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A UMNS Report
By Heather Hahn*
3:00 P.M. ET March 8, 2012
East Ohio Area Bishop John L. Hopkins chairs a meeting of the Connectional
Table on March 5 in Nashville, Tenn. Hopkins chose an image of a galaxy to
illustrate the “chaos” of The United Methodist Church before General
Conference. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.
View in Photo Gallery
The 2012 United Methodist General Conference will take up
legislation this spring that would allow the redistribution of up to
$60 million in general church funds.
The money is intended for three efforts: providing more theological
education outside the United States, developing more young church
leaders and fostering more vital congregations.
However, discussion during the Connectional Table’s March 4-6
meeting showed the body that proposed the measure is divided about
whether the petition would fulfill its aim or even if it passes muster
under the denomination’s constitution. The Connectional Table, a group of 60 clergy and laity, coordinates the denomination’s mission, ministries and resources.
“It’s very clear that you don’t make a decision about the amount of
money and not answer two fundamental questions: ‘Where’s it coming
from?’ and ‘What will it do?’” said the Rev. H. Eddie Fox, world
director of evangelism for The World Methodist Council. “We have not
answered either of those questions very well, and I don’t believe we
can go forward.”
The Rev. Andy Langford, who helped draft the original proposal last
summer, offered a revised version on March 6 for the Connectional Table
to consider.
He said he hoped to clarify the source of funds and some of the
spending plans. He requested the resolution be referred to the board of
the General Council on Finance and Administration, the denomination’s
finance agency, hoping also to gain its support.
In his revision, Langford said the funds would come from the
denomination’s World Service Fund, which supports most general agency
work, and the spending should focus on the adaptive challenge of
directing resources “to an intense concentration on fostering and sustaining an increase in the number of vital congregations.” He said the spending should include accountability with metrics.
Joe M. Whittemore and the Rev. Andy Langford, both
with the Southeastern Jurisdiction, share conversation
during a break in the meeting of the Connectional Table.
A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.
View in Photo Gallery
“In other words, we cannot determine today exactly how every penny
should be spent,” said Langford, pastor of Central United Methodist
Church in Concord, N.C. “But we want to give ourselves the flexibility,
the focus for the adaptive challenge.”
But a number of Connectional Table members protested that endorsing
the revision would be out of order because the original petition has
already been submitted to General Conference and only the
denomination’s top legislative body now has the authority to change it.
East Ohio Area Bishop John L. Hopkins, the Connectional Table’s
chairperson, said he did not consider the resolution out of order.
“This body has a right to make a resolution, and it has the right to be
in conversation with GCFA about the content of that resolution,” he
said.
Ultimately, after a 25-minute discussion, Connectional Table members
voted down Langford’s revision and did not refer it to the General
Council on Finance and Administration.
The finance agency has taken no action on the $60 million proposal.
Moses Kumar, top staff executive, said the agency would deal with the
proposal after it is passed by General Conference in the same manner as
other funding proposals.
General Conference will get its chance to evaluate and potentially amend the original proposal when it meets April 24–May 4 in Tampa, Fla.
What the petition would do
The “Reallocation of Funds” petition is part of a proposed reorganization of the denomination’s general church agencies.
The legislation would consolidate nine of the denomination's 13
general agencies into a new United Methodist Center for Connectional
Mission and Ministry. A 15-member board of directors would govern the
center, and that board would answer to a proposed 45-member General
Council for Strategy and Oversight, which would replace the
Connectional Table.
The restructuring plan
originated with the Interim Operations Team, and the Connectional
Table refined and endorsed the plan, including the redistribution of
$60 million, at its meeting in July 2011. The proposals come after more
than four decades of declining U.S. membership and a number of reports
saying the denomination’s status quo is unsustainable.
Under the reallocation provision, the board of the new Center for
Connectional Mission and Ministry would evaluate spending across the seven general church funds.
Those are the Africa University, Black College, Episcopal, General
Administration, Interdenominational Cooperation, Ministerial Education
and World Service funds.
After its assessment, the 15-member board could recommend the redistribution of up to $60 million, about a tenth of the $603 million recommended budget for all seven apportioned funds during 2013-16.
The petition breaks down the redistribution this way:
- The first $5 million shall be allocated to young people’s lay
leadership development, administered through the Division on Ministry
with Young People or its successor body.
