May 19, 2010
By David Briggs

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The lifetime job guarantee for United Methodist elders is a promise the church can no longer keep, according to a study group.

"Guaranteed appointments" are a major factor contributing to mediocrity and ineffectiveness and emphasize the needs of the ministers rather than the mission of the church, declared the interim report of the denomination's Commission to Study the Ministry: 2008-2012.

The report, presented to the United Methodist Council of Bishops at its recent spring meeting, recommends doing away with guaranteed jobs for elders in good standing, while retaining the ability of bishops to move clergy to different assignments and churches.

The commission will not release its final report for the 2012 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, until next year. But issues it is now addressing include how the denomination can drop clergy job guarantees while offering protections for women and minority clergy and care for older elders who may lose their jobs.

"The issue is the church now is facing the challenge of having a huge responsibility for people whether there is a place for them or not," Bishop Alfred Gwinn Jr., commission chair, said in an interview.

Loyalty vs. mission

In The United Methodist Church, similar to the practice with priests in the Catholic Church, elders at ordination vow to be faithful servants of the church, willing to go to whatever pulpits they are appointed to serve. The concurrent understanding has been that they always will have a job.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline states elders in good standing who honor their ordination covenant to the itinerate ministry and who faithfully and effectively fulfill their ministerial duties and attend to their annual continuing education requirements shall be continued under appointment by the bishop.

In its interim report, the commission recommends changing the language from "shall" to "may" continue to be appointed.

At a time when some churches are fighting for survival, and there is an oversupply of ordained clergy in some conferences, "guaranteed appointments" have become a barrier to the church's mission, according to the commission.

Commission members said guaranteeing all clergy appointments restricts the flexibility of bishops to appoint the most effective person for each congregation. Some members said the practice also works against the ability to attract and find jobs for younger clergy in a denomination where just more than 5 percent of commissioned and ordained elders are younger than 35.

Guaranteeing clergy jobs produces "a culture of mediocrity. It allows people to coast rather than to continue to strive and to grow," said Seattle Area Bishop Grant Hagiya, a commission member. "What we need is the flexibility to maximize our leadership to those who are going to make a difference."

A different covenant

While eliminating job security for elders, the commission did not recommend changing the church's practice of requiring clergy to serve wherever they are appointed, and to move at the discretion of the bishop.

"We affirm the historic practice of itineracy as effective and responsive to covenantal obedience to call," the study commission said.

Itineracy was never meant as a bartering system, exchanging job guarantees for the sacrifice of giving up personal freedom to choose where they will work and for how long, Gwinn said.

"Itineracy is built around our sense of call and obedience to God," Gwinn said.

Hagiya said expecting a guaranteed job "sounds like entitlement rather than service."

Protecting the vulnerable

The commission also recognized concerns that eliminating job guarantees could have a dampening effect on pastoral freedom in the pulpit, and leave clergy even more subject to potential abuse of authority on grounds of personal bias.

The interim report recommends each annual conference determine a clear definition of and method for evaluating clergy effectiveness and the mission needs of the communities to be served.

Among their tasks: "Specifically, how will we protect against discrimination on the basis of gender or race, or against individual retribution, in the appointment process?"

Part of the task is putting in safeguards, commission members said, such as instituting checks on church leadership or perhaps guaranteeing only the first two appointments so all people have a chance to prove themselves.

"The other thing is a trust factor," Hagiya said. "Most of my colleagues have a great sensitivity to prophetic pulpits."

For those ministers who will no longer be in pulpits, the commission also recommends in its interim report establishing funding for clergy to "establish new career directions." Funding could include offering health benefits and pension coverage for a short period.

As it prepares its final report, the commission plans to work with several leadership groups exploring the future of the church, including the Call to Action Committee and the Committee to Study the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church, said the Rev. Mary Ann Moman, an executive with the Division of Ordained Ministry.

The goal, she said, is to avoid going into General Conference with different legislation from different groups.

United Methodist News Service
David Briggs is news editor of United Methodist News Service.