• By Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop •
Two questions from clergy this month which speak to the core of our mission and our care for pastors and parsonage families.
Question: “What is, or are, the greatest challenge(s) facing our Church today? And are we addressing the right issue?”
Dobbs: What I am about to say is my answer to the above question; other persons would likely answer differently. For me, the greatest challenge facing our Church today is the likelihood that 60 to 65 percent of our current membership will be deceased within the next 20 years and we are still not committing our resources and energy to making disciples of Jesus Christ among the youth and young adults in significant numbers. When I listen to our debates about “right thinking” on either side of the aisle, which have gone on for years now, it feels very much like moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. I confess that I have been part of my share of “right thinking debates” in the past. I’ve even started a few. But I am part of that majority which is running out of time and I want this church that I love to be here for my grandchildren and their grandchildren. We have a mission and a vision! The only question that remains is: Do we have the will to put the Kingdom first?
Question: “How closely does the Bishop and DCOM (District Committee on Ministry) listen to the needs of pastors with respect to appointments and spiritual matters?
Dobbs: The District Superintendent is every clergyperson’s link to the Bishop and the Cabinet table. It is our responsibility to help the superintendent know our complete situation. “But if I do that, what guarantee do I have that my appointment will fit my needs and desires? If the call comes and the appointment doesn’t sound like what I think I should have at this point in my career or doesn’t seem to fit my family’s needs, does that mean that nobody listened? Or, more importantly, that nobody cared?”
The appointment system, as we presently have it, was not designed to meet the needs of clergy and parsonage families as a primary goal. It evolved as a means of deploying clergy to advance the kingdom and support the ministry of laity in local congregations. When we are ordained, we agree to go where we are sent by the Bishop .(¶333 & ¶338 in the United Methodist Book of Discipline) That being said, the Bishop and Cabinet go to great lengths to deploy clergy on the basis of their personal and family situations whenever possible. But it is not always possible.
We have churches and appointments in places where people don’t always want to go. (Call systems often have pulpits that they cannot fill for months and even years because they can’t find people willing to come and serve in that place. The United Methodist church has not faced that situation because we send pastors to meet the needs of the church where it is located.) And when we are sent somewhere we don’t want to go, it is easy to think that the Bishop doesn’t care about our feelings or our families.
As one who has sat at the table and watched those difficult decisions being made, I can tell you that it is just not true! The Bishop and the Superintendents do care about every pastor and parsonage family. They also care about every local congregation in every place all across the state of Michigan. So, prayerfully and, often, tearfully they make difficult decisions.
They do listen – to all the voices, all the needs.
It is, in my opinion, a sign of God’s grace that they are able to “fit” as many clergy to as many places as they do.
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