Burning Questions with Bill: Challenges of the church and emotions of the appointment process

• 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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Burning Questions with Bill: Clergy Assistant to Bishop addresses making difficult decisions in times of unrest

Bill Dobbs

By Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop

This month's questions come from two different laypersons who are giving voice to questions I have heard, in one form or another, from people all across the Area.

They were posed to me within a 24-hour period and seemed, to me, to be opposite sides of the same coin. I would like to pose them both and then respond to them as one, believing that they are parts of one whole.

Question one came from an e-mail that was requesting conference and/or Episcopal action on behalf of a smaller congregation. I will try to present the question in such a way that it does justice to the questioner without identifying their congregation.

In essence, the question was: We have paid our apportionments/ministry shares at the 100 percent level for years and years. Now that jobs have gone away and people are moving away, we are having problems making ends meet and we want to know why the conference is not helping us more with our bills or our pastoral support payments? We sent all that money in to the conference office and now we think some of it should be coming back to our local church!

Question two arrived less than a full day later, this time courtesy of the United States Postal Service. In the lengthy, thoughtfully written letter, the author wanted to know when the Bishop or the Superintendent or someone from the "conference" was going to come in and shut the doors of their struggling little congregation. It was clear to the author that the 10 or 12 people who were there most Sundays for worship were not really a healthy church as the Discipline defines the heart of Christian ministry.

But it was also clear that everyone remaining loved their little church and could not bring themselves to close the doors. So, the author wondered, when was somebody from outside or “the big church” going to come in and make them do what the 'faithful remnant' didn't have the heart or the will to do?

Can you see how these questions are related?

"Please come in and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves." "Take care of us." "Let us continue to do things our way, even when our way is clearly not working, because this is the way we have always done things!"

And, lest you think that this is somebody else's problem, please understand that this question comes from many different situations and many different people every day.

Instead of dealing with the situation as we find it today, many of us United Methodists persist in trying to force the proverbial square peg of yesterday into the round hole of today, and we expect people in leadership to help us do just that.

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Burning Questions with Bill Volume 3: Clergy Assistant to Bishop discusses responses to cultural change and the future of pastorates

Bill Dobbs

By Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop

Question: Is there any conversation within the UMC regarding the time between sessions of General Conference and the inability of the (United Methodist) church to respond to a rapidly changing culture?

Dobbs: In all honesty, there are more conversations at the moment than any one observer can keep track of. Of particular interest to me: the “Call to Action” by the Council of Bishops of our church and the various responses from boards and agencies across the broad spectrum that is our denomination.
When my daughter was in high school gymnastics, they had a saying that went something like, “where the head goes, the body will follow.” I have found that to be a reasonably accurate metaphor for the church’s leadership.
If we pay attention to the Episcopal leadership of our church, we can get a pretty good idea of where we might be headed in the years ahead. You can find the Call to Action available on-line and I would encourage you to join that denominational conversation.
A second part of my answer is that our Church and, more specifically, our two conferences have been responding to cultural changes. While we may not be a quick about it as people would like, it strikes me as a significant improvement from years past. Things like changes in leadership structure — at every level from Conference Council on Ministries to local church task forces — and on both sides of US27, along with increased use of technology and need-based deployment of ever-more limited human resources have all been put in place without Disciplinary changes at the General Conference level.


Question: What do you envision for future pastorates trying to deal with the high costs of pensions, health insurance, etc. for congregations?

Dobbs: My answer to that question is something that my experience suggests very few people in the pulpit or the pew want to hear —namely “change!” We are going to need to change the way we envision church and, more importantly, the way we implement change. Everyone from the Bishop to the C.E. (Christmas and Easter) Christian will need to take the responsibility to initiate and follow through on change.
We can’t wait for someone else to “fix the problem.” It is our problem and we can all be part of the answer. Everything from bi-vocational pastorates to cooperative parishes must be on the table, and it cannot just be continued downsizing and reductions as the solution. Can you imagine where we would be today if Wesley and Asbury’s only option was to shrink the size of the church to meet the available resources?
I don’t know every step of the way forward, but I do believe that together we can, with the help of God, take the steps necessary to get through this wilderness we find ourselves in at the moment and come out stronger and healthier on the other side.

If you would like to submit a question, please contact me at bdobbs@miareaumc.org. Thanks for letting me share this time with you.

