The Southwest Conference Executive Board is submitting this resolution to the SWC 2018 Annual Meeting and is recommending that delegates adopt it. Based on the biblical pattern for the continuing growth of the Church as the Body of Christ, and our history as a reformed and reforming Church, this resolution calls for a UCC-wide discernment process regarding the nature, purpose, composition, covenantal autonomy, and definition of “Local Church” as “the basic unit of life and organization of the United Church of Christ.” The resolution also calls for articulation of revisions to the Constitution of the United Church of Christ predicated on that discernment process’s outcome, and the production of a resource to help the Local Churches live more fully into the obligations of covenantal autonomy articulated in the Constitution of the United Church of Christ. If adopted, this resolution will require the Southwest Conference Board of Directors and staff to engage our covenant partners in conversation and action designed to accomplish the desired outcomes of the resolution.