News Update On July 17, delegates to the South Central Jurisdictional Conference rejected a motion that would have overturned an agreement to lease UMC-owned property to the Bush Presidential Center to create a policy research institute (“think tank”) at Southern Methodist University. The motion was defeated by a vote of 158-118. In a final parliamentary effort, a request was made for a legal ruling on whether the jurisdiction could legally subsidize a particular political/ideological point of view by leasing jurisdictional property. For a detailed news report and readers' comments, click here.
Dear South Central Jurisdictional Conference Delegate,
Having been a Jurisdictional delegate many times, I have some sense of the heavy responsibilities you now bear and the claims upon you. I write you, then, about a matter of great urgency and significance or I would not otherwise ask for your attention.
On March 14, 2007, Southern Methodist University asked the Mission Council, a meeting of SCJ representatives, for permission to lease campus property to the Bush Foundation as the site for the President George W. Bush library, museum, and policy institute. ...More