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Burning Questions with Bill Volume 2: Clergy Assistant to Bishop responds to unanswered queries

By Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop


Continuing our conversation about questions that were raised at the Michigan Area School for Pastoral Ministry

Question: Who is the pastor to pastors? Will the conference ever consider having someone to confide in that doesn't have connection to (the) appointment process?
Dobbs: When I was serving as a local pastor, I always thought that my “pastor” – the one to whom I looked for spiritual guidance and support – was my District Superintendent. Sometimes that worked out well and sometimes not so well. The “well” or “not so well” component was most often an indicator of the strength of our relationship.
Those superintendents that I could relate to — the ones that were open to having that kind of a relationship with me (and I could always tell, no matter what their lips said) — were the ones who really were my “pastor.”
I called out to them in times of illness or family hardship or church struggles, and they were there – by thought or word or deed.
Words I have heard from others suggest that many of you have had similar experiences with your DS.
And yes, I knew that they were sharing things that were happening in my family with the Bishop, but I always assumed that the Bishop cared for my family and I even if he or she did not always know my name.
At the same time, I know that not all of you have had the same kind of experiences, either with your DS or your Bishop. To you I would tell you that your pastor can be someone you choose who will agree to provide spiritual guidance and support, someone who will listen and offer helpful feedback as you seek to grow as a person and as a pastor.
Many of you may recognize that I have given you an incomplete description of a Spiritual Guide or Advisor, and some of you have already established a relationship with your own Spiritual Guide. That can be a truly helpful thing, and I would encourage you to continue building that relationship.
I cannot speak to what an annual conference might do in the future, but annual conferences can do whatever they wish regarding the employment and job descriptions of personnel, so long as it is not specifically prohibited in the Discipline.

Question: How can Bishop Keaton’s pastors express both their support and affection for him without appearing to simply be currying favor (sucking up)?
Dobbs: As I serve in this office, I see and hear many things that come across my desk or across the screen of my computer. Perhaps you can imagine, but you might be surprised.
I have come to believe that the most important thing clergy and laity can do for their Bishop is to pray for him. Even as I say that I know it sounds like a cliché and I don’t mean it to be so.
I believe in prayer! I believe in the power of prayer!
I believe that Christians cannot be Christians without prayer and I am convinced that Bishops cannot be Bishops without prayer either. If you are praying for Bishop Keaton and God prompts you to send a note about something in your prayer, trust the Holy Spirit and send the note. Be honest. Remember that if it is from God, it will bear the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23) and not the works of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-21).

Next month, we will discuss whether “there any conversations within the UMC regarding the time between sessions of General Conference and the inability of the church to respond to a rapidly changing culture” and “what I envision for future pastorates trying to deal with the high costs of pensions, health insurance, etc. for congregations.”
If you would like to submit a question, please write me: bdobbs@miareaumc.org.
Thanks for letting me share this time with you.

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Bishop's Column: A Star, a Gift and Slide 59

By Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop

This is the season of Epiphany.

It is a time marked by our remembrance that wise ones of old left home to follow a star and to honor a king.

I’ll not retell the story; you likely know it well.

It is enough, I think, to remember that these learned astrologers caught a vision that changed their lives. It inspired them to set out on a journey that took them far from home, far from their “comfort zone.” It was a journey that may well have cost them as much as four or more years out of their lives.

All because they believed that God was doing something special in history and they needed to respond, to “pay homage.”

They brought gifts – precious gifts – and gave them as a witness that God’s sign had been seen and responded to.

People are still seeing signs of God’s activity in our time, signs of God’s saving grace at work in our world. And wise ones are still responding with gifts – gifts that are precious to them – as a witness in our day and time.

Gifts like time and treasure and even their very lives, all because they have been captured by a vision that will not leave them in their comfortable places. A vision that summons them to leave home and even safety to go and tell others what they have seen.

To be captured by a vision of Jesus, and Jesus’ great commission to all who call themselves disciples, is to be invited – even compelled – to leave the places where we have become comfortable in order to give our witness to what God is doing now and in the New Year.

Our routines are, for many of us, comfortable. They are “the way we have always done things!” The day-to-day business of our ministry – wherever that is – can lull us into thinking that we are following Jesus. But then something happens that causes us to look again or, as was said to young Simba in Disney’s great movie The Lion King, “look closer” at what we are doing so that we become uncomfortable with the status-quo.

For me, it was a presentation by Jim Salley, General Board interpreter for Africa University, to the area appointive cabinet.

He was speaking about recent research examining the reasons why people do and do not give to mission projects in the United Methodist Church. It was interesting information, but it was not until he got to slide 59 in his presentation that the “wake-up and pay-attention” call arrived.

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Burning Questions with Bill Volume 1: Clergy Assistant to Bishop responds to unanswered queries

By Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop

While attending this past summer’s School for Pastoral Ministry, I had the opportunity to participate in a question and answer session with both Deans of Cabinet and myself. During that session, more questions were asked than we had time to answer.

Utilizing the Michigan Area Reporter I would like to share my responses to the unanswered questions, from my perspective as Clergy Assistant to Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton.

Along the way, we may even discuss a couple of questions you wanted to ask, but didn’t.

If you would like to submit a question, please write me: bdobbs@miareaumc.org. Thanks for letting me share this time with you.

