Western North Carolina Conference UMC

"We've been a group of individuals who have become fast friends," he said. "We're Christian brothers and sisters who have developed great love for each other. There are times when we don't agree, but we disagree in an appropriate way. I look forward to developing these kinds of close personal relationships. I can tell already that it is a very congenial group. "The Judicial Council has a task of trying to -- as accurately and appropriately as possible -- decide issues based on the Discipline of the church," Holsinger said. "The General Conference makes the Discipline; that is not our task. We do the best we can to apply church law to the cases we receive. We will continue to do that in the next four years." *Neill Caldwell is a correspondent for the United Methodist News Service.