United Methodist bishops urged to do soul check
United Methodist Bishops discuss a report from their Call to Action
steering committee during a meeting of the denomination’s Council of
Bishops at Lake Junaluska, N.C. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.
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By Kathy Gilbert*
Nov. 3, 2009 | LAKE JUNALUSKA (UMNS)
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) -- Soul matters.
As the United Methodist Council of Bishops gathered for their fall
meeting, church officials were reminded to pay attention to the
“soulful” qualities of Christian leadership.
“Never forget we traffic in hope,” Bishop Gregory Palmer said in his
presidential address. “Our mission doesn’t depend completely on us. God
is relentless in God’s purpose.”
The church is facing serious challenges and is “awash in truth and reality checks.” But that’s not the whole message, he said.
“We have told it like it is so well we have become a fearful people.
We have sent messages that there isn’t enough of this or that. But that
is only a part of our job. The other part is to say we have everything
we need if only we have the eyes to see it.”
During the Nov. 1-5 meeting, the bishops will be in conversation
around “preparing principled Christian leaders,” one of the four areas
of focus adopted by the 2008 General Conference, the denomination’s top
legislative body.
Palmer reminded the bishops that a leader does not need to be at the podium.
“In our quest to grow the church, may we not lose our courage and
our voice to stand even if it is unpopular. The greatest courage will
be to have honest conversations in this council. We seem to walk right
up to and then lose our heart.”
Call to Action report
In other action, the Call to Action steering committee created by
the council in May to look at the future of the church is recommending
a churchwide assessment that would include looking at general agencies,
annual conferences and the Council of Bishops itself.
“The United Methodist Church is a complex organization,” said Bishop
Larry Goodpaster, project director. “It is hard to get a handle on what
happens or how you get anything moving. It’s hard to be a movement when
we have become an institution.”
The committee recommended hiring an independent contractor for the
next phase of the process. The outside group would be under the
direction of a new 12-member steering committee to be led by Palmer.
The contractor would gather feedback from a large range of United Methodists, perhaps in an online survey, Goodpaster said.
The Council of Bishops is scheduled to act on the committee’s recommendation Nov. 4.
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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