Question: How are you advising pastors who might itinerate in the next year regarding the housing issue?
Dobbs: As I hear this question, I think that there are several implied unspoken questions attached. In general, we are advising pastors who are itinerate — all elders are, in theory, itinerate, but that’s another question — to go very slowly if they are thinking about getting out of the parsonage system. It is no secret that the Michigan housing market is not in very robust shape at this moment in time, nor is it likely to return to good health in the near future. For pastors and parsonage families who already own homes, my advice would be to consider finding a good property manager and renting your house to help with mortgage payments if you can. When I came to my present position, I chose to rent an apartment in the city of Lansing so that I would not have to make a 150-mile round-trip commute every day to our home in Mt. Pleasant.
My wife and I did not want to try and sell our home given the current market, so we have someone renting our house while we are in this job, and we will return “home” when the job has ended.
I realize that everyone’s situation is different, but if someone had advised my to keep the home we owned before going into the ministry some 38 years ago, and I had taken their advice, we would have owned it by now and retirement would look very different. No pastor should expect that the Bishop and cabinet will make appointment decisions based solely on the location of a home that they own. It may be a factor taken into consideration, but it would only be one among many. If location is a primary factor for parsonage families, and it very well may be, then it is possible that no appointment will be available in a given year or the appointment might look quite different from a pastor’s previous appointments; e.g. part-time or much lower salary etc.

Question: How does an elder move and live into a call that is outside pastoral ministry?
Dobbs: The short answer is — pray! The longer answer would begin at the same place. Just as you did when you first heard the call to pastoral ministry, spend a good deal of time in prayer and meditation. And talk your sense of call over with trusted friends or, perhaps, a career counselor to get a better idea of what it is that you feel called to. I believe that it should be a calling “to” something and not just an overpowering weariness with what you have been doing. Two of the people that I hope you will include in this testing-your-call time are your D.S. and someone from the Board of Ordained Ministry. I know all about the “stories” that have circulated among clergy; stories of abuse and neglect by uncaring superintendents or Board Members who only want to say “no.” But my personal experience with the people who sit on cabinet or with the Board of Ordained Ministry is that they genuinely care about clergy and clergy families and want to help them achieve what is best for them – even if that is in a career that is not pastoral ministry. The process itself is stated in the Book of Discipline, beginning with paragraph ¶353 and following, but the answer to the question is found in the faith that God will lead us, with the support of friends and counselors to guide us along the way.

Next month we will discuss two more questions: 1. “Who is the pastor to pastors? Will the conference ever consider having someone to confide in that doesn‘t have connection to (the) appointment process?” And, 2.“How can Bishop Keaton’s pastors express both their support and affection for him without appearing to simply be currying favor (sucking up)?”

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Getting to know the new clergy assistant to the Bishop

Former Heartland District Superintendent Bill Dobbs officially took office as the clergy assistant to the Bishop on July 1. Reporter Editor RJ Walters recently caught up with him to see how he was adjusting, what he prides himself on, and what vision he has for the Michigan Area conferences.

Q: Did you ever aspire to be the clergy assistant to the bishop or was it something that just kind of came out of left field?
A: “The short answer to that is no, I never envisioned myself in this place and in this position. My whole vision for myself was focused on service to the local church and I was surprised when Bishop Keaton asked me to serve as a district superintendent in the Heartland District. I was planning on retiring from that position and looking forward to it — until the day in his office when he asked if I would be willing to stay on for a few more years to do this position. After prayer, we agreed.”

Q: Having had a few weeks to look around, what does the Michigan Area look like from the top of the mountain compared to being a DS, which you could say is halfway up the mountain? Are there any major surprises early on for you?
A: “The biggest difference is how much bigger the mountain is. The Heartland District was a fair-sized district geographically, but it was still only one part of the mountain, so I have a lot of new names and places to learn. I have an advantage in that I grew up in the Detroit Conference; my home church is Cass City and I served in as an officer in the youth fellowship in the Port Huron District back in the MYF days. I know some pastors and some place because of great memories, but I’m having to learn all new faces and new people — and that’s the steepest (part) of the learning curve as it’s attached to this job.”

Q: Just an individual, what are a few things you would like people to know about you that you feel helps define who you are?
A: “The first thing that some people who know me know and I would like others to know, is I am committed to family. I have four children and six grandchildren, I love spending time with them. I love music — I was a high school band director in a former career. And I love to be part of making music, interestingly enough not as a soloist, but as part of an ensemble; either a quartet or larger group where we can make music in harmony. And I love the church because it gives me the opportunity not only to make music, but to see so much of what we do in harmony.

Q: So when can we expect you and the Bishop to start musically collaborating together?
A: “We love to make music together. As part of both cabinets I look forward to being able to sing harmony to the Bishop.”

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A faithful finish line: Clergy assistant to Bishop retires after 42 years in ministry

By RJ Walters, Editor

Terry Euper isn’t a man who hungers for accolades or notoriety, but he is exactly the kind of United Methodist leader the church draws its strength from.

June 30 was the Reverend’s final day of seven years of service as the clergy assistant to the Bishop, the final stop on a 42 –year ministry expedition that included pastoring at multiple local church stops and a 5-year stint as a district superintendent.

The