Decision Number 345
SUBJECT TO FINAL EDITING
Episcopal Ruling Requiring Ministers Serving in Special Appointments to Report Their Remuneration for Publication.
Digest
The episcopal ruling that ministerial members of an Annual Conference serving under episcopal special appointments shall report their salaries or remuneration for publication in the Annual Conference Journal is affirmed.
Statement of Facts
At a session of the North Alabama Annual Conference, June 7, 1971, a member requested an episcopal ruling from presiding Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson on the matter of publishing the remuneration of ministers of the Annual Conference serving in special appointments, and the application of Paragraph 928 of the Discipline.
Bishop Goodson ruled that Paragraph 928 of the Discipline requires that all ministerial members of the Annual Conference in regular or special appointments shall have their salaries reported in the journal of the Annual Conference.
Jurisdiction
The Judicial Council has jurisdiction under Paragraph 1712 of the Discipline.
Analysis and Rationale
Paragraph 928 of the Discipline provides:
"Every ministerial member of an Annual Conference appointed to any other field than the pastorate or district superintendency shall furnish annually to the conference secretary, at the time of the conference session, a statement of his remuneration, and the salaries or remuneration of all ministers in special service shall be published in the journal of the Annual Conference."
This provision is clear, mandatory, and controlling. It requires compliance by ministerial members to furnish such information to the conference secretary for publication in the journal of the Annual Conference. See also Judicial Council Decisions Nos. 321, 325, and 329.
Decision
The ruling of Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson that ministerial members of the North Alabama Conference serving under episcopal special appointments are required to report their salaries for publication in the Annual Conference Journal is affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
We would have preferred to affirm the bishop's ruling on motion, but without opinion. The ruling was not questioned in the Annual Conference. It states what is so clearly mandated by the Discipline that we believe a formal opinion is both unnecessary and a burden on the church.