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DEADLINE: All charge conference reports should be completed in Unity 10 days before your charge conference date. The exception is the church budget, which can be turned in at your charge conference. A draft version is fine for churches with early charge conferences.

USE THE CHECKLISTS included in these instructions to see what to print and bring with you.  DOWNLOAD THIS DOCUMENT

1. Appoint a secretary from your charge to sign your paperwork. Lynn or Lisa will take general minutes, but your elected secretary should sign the paperwork wherever a secretary’s signature is needed.
2. Prepare a packet for your attendees and one for the district. The district packet should be in a large envelope with your full church/charge name on the outside for the district (not a binder, not a folder, not loose papers). Turn it in to Lynn or Lisa at the end of your charge conference. See the checklist for what goes in the
   packets.
3. Each church should present a 3-minute presentation on the following: Adaptive challenges are problems or situations that cannot be solved with existing knowledge, skills, or routines alone. They require people and organizations to learn, change attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors, not just implement technical fixes.

   Please have a lay person prepared to answer one of these questions:
   What is one adaptive challenge our congregation is currently facing, and how are we engaging our members, experimenting with new approaches, or shifting practices to respond faithfully?
   OR
   Where have you seen signs of revival?

4. Include your church and charge name or location on everything. “Trinity” won’t work.
5. Print only what the checklist tells you to. We don’t need 3 copies of everything.
6. Your Church Budget is required to be turned in at the Charge Conference for 2026. It can be a draft version if necessary for those with early Charge Conferences and can be turned in at your charge conference (not required 10 days early). You must put your church name and location at the top of the budget. “2027 Budget” is not enough.
7. Licensed Local Pastors should bring their licenses for DS signature
8. Sign all paperwork beforehand. We will add the DS signature and upload copies to Unity afterwards.

READY TO START?

Step 1: Where to find Charge Conference Reports?
Log into Unity at unity.vaumc.org and choose the CHARGE section.
Click on the blue Charge Conference date that you have been assigned (it is already set up for you). It will open up the Charge Conference Reports Page.

Step 2: Start the Reports
Click Create New for each report and enter the data directly into the computer. When you press submit, the data is saved for that page. Think of Submit as Save – you can edit it later. Once a report is saved, print and edit options will display. Remember, you have 90 minutes to complete the report – you cannot leave Unity before the report is saved or you will lose your work.

The reports below must be completed in Unity 10 days before your CC. Only some will need to be printed and turned in – see checklist to know which to print.

• Enter Church Leadership First, and it populates the other reports. The others can be done in any order unless otherwise indicated.
• Minutes Form (this form is automatically created by Unity when you set your CC date).
• Finance Committee Report
• Trustees Report (notify court of any changes. Ask District for form if needed).
• Pastor/Staff Parish Relations Report
• Pastor Narrative (just one per charge)
• Pastors Statistical Report (This is different from the Annual Statistics. This will be where you list the names to be read for first, second time for roll removal)
• Clergy Compensation Agreement Form and Housing Exclusion Form (if applicable)
• Continuing Education Forms (those serving in retirement or school do not complete))
• Upload Declaration of Candidacy (if applicable)
• Create Nominations and Leadership Development Committee list. Do this only after you have updated Church Leadership
• Ministry Inventory Report
• Add your Church Lay Member and Alternate to the Charge Leadership section under Charge (not Church Leadership)
• Lay Servants Reports. You will receive a list of who we show as Lay Servants. Please review the Lay Servants Reports instructions on the website. Basic Lay Servants do NOT complete a report, but Certified Lay Servants, Certified Lay Speakers, and Certified Lay Ministers do.
• Notify the district office if you have “Other Business” 10 days ahead of time.

Checklist for packets (for attendees and district):

• Nominations & Leadership Development List (Be sure you have your Lay Servants included) for each church and for charge if more than one church. See instructions on district website on how to auto fill this list.
• Annual Conference Member and Alternate Names (from the Charge leadership section)
• Clergy Compensation Agreement Form (with all signatures except DS)
• Housing Exclusion Form (if applicable). This prints automatically when you print your clergy compensation agreement.
• Candidacy Declaration/Continuation Form Signed (if applicable) (with signatures)
• Pastor’s Statistical Report with List of Names to be read for removal from roll for each church. Separate the names by First Time/Second Time (if applicable). Have a total number for DS.
• Copy of Church Budget (draft is ok)
• Any Other Business Summary (turned into district 10 days early if applicable)

ADD the two pieces below to the District Packet at the end of your Charge Conference

• Attendance Sheet Completed
• Signed Minutes Form (automatically generated, just print and sign)