By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Nov. 12, 2009 | LAKE JUNALUSKA (UMNS)
Nov. 12, 2009 | LAKE JUNALUSKA (UMNS)
 Bishop John Hopkins gives a report at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference. |
For the past 40 years the one “voice” that has spoken for The United Methodist Church has been a 10-day, 1,000-delegate meeting charged with considering mountains of legislation.
Held every four years.
“At times it seems that General Conference is the absent parent of a dysfunctional family,” said Bishop John Hopkins, chair of the Connectional Table.
Between sessions of the General Conference, the policy-making body of the church, there is no mechanism to step in and make quick decisions, stop the “squabbles” and get the church back on track with its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ, he said.
Finding consensus on a solution, however, has also been difficult. In the past five years, church leaders have formed at least three different bodies, the Connectional Table, the Worldwide Nature of the Church study committee and a Call to Action study committee – to promote collaboration and nimble action between General Conferences. The Council of Bishops and Connectional Table this month approved a plan calling for outside consultants also to weigh in on the church’s future.
The challenge of coordinating efforts was evident in the November meeting of the Connectional Table.
During a report on the Worldwide Nature of the Church committee, Bishop Scott Jones, chair, was asked by a member of the Connectional Table, Andy Langford, if his committee would be in convergence with the Call to Action Steering Committee.
"No," Jones said. “I'm not committed to convergence.”
His response was met with some surprise. Jones has since said he thought Langford was asking him whether his committee was “committed to reaching the same proposal as the Call to Action Steering Committee? My answer to that was No.” Jones said, however, that his committee is enthusiastic about working with other groups such as the Call to Action committee, and he has written to them asking how best to consult and collaborate.
‘A lot of ferment’
Committees seem to beget committees. Are they listening to each other?
The 2004 General Conference formed the Connectional Table as a roundtable of leaders who could talk about the vision and ministry of the church, Hopkins said. The group was given responsibility for coordinating the mission, ministries and resources of the United Methodist Church.
 United Methodist Bishop Scott Jones gives the sermon during opening worship at Youth 2007 in Greensboro, N.C. |
The 2008 General Conference created the Worldwide Nature of the Church study committee after the denomination made a step toward reorganizing so it does not appear to be a U.S. church, with satellite locations in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Then in 2009, the Council of Bishops formed the Call to Action committee to make a fresh assessment of the church’s life, to help make the denomination more effective and accountable, particularly in light of the economic climate.
During a report to the Council of Bishops, the Call to Action committee recommended forming a new committee to continue their work. The proposal prompted Bishop Jane Allen Middleton, Central Pennsylvania, to ask, “How is this not just another layer on top of everything else?”
Bishop Larry Goodpaster, chair, said the Call to Action committee recognized there was some overlap between all the groups. “We kept saying there are groups working on this, we need to encourage them and urge them to do this with some immediacy. We can’t put this off.”
Bishops Hopkins, Jones, Goodpaster, and Gregory Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops, sat down with United Methodist News Service to talk about the dreams of each group to revive a denomination that is steadily losing membership in the U.S. and turning grayer by the day in the pews.
“There is a lot of ferment going on with all these different groups,” Jones said. “The key is that there is strong commitment of all the leaders for mutual consultation and collaboration.”
“I think we’re in a process of trying to practice collaboration in such a way that it becomes a habit. … And I mean a positive habit,” Palmer said. “Collaboration is really, to put it in Wesleyan terms, a form of conferencing.”
All four bishops agreed there is a renewed sense of urgency about the mission of the church and how to realign resources to accomplish that mission.
Pieces of the puzzle
 Bishop Gregory Palmer addresses the Council of Bishops during the 2008 General Conference. |
The 60-member Connectional Table includes representatives from the five ethnic caucuses, 13 general agencies, 21 jurisdictions and seven central (outside of the U.S.) conferences, one youth, one young adult and a member of the Council of Bishops who acts as chair.
