One era is coming to a close and another is preparing for liftoff in the Detroit Annual Conference.
Michigan Area Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton officially announced on Jan. 12 that the conference will be reduced from seven districts to six on July 1 in an attempt to save money and re-fashion itself for ministry in the 21st century.
Keaton relied heavily on the recommendations of a 16-member Redistricting Task Force he put together after legislation was passed at annual conference on May 22 to reduce the number of districts.
“After consulting with the cabinet according to paragraph 415.4 of the 2008 (United Methodist) Book of Discipline, I have determined the boundaries of the new districts,” he said. “Most of the churches in Detroit East and West Districts will become a part of a Detroit Metropolitan District. Other districts will undergo minor changes, with one exception, namely Ann Arbor."
The new districts are based on slight modifications to the “conservative model” presented to Keaton by the Redistricting Task Force in December.
The other model presented was further reaching in changes to current district boundaries.
Three districts — Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw Bay — will see increases in their number of churches, while the Marquette and Port Huron Districts will see a slight reduction in the number of churches.
The Conference Leadership Team will go through the process or renaming the districts in the next few months.
The biggest geographic shift will be seven churches leaving the Detroit West District for the Ann Arbor District.
Detroit Conference Director of Connectional Ministries Jerry Devine sees the fusion of the two
Detroit districts into one as a wonderful opportunity for new growth and partnership.
“I really believe at this time it’s beneficial to bring together Detroit as an entity…because re-thinking and re-birthing Detroit is going to take everybody,” he said. “The church is a part of resurrection — that’s our theology — so as we look at the future of Detroit and its surrounding communities and people, the church needs to come together as one body to really collaborate on a new level.”
Detroit East Superintendent Duane Miller is retiring this summer and the conference will announce the new district’s superintendent later this year.
The office of the new Metro Detroit area district will be housed at Detroit: Metropolitan UMC, where the Detroit East and Detroit West District offices are currently located.
Devine said the re-districting isn’t “as far sweeping as some people might think,” but it’s a historic change from patterns and relationships that were established with the seven-district setup in 1970.
“For districts like Ann Arbor there are changes and new travel patterns…it may be more natural patterns, but they’re going to have to go to training in new places, begin building new relationships,” Devine said. “It’s kind of like when they start a new shopping market near you — do you stay in your old patterns or do you go to the new place?”
The Rev. Carol Johns, chairperson for the Council on Finance and Administration — who brought the re-districting issue to the annual conference legislation session, said approximately $210,000 a year will be saved through the reduction of one superintendent and all associated expenses.
Johns said “it’s good to see the church at work, doing the will of the annual conference” in a time of pivotal change.
Conference church membership has fallen from 186,851 in 1970 to 94,679 in 2009.
“I think CFA shares the concerns of the local churches in the annual conference, that we need to ‘right-size’ our conference to meet the demands of ministry for the 21st century,” she said. “We can’t continue to fund an old structure just because it’s familiar to us — we need to work hard to create a structure that will meet the needs of the 21st century.”
Johns said she expects the cabinet and Bishop Keaton will keep the conference informed about how the realignment is working and what can be done to improve new processes and partnerships.
— Paul Thomas contributed to this article
A new day has come:
What: The seven districts of the Detroit Conference will be re-organized as six by July 1; the conference has consisted of seven districts since 1970.
Why: The conference has seen a decline in membership from 186,851 in 1970 to 94,679 in 2009. 2010 Annual Conference legislation called for a reduction in districts, saving the conference as much as $210,000 per year.
More info: Check out the Reporter and www.detroitconference.org for updates on the re-districting effort and what it means for your district and church.
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