportunity to prayerfully read and discern before they arrive at Annual Conference.

Per conference rules, other legislation can be submitted if a “late development prevented consideration by April 15th,” up to 10 days prior to the annual conference session (end of the day, Monday, June 8, 2026). 

Accepted petitions shall be assigned to the appropriate focus sessions by the Executive Director of Connectional Ministries. Please refer to the relevant rules found below and the guidance at the top of the online submission form for more information.

(a) Any organization, minister, or lay member of The United Methodist Church in the Pacific Northwest Conference may petition the Annual Conference.

(b) Recommendations, petitions, and proposals shall be presented to the Annual Conference in the form of resolutions without “Whereas” clauses. Such resolutions may be accompanied by an explanatory statement which shall not be subject to action by the Conference. Such resolutions shall be submitted on forms provided online and on paper by the Office of Connectional Ministries by April 15, shall be assigned to the appropriate Focus Session, and shall be included in the Pre-Conference Handbook (including those for changes to the Conference Rules).

(c) Funding: All resolutions requiring program or meeting funds shall indicate the intended source of these funds. Resolutions to be funded by the Conference Connectional Table shall be referred to the Office of Connectional Ministry’s Finance Committee for review and report to the Annual Conference prior to its action. Resolutions involving $500 or more, regardless of the source of these funds, shall be referred to the Conference Council on Finance and Administration for review and report to the Annual Conference prior to its action.

(d) Staffing: All resolutions requiring conference office staff time shall estimate the number of staff hours required and the anticipated work to be completed. Resolutions reasonably anticipated to involve ten hours or more of conference office staff time during any one year shall be referred to the Connectional Table for review and report to the Annual Conference prior to its action.

(e) Recommendations, petitions, and proposals and petitions resulting from situations whose late development prevented consideration by April 15th, according to the determination of the Conference Director of Connectional Ministries, may be submitted up to ten days prior to the Conference and, when accepted, shall be distributed in the registration packet. The decision of the Director of Connectional Ministries may be appealed to the Bishop. The Director of Connectional Ministries shall assign the late accepted recommendations, petitions, and proposals received to the appropriate Focus Sessions.

(f) In addition to the assigned recommendations, petitions, and proposals, the Focus Sessions are empowered to initiate resolutions falling within the general scope of their respective fields. Once all previously submitted business has been considered, Focus Sessions may consider new resolutions that have not been submitted within the past year.

(g) When the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference passes a petition that asks the Conference Secretary to correspond with members of the Senate or House of Representatives, at a state or national level, or with the Governor of a state or the President of the United States, such petitions must include the full name(s) of the person(s) to whom the correspondence is addressed, along with the full addresses and e-mail addresses.

(h) New, revised, amended, or rescinded rules may originate as follows: by recommendation from any council, board, commission, or committee of the Conference; from the Cabinet; over the signatures of five members of the Conference; or from the Conference in general session. Individual members may submit proposals to the Rules Committee for consideration, but in such cases, the Rules Committee is not bound to report the proposed change on the floor of the Conference.

(i) All proposals designed as permanent regulations of the Annual Conference shall be first submitted to the Rules Committee, whose duty it shall be to consider the proposal, and then make a report on it with recommendations to the Conference. In order to change a Conference Rule, or to provide a new Conference Rule, the Conference must vote such change specifically, by rule and section number. Recommendations for new, revised, amended, or rescinded rules to be considered at the forthcoming Annual Conference shall be submitted according to the procedure outlined in Rule V, Sec. 2(ab). Such proposals shall also be submitted to the Rules Committee, whose duty it shall be to consider the proposal and then make a report on it with recommendations to the Annual Conference prior to action by the Conference on the report from the Focus Session.