“It has the distinct function that’s in the (Book of) Discipline to bring legislation to General Conference about the structures of the church to make them more effective and efficient,” Hopkins said.
“Real-time” conversations go on around that table when different parts of the church need to be in collaboration, he said. The four areas of focus adopted by the 2008 General Conference were developed around that table, he pointed out. The four areas—developing leaders, starting new congregations, eliminating poverty and global health—show the church can rally around good ideas, he said.
“The Connectional Table is not a pure administrative group by any means,” he said. “It’s a table for vetting.”
The 20-member Worldwide Nature of the Church Study Group was formed after a study group submitted 23 petitions to the 2008 General Conference to amend the church’s constitution to allow for a creation of a regional conference for the United States.
“Our mandate from General Conference is to come back to the 2012 General Conference with legislation possibly altering the Book of Discipline so that the United States would be one regional conference out of many within the worldwide United Methodist Church,” Jones said.
Unity of the church is “absolutely important,” he said. “The unity rests in our doctrine, discipline and mission.”
The Call to Action Steering Committee was formed in 2009 by the Council of Bishops to design a plan for reordering the church.
“I think the initiative behind the call to action was done in the context of the economic crisis, but it quickly became apparent to us that it wasn’t the financial crisis that was gonna drive it,” Goodpaster said. “We really focused on the mission of the church and how do we align the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world in our current time with the four areas of focus.”
There are at least two more committees appointed by the 2008 General Conference, Hopkins said. The Ministry Study Committee is charged with clarifying the ordering of ministry. The Committee on Faith and Order is reflecting on matters of faith, doctrinal teaching, order and discipline.
Declining numbers
There are currently about 8 million United Methodists in the United States and more than 3 million in Africa, Asia and Europe. In 1968 membership in the U.S. was more than 10 million.
 United Methodist Bishops Larry M. Goodpaster (left) and Rosemarie Wenner pray during the November meeting of the Council of Bishops. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. |
“Far too many of our local churches have become clubs for the benefits of their members,” Jones said. “In broad regions of the church you can presume that half received no profession of faith in a given year. Mr. (John) Wesley is rolling in his grave.”
It’s not just professions of faith that are not happening, Goodpaster said. “In the 1950s we were baptizing over 400,000 people a year. Now it’s less than 150,000.”
“There are many leaders in the church who believe when they’ve held a meeting they’ve done real work,” Jones said. “The fact that the Council of Bishops doesn’t even hold itself accountable for membership and worship attendance trends in the U.S. churches is a sign that we don’t really focus on that much.”
Palmer said when people start separating mission from evangelism, “we’re making a choice that the Gospel doesn’t give us.”
Where’s Jesus?
The institution sometimes becomes the focus instead of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world, Palmer said. “It’s almost like in II Timothy when Paul says, ‘Demas has left me having gone after the things of this world.’ It’s almost like we’ve left Jesus.”
“The numbers have been telling us something for a long time. We’ve been sort of happy just floating along--the institution was running, money was coming in. Then numbers were going down. Now we have a tipping point. Money’s not coming in anymore.Numbers don’t tell us everything, he said, but they are not irrelevant.
“Isn’t that interesting? We didn’t pay attention to the numbers of decline, professions of faith, baptisms, people in Sunday school, etc. But we pay attention to the numbers about dollars.”
(emphasis is mine)
My response to the on line community:
Layers upon layers. And then the story in the UM reporter is surprised that third mile giving is down. How many of our churches struggle just to pay for this oppressive super-structure. Clean up the redundancy. Eliminate committees and boards that don't directly support the mission of the local church both locally and globally (that is after all where the rubber meets the road). Trim those that do support that mission. The UMC needs to be leaner, quicker and more responsive to the needs of our people in the pews or they will continue to vote with their feet, and their pocket books. (We know which one will get the attention of the powers that be don't we?)
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