United Methodists discuss clergy job guarantees
Clergy offer prayers of support as young people place commitment cards
indicating their interest in ordained ministry on the table during
EXPLORATION 2006 in Jacksonville, Fla. A UMNS file photo by
Vicki Brown, Board of Higher Education and Ministry. |
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
Should United Methodist pastors have a lifelong job guarantee?
The denomination’s Study of Ministry Commission is examining the
practice that has survived in The United Methodist Church even as it is
disappearing from other U.S. workplaces.
The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr.
|
How
guaranteed appointments—which require bishops to appoint every elder in
good standing to a local church—have an impact on the quality and
diversity of clergy and whether the denomination can even continue to
pay for such a system is up for debate.
In a report to directors of the United Methodist Board of Higher
Education and Ministry during their Oct. 8-10 meeting in Nashville,
commission members said that while no formal recommendations have been
proposed, changes in the principle of guaranteed appointment are being
studied.
The Rev. Jasmine Smothers of Atlanta, for example, said her small group studying appointments believes a change is needed.
“We believe that going forward, appointments should not be guaranteed
but should depend on missional needs, the health of the congregation
and clergy effectiveness,” Smothers said. “We believe this is essential
for the continued health of our church.”
Hurdle to church membership
In May 2007, a task force of the United Methodist Council of Bishops
identified the system of guaranteed appointment of clergy as one of the
biggest hurdles to reviving church membership. Having to deal with
ineffective clergy drains time and energy from the denomination’s
mission to make disciples of Christ, the bishops said.
The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr., distinguished professor of church
leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, does not
believe the system works well for anyone. “It was done initially as a
limitation on the powers of the bishops,” he said. “Then, it became a
right of clergy.”
Weems, co-author of “The Crisis of Younger Clergy,” said the concept
of guaranteed appointments “sends the wrong signals” to young adults
considering the ministry, who tend to view it as a seniority system or
a type of exclusive club.
The principle was adopted in 1956 as a way to protect pastors from
arbitrary, sexist or racist abuses of authority. While the church would
want to retain some protections for women and ethnic minorities, the
current system “is having the consequence of supporting mediocrity,”
said Pacific Northwest Bishop Grant Hagiya, a commission member.
Hagiya added the church cannot continue to afford guaranteed appointments.
Fewer opportunities for some
Fundamental training and a “universal commitment” to open itinerancy
regardless of gender or culture would be needed if job guarantees were
lost, said M. Garlinda Burton, top executive of the United Methodist
Commission on the Status and Role of Women.
M. Garlinda Burton
|
“We’d have to redouble our efforts to be sure we are looking equally
at the gifts and talents and graces and calling of all people,” she
pointed out.
Burton said guaranteed appointments can have a dampening effect on
the ministries of both second-career pastors and young people, who may
have fewer opportunities for a placement where their gifts are needed.
“I think we have a system that has benefited some people just because they’ve been around for awhile,” she said.
As the denomination is seeing to attract younger members, the number
of people under 35 ordained or on the track to be ordained dropped from
3,210 in 1985 to 910 in 2008, according to a study by the Lewis Center
for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary.
Young elders as a percentage of all elders dropped from 15.05
percent in 1985 to only 4.69 percent in 2005. The average age of elders
is 52; for ordained deacons it is 51.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New
York. Vicki Brown, associate editor and writer, Office of
Interpretation, Board of Higher Education and Ministry, contributed to
this report.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Related Articles
Bishops examine roles, appointment processes
Young clergy evangelize in cyberspace
Leaders share best practices to attract young clergy
Resources
Board of Higher Education and Ministry
Commission on the Status and Role of Women
Comments will be moderated. Please see our Comment Policy for more information.
Comment Policy |
We invite you to join the dialogue. Share your comments.
Post a comment