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By Heather Hahn*
6:30 P.M. EST November 2, 2011 | LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS)
Bishop Mike Lowry reads questions about Interim Operations Team
recommendations at the Council of Bishops meeting in Lake Junaluska,
N.C. UMNS photos by Ronny Perry.
View in Photo Gallery
United Methodist bishops voted overwhelmingly Nov. 1 in favor of
proposals to restructure the denomination and redistribute up to $60
million in church funds.
The vote specifically endorsed a letter, titled “For the Sake of a New World, We See a New Church: A Call to Action,” detailing changes — some requiring action by General Conference, some not.
“We see a new church,” the bishops’ letter says. “It is a church
that is clear about its mission and confident about its future, a
church that is always reaching out, inviting, alive, agile and
resilient.” It asks all United Methodists to “work to do the ‘new
thing’ God intends for our church and discover the path God is making
for our future.”
The Council of Bishops’ vote came as part of the multiyear Call to Action process,
which aims to reverse decades of declining membership and financial
giving in the United States and to increase congregational
vitality.
With their vote, the bishops endorsed the proposed consolidation of nine of the denomination’s 13 general agencies into a new United Methodist Center for Connectional Mission and Ministry.
Legislation submitted to General Conference by the Connectional Table
calls for the center to have a 15-member board of directors accountable
to a 45-member advisory board called the General Council for Strategy
and Oversight. The council would replace the Connectional Table, which
coordinates the denomination’s mission, ministries and resources.
The vote came after two days of discussions among the bishops in
private conversations, small groups and plenary sessions. Even as many
bishops stood up to commend the letter, they also said there were parts
they would tweak if they could. “I don’t agree with everything” was a
frequent refrain.
However, many bishops insisted The United Methodist Church needs some kind of reform.
Iowa Area Bishop Julius C. Trimble likened the letter to a GPS that
can guide drivers toward their destination even if it doesn’t always
get them to the exact address.
“We cannot get where we want to go without some form of a GPS, and
we certainly aren’t going to get close without leaving the house,”
Trimble told his colleagues to murmurs of agreement.
Bishops also acknowledged that General Conference, the
denomination’s top lawmaking body, likely would alter the legislation. General Conference will next convene April 24-May 4 in Tampa, Fla.
What the bishops endorsed
The Council of Bishops and Connectional Table initiated
the Call to Action process “to reorder the life of the church” two
years ago in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis.
At its November 2010 meeting, the council endorsed the Call to Action recommendations
and the “adaptive challenge” to redirect resources toward fostering
vital congregations. The suggested structural changes the bishops took
up this year originated with the Interim Operations Team, a group of eight laity and clergy working with denominational leadership to implement the Call to Action recommendations.
Illinois Area Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, the Interim Operations Team
convener, asked the bishops to “embrace and affirm” the team’s work.
In showing their approval, he said the bishops would be showing “our
commitment to lead the church” and use the changes as “instruments in
service to vision and mission.”
Palmer also stressed that more than 50 percent of the work the
bishops need to do to foster vital congregations does not require
General Conference legislation.
Bishops do not vote at General Conference, nor do they address the
assembly on legislative matters without special permission. However,
there are no limits on conversations with delegates and other church
members outside the sessions.
In addition to endorsing restructuring and allowing the
redistribution of up to $60 million in general church funds, the
bishops, in the letter, urge General Conference to give annual
conferences more freedom in how they organize, allow the election of a
non-residential bishop to serve as president of the Council of Bishops
and provide support for collecting consistent information from all
annual conferences about their financial practices.
The council said it favors adopting stronger and more transparent
measures and procedures for the accountability of bishops. The bishops
also said they would work with appropriate general church offices,
seminary leadership and annual conference boards of ordained ministry
to strengthen support for United Methodist seminaries, address
curriculum requirements and clarify expectations.
The bishops said their annual conferences will strive to improve
“recruitment and support of the most fruitful and effective young
clergy” and strengthen clergy recruitment, formation and the
appointment process to improve vitality.
Bishops voice concerns
The bishops’ vote, by a show of hands, included a handful of “no”
votes. The dissenting voices included Denver Area Bishop Elaine J.W.
Stanovsky.
After the vote, she said she would have preferred that the bishops
could have registered their support for each legislative proposal
individually. Her motion during the meeting to allow that failed.
She also would have preferred more conversation about the proposed
Center for Connectional Mission and Ministry. “I think a certain
amount of humility and doubt about what we do is appropriate,” she
said.
Still, she said she would support the action of the Council of
Bishops and thinks the Interim Operations Team is trying to lead the
denomination in the right direction.
Other bishops also voiced concerns, while some doubted how much effect the changes, if adopted, would have.
Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa pins an Interim Operations Team recommendation on a chart during the council meeting.
View in Photo Gallery
Pittsburgh Area Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton asked what essential
functions would be lost if $60 million that would ordinarily go to
general agencies over the next four years would be redistributed.
The proposed legislation would authorize the board of the newly
created center to allocate $5 million to theological education in
central conferences outside the United States, $5 million for young
people’s lay leadership development, and $50 million for recruiting and
training United Methodist ministerial students under the age of 35 and
increasing vital congregations.
The Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, the Board of Discipleship’s top
executive, told the council it is not yet clear exactly what the impact
would be on ministries of the general agencies.
The impact could be severe. Agencies already face a more than 6
percent cut in their funding under the 2013-16 budget of $603 million,
which the General Council on Finance and Administration has submitted
to General Conference. Potentially, the redistribution could mean an
additional loss in funding of almost 10 percent.
“The list (of possible cuts in programming) is long and extensive,
and, depending on priorities and decisions made by folks after General
Conference, we would have to make those very critical decisions,”
Greenwaldt said, referring to her own agency’s work.
East Angola Area Bishop Jose Quipungo does not expect
the proposed restructuring to have much effect on the central
conferences – church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.
However, he said, "It is good for us to recognize we are not perfect,
but the people called Methodist are working toward perfection."
Bishop D. Max Whitfield, left, and Bishop Earl Bledsoe discuss the church restructuring proposal.
View in Photo Gallery
A number of bishops said they felt they could put the funds to better use at the annual conference and local church level.
After the vote, Washington Area Bishop John R. Schol – who leads the
bishops’ Vital Congregations Initiative – said he thinks overall the
changes will better align the denomination to support vital
congregations.
“Those are the congregations that are growing over time, reaching
out to their communities, and they are engaging more of their laity in
ministry,” he said.
“Some of the changes we talked about today are legislative, but
there’s far more change that’s really about leadership at all levels of
the church – bishops, general agency staff, local congregations – all
beginning to say we’re going to do something different,” he said.
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 newsdesk@umcom.org.
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