ABOUT FORM A: The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church requires that each local church hold a church or charge conference annually. This annual conference (church or charge) directs the work of the church and gives general oversight to the church council, reviews and evaluates the mission and ministry of the church, sets salaries for the pastor and staff, elects the members of the church council, and recommends candidates for ordained ministry. The difference between a church or charge conference is: The charge conference is the basic governing body of each United Methodist local church and is composed of all members of the church council. A church conference invites broader participation of the members of the congregation beyond just the church council members in that all members of a local United Methodist church are invited to attend and are extended the privilege of vote. All members of the charge or church conference must be members of the local church. The purpose of Form A is to retrieve an accurate picture of West Ohio Conference churches in key ministry areas as well as provide an avenue for reporting the work of the local church to the District and Conference offices. The paper copy provided you in your charge/church conference packets is intended only to be a placeholder or a worksheet in preparation for completing Form A online. If your church does not have access to a computer, please contact your district office to discuss how the information can be entered online. PLEASE FOLLOW THESE STEPS: Answer all of the questions as completely and accurately as possible. To stop your session and return later to complete the form, simply exit the program by closing your browser. YOU MUST USE THE SAME COMPUTER IN ORDER TO RE-ENTER YOUR FORM. IF YOU CLEAR YOUR INTERNET BROWSING HISTORY, YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RE-ENTER YOUR FORM. To reopen the form, select the appropriate FORM A district link on the website again. Your form will reopen on the exact page you stopped during your previous session. Selecting the BACK button will take you back to Page One, where you can begin moving forward through the form making additions and corrections. When your data entry is complete, selecting the DONE button will electronically send a copy to the e-mail address you've typed for yourself in Question 59, as well as automatically to your district office and the conference office. After selecting DONE, you will be given the option to print a copy for your records. Please include a printed copy with the rest of the completed church/charge conference forms you are providing to your district office, per their instructions. NOTE: ONCE YOU PRESS DONE YOU CANNOT RETURN TO THE FORM AND MAKE ANY CHANGES. COMPLETING ONLINE FORM A FOR MULTIPLE CHURCHES? ON MOST VERSIONS OF INTERNET EXPLORER, CLEARING YOUR INTERNET BROWSING HISTORY WILL ALLOW YOU TO COMPLETE AN ADDITIONAL FORM ON THE SAME COMPUTER. OTHERWISE YOU MUST COMPLETE EACH CHURCH'S FORM A ON A DIFFERENT COMPUTER.