- The second $5 million shall be allocated to central conference
theological education, administered through the United Methodist Board
of Higher Education and Ministry’s Global Theological Education Fund or
its successor body. The central conferences encompass United
Methodists in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.
- Additional funds shall be invested for recruiting and training of
United Methodist ministerial students under the age of 35. A goal is
to fund their seminary education.
- Additional funds may also be used for other work to increase the
number of vital congregations as determined by the Center for
Connectional Mission and Ministry board, the General Council for
Strategy and Oversight and the Council of Bishops.
Under the legislation, any reallocation would need “joint approval”
by the General Council for Strategy and Oversight and the Council of
Bishops.
At present, after General Conference adjourns, no entity can make changes to the allocated budgets.
To enable such a reallocation, two amendments to the denomination’s
constitution also are going before the 2012 General Conference. The
amendments would allow General Conference to empower a unit of the
denomination to make budget adjustments between conference sessions.
To be ratified, constitutional amendments must win a two-thirds
majority at General Conference and next must be approved by at least
two-thirds of the members voting during annual conferences. That means
the earliest a reallocation of funds could take place is 2014, said
John Goolsbey, an executive of the General Council on Finance and
Administration.
Revision and concerns
Bethany Amey makes a point during a discussion at the
Connectional Table. Both Amey and Stefanie Schutz, right,
represent the Division on Ministries with Young People for
the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. A UMNS
photo by Kathleen Barry.
View in Photo Gallery
Even if the two constitutional amendments win passage, Langford said
he has heard concerns that the original petition still might run into
constitutional problems by giving the Council of Bishops final approval
on general church budgets.
In Langford’s revision, the role of the Council of Bishops would be
advisory in the funding decisions, rather than having final say. He
also wants to restrict the funding pool to the World Service Fund,
excluding the dollars designated for the National Plans for
Strengthening Ethnic/Racial Ministries. Leaders of the denomination’s
five ethnic caucuses who serve on the Connectional Table have expressed concerns the plans’ funding would be decimated.
Many agency executives have discussed worries that the reallocation would endanger their ministries. Agencies already have agreed to a more than 6.5 percent cut to the World Service Fund
under the 2013-16 budget of $311.6 million, which General Conference
will consider. The redistribution potentially would represent another
reduction of nearly 20 percent.
Bethany Amey, a young adult Connectional Table member who represents
the Division on Ministries with Young People, said she wondered if the
redistribution would really make a difference. She pointed out that
the young people’s division, supported by the World Service Fund, uses
its budget to help cultivate young lay leaders. “You’re taking money
away to put money back in,” she said.
“GCFA and Connectional Table haven’t worked on those budgets yet,”
Hopkins, the chair, responded. “Somebody is surmising that if we took a
full $60 million out of World Service, there would be implications,
but that’s all hypothetical. We still have work to do at General
Conference.”
Kumar of the General Council on Finance and Administration pointed
out that a proposal to take the entire $60 million out of the World
Service Fund was what the Connectional Table was discussing. He echoed
the sentiments of other members, saying the whole discussion was out of
order.
Over the decades, the downturn in U.S. membership and declining
revenue already have forced general agencies to eliminate some staff
positions and programs. The number of staff positions in 13 general
agencies has decreased from 3,139 in 1971 to 1,384 in 2010.
Jay Brim, who as chair of the Connectional Table’s legislative
committee helped draft most of the restructuring legislation, told the
group he can see both sides — Langford’s desire for more flexibility
and agencies’ interest in long-term planning.
“What we’re talking about here are two competing visions of how we
should handle the mission and vision of this church,” said Brim, lay
leader of the Southwest Texas Annual (regional) Conference. “On the one
hand, this resolution ... would allow a more nimble approach to
funding various matters between General Conferences. On the other hand,
it will cut a huge slice out of the budget out of our general agencies
who have already taken steps to cut things.”
He later added that that further budget cuts would mean layoffs of staff.
“That staff is a professional staff that carries with it an
expertise beyond what is available to all local churches, and I mean the
tallest of the steeples in the land,” he said. “When we have to makes
cuts in the staff of our general agencies, those cuts cannot be
immediately replaced when and if greater harvests come.”
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. The Rev. Richard J. Peck contributed to this report.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 newsdesk@umcom.org.
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