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A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
7:00 A.M. EST April 8, 2011
Bishop Mary Ann Swenson blesses the Rev. Stephen Sidorak Jr. during his
2008 installation service as the new staff ecumenical officer for The
United Methodist Church. A UMNS file photo by Dave Dapcevich.
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The United Methodist Church’s ecumenical commission has approved
proposals for its future that would either maintain its current status
but drastically reduce the board of directors or fold the group and its
work into the denomination’s Council of Bishops.
The votes, which occurred during a March 30-April 1 meeting in
Claremont, Calif., reflected “faith and trust” on the part of directors
of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, said the Rev. Stephen J. Sidorak Jr., top staff executive.
“(The commission) was and is willing to lose its life if we can
find a new and better way to organize the ecumenical ministries of the
church,” he said.
The proposals are part of the legislation the commission is preparing for the 2012 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body.
One proposal allows the body to maintain its status as a general
commission of The United Methodist Church, but cuts the number of
members of its board of directors from 38 to 15. Of those 15, two would
be representatives of the denomination’s “full communion” ecumenical
partners and seven would be from the church’s Central Conferences
outside the United States. Currently, the commission has four Central
Conference members.
The other proposal would integrate the agency’s work into the
Council of Bishops, creating a new office for Christian unity and
interreligious relationships within the council. That proposal would
have to be approved both by the Council of Bishops and General
Conference.
Spirit to ‘right-size’
Sidorak said he was “amazed” by the spirit at Claremont to
“right-size” the commission, which he considers a sacrifice on the part
of its directors.
In his charge to directors,
Sidorak pointed out that becoming part of the council would empower
staff, increase awareness of interfaith issues among the bishops and
build stronger connections to the denomination’s annual (regional)
conferences.
“It would provide ecumenical and interreligious staff direct access
to central conference bishops collectively and likely improve the
prospects for deeper understanding and greater cooperation worldwide,”
said Sidorak, a proponent of such action.
He believes the timing is appropriate for these changes, given the
Call to Action of the bishops, “I took seriously the need for radical
change in the general structure of the church,” he said.
The Call to Action Steering Team’s final report
found that maintaining the “status quo” of a shrinking and aging U.S.
membership was no longer viable and said the primary focus should be on
“fostering and sustaining congregational vitality.”
Bishops consider ecumenical work
About a year ago, the bishops decided to establish their own task
force to look at the denomination’s ecumenical commitments, according to
retired Bishop Sharon Z. Rader,
the council’s ecumenical officer. “In light of the Call to Action and
in light of 30 or 40 years of history in the council, we need to
organize ourselves for more effective leadership,” she explained.
One idea that has been floating around for years — even back to the
1968 merger of the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren
denominations into The United Methodist Church — is establishing a
“nonresidential” president for the Council of Bishops, whose assignment
would be solely devoted to episcopal leadership, Rader said. Currently,
the council president also serves a geographic area during his or her
two-year term.
Another possibility would be to have a bishop whose chief duties
would be council president and the denomination’s ecumenical officer for
a longer, four-year period.
“Our dilemma is the rapid turnover doesn’t facilitate leadership in
many ways and doesn’t assist us in our (ecumenical) relationships
worldwide,” Rader said.
Nebraska Area Bishop Ann B. Sherer-Simpson,
who heads the council’s task force, noted that discussions with
commission members and staff have been an ongoing part of the
deliberations.
Bishops will receive a presentation on the task force’s proposal
during the council’s May 1-6 meeting at St. Simon’s Island, Ga.
“The proposal is that the (commission) would no longer be,”
Sherer-Simpson said. “There would be an ecumenical staff for the
(council’s) ecumenical officer.” An ecumenical committee — with at
least half of its members represented by laity — would provide advice
and guidance on matters related to other religious groups.
The task force proposal also would include “a strong emphasis” on
every bishop being an ecumenical officer in his or her area, she added.
Retaining staff, office
Neither proposal approved by the Commission on Christian Unity calls
for a reduction in the agency’s four executive staff and three
full-time support staff positions or for office relocation, Sidorak
said.
“We figure the complement of staff we have now is the minimum we
will need in the future,” Sidorak explained. “The question of any
office relocation has not come up seriously. We would remain in New
York.”
During the past year, the commission moved its offices at 475
Riverside Drive to a separated space on a floor leased by the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her at http://twitter.com/umcscribe.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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