| Agency executive challenges council to work for change
 Dec. 8, 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- Saying God is "doing a new thing" in the
United Methodist Church, the top staff executive of the denomination's
finance and administration agency challenged board members to be
catalysts for change.
"I do believe that God is doing a new thing within our denomination.
Like the wind of hope over the earth in the creation story, the spirit
of God is hovering over us and creating a wind of change," said Sandra
K. Lackore, in a Nov. 28 leadership address to directors of the General
Council on Finance and Administration.
The church is "feeling an urgency to change, and our leadership has
given us a rallying cry," she said. "The Council of Bishops has created a
strategic direction for annual conferences and the general church
through the seven vision pathways," she said, referring to emphases
developed by the bishops for guiding their work.
"A recently developed call to action by the bishops places these
pathways into active ministry concepts," she said. "The work of the
general agencies and commissions through the Connectional Table has
responded to this call to action by proposing four program foci that
provide strategic direction for general church resources."
Those four points emphasize leadership development, global health,
elimination of poverty, and church development. The points, approved by
the Connectional Table in October, will be further developed and
presented to the 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top
legislative body.
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A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose
Sandra Lackore, with the General Council on Finance and Administration, answers questions during a Feb. 15 media conference.
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| Sandra
Lackore, top staff executive of the United Methodist Church's General
Council on Finance and Administration, answers questions about giving to
general church funds and causes during an online news conference in
Nashville, Tenn. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo #06158. Accompanies
UMNS #090. 2/16/06 |
Lackore went on to describe the GCFA's internal changes, noting that the
agency is "shedding its image of the disciplinary enforcer" --
referring to the denomination's Book of Discipline, or book of polity and rules -- "and taking on the call of the ministry of administration through service to others."
"Rather than telling others what they are doing wrong, we are working
collaboratively to find efficiencies and new ways of working," she said
in her address. "Our strategic vision of servant ministry sets the
course for the way we work and is lived out daily through you, as
council members, through our staff and their work with other agencies
and annual conferences."
She also noted that the church "has become embroiled in disciplinary and
ideological debates that have little to do with our call to make
disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We have
spent too much time worrying about how to divide scarce resources and
not enough time rejoicing in God's abundance. While we cannot make these
divisive discussions go away, our future is with the plentiful gifts
God has given us."
During its meeting, the council also focused on the 2008 budget process
developed by the Connectional Table and General Council on Finance and
Administration Joint Program and Budget Process Team. GCFA members
discussed a proposed outcomes-based budget design that would support the
four program emphases.
Additional action
In other business, the council:
- Received a bequest that, over time, is anticipated to add about $2
million to the church's Permanent Fund. Interest from the fund is used
to support the denomination's mission and ministry through annual income
distributions to the World Service Fund.
- Adopted a new minority bank investment strategy that reallocates $4
million in short-term funds to selected banks that have demonstrated a
commitment to loans and investments within communities of color.
- Participated in a demonstration of a Web-based program developed to
assist annual conferences in collecting, retrieving and using local
church data.
- Heard a presentation by Bishop Thomas Bickerton, president of United
Methodist Communications, on the "Nothing But Nets" anti-malaria
campaign. Partners in the campaign include the people of The United
Methodist Church, the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated and
the National Basketball Association's NBA Cares foundation.
- Received a presentation by representatives from the United Methodist
Board of Pension and Health Benefits regarding the Denominational
Health Care Initiative.
- Allocated $160,000 to fund a mid-quadrennium meeting of the
Commission on Central Conference Affairs -- the first such meeting of
the commission outside of General Conference.
*This story was adapted from a news release provided by Marsha Base
with the General Council on Finance and Administration, with additional
information added by UMNS.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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