What is Charge Conference?

WUMC Charge Conference- Tonight at 6pm (Dinner) and 7pm (Meeting)

I've had many folks ask me the question lately, "What is Charge Conference"? And that is a very good question. As a new lead pastor, I've been asking myself that a lot lately. Actually, I just took 10 minutes and looked up "Charge Conference" in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. Here is the best synopsis sentence I found,
"The primary responsibilities of the charge conference in the annual meeting shall be to review and evaluate the total mission and ministry of the church, receive reports, and adopt objectives and goals recommended by the church council that are in keeping with the objectives of the United Methodist Church." - p. 160, 2008 Book of Discipline
Tonight we are going to have fellowship. We will eat together, approve a few things and hear from our District Superintendent and Bishop (via video). It's a good time to get together and pray for our local church, our denomination and our global faith. I hope to see you tonight for my first Charge Conference as WUMC's pastor:)