United Methodist News answers frequently asked questions about General Conference in A Beginner’s Guide to General Conference.

One of the questions is, “How does legislation become church law?” In answering this question, UM News refers to a Judicial Council decision based on a vote at the 1987 North Carolina Annual Conference that required delegates to reveal their General Conference votes. The Judicial Council ruled that delegates “are to vote based on their own conscience as moved by the Holy Spirit.”