Day 1 Business Session Highlights: Episcopal Committee; Credentials; the Retirement Fund

At the first session of the 52nd Quadrennial General Conference, the session began presided over by Senior Bishop Adam J. Richardson after a lengthy queue in the hallway due to delays in shifting the room from the morning worship. The first order of business was the credentials report, which involved a spirited discussion with a variety of challenges to credentials, including the service of a pastor, the vote accorded members of the Judicial Council, and the ability of delegates from Districts outside of the United States to be replaced at will (see Editor Thomas’s editorial for more detail).

After the reports from the Credentials Committee and the Rules Committee were approved, the election for Chair of the Episcopal Committee was held. With a vote of 898 votes, the Reverend Doctor Harold R. Mayberry of the 5th Episcopal District was elected to serve his sixth and final term due to mandatory retirement. The Reverend William H. Lamar IV of the 2nd Episcopal District received 756 votes.

Bishop Richardson yielded the chair to Bishop Kawimbe in order to make an appeal to the AME Church for a “cease-fire” over the crisis affecting the AME Church Legacy Retirement Fund.

General Counsel Douglass Selby then presented the AME Church’s legal team to give an update on the legal issues facing the denomination. Regarding the investigations handled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice, the AME Church is treated as a victim, not a subject. No AME Church leadership is currently under criminal investigation. As of 2024, the AME Church is two years in litigation. Of the seven counts brought against the denomination by the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, only two remain in breach of fiduciary responsibility and negligence. The fact discovery process has included exchanging 28,000 documents with approximately 100,000 pages from 2000-2021. Twenty-eight persons have been deposed, including eight for whom the AME Church has provided legal counsel. The discovery process ends with one hearing scheduled for late June and another for late July. One of the key findings is that Newport and Symmetra played a much more significant role than was previously thought. Attorney Selby stated, “The AME Church is objectively in a much stronger position in liability than twelve months ago.” As the discovery phase of the lawsuit closes, Attorney Selby stated that there are opportunities to explore alternative resolution through three approaches: 1) restoration of investor’s money, 2) reform of the Department of Retirement Services, and 3) Resolution of claims. This resolution will allow the AME Church to focus on the guilty defendants. Attorney Selby closed by reiterating that a settlement is not an admission of guilt but a method of resolution to cease being at odds with the litigants.

After the legal presentation, Co-Chair of the Commission on Retirement Services Bishop Marvin C. Zanders, II presented for the Commission on behalf of Chair Bishop John F. White, Sr. He stated that legislation had been created to sunset the annuity department and ensure that departmental redirection funds are prohibited. He also noted the reforms instituted, including a new exclusive secure plan provider (Wespath), online access to account information, age-adjusted options, and trained Episcopal District representatives to guide on-boarding and timely deposits into accounts. Also, acknowledging that the legacy retirement plan participants had never had a full briefing, a webinar will be held on August 30 to address their concerns.

After the presentation the floor was open for comments with members from various Episcopal Districts decrying the situation of the Legacy Plan and asking for firm details on repayment solutions as well as the interest being accrued to funds that remained in the Legacy Plan. Many of these persons donned red t-shirts in support of “AMEs for Accountability and Justice”. At the end of the debate, Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath brought forth a motion to stipulate retirees would be “made whole” with interest with the church not taking additional indebtedness to restore the retiree account. This motion was met with intense debate from the floor, including passionate remarks from Bishop Francine A. Brookins imploring the General Conference not to support the motion because it would restrict the negotiators and endanger the church’s overall legal strategy to pursue restoration for the retiree funds at risk.

At the time of writing, the debate had not concluded, and the bill was postponed until August 22.

The General Conference then recessed and returned to consider the Episcopal Address, authored by Bishop James L. Davis. The address delved into various aspects of the General Conference theme “The Pandemics, The Promise, The Plan” by touching on various societal issues, such as the current electoral climate of the United States and the issue of LGBTQ+ inclusion within the AME Church as a whole. At the end of the address, Judicial Council Judge Thabile Ngubeni noted the absence of topics affecting Episcopal Districts 14-20 throughout the substance of the Episcopal Address and the need to be a church with a truly global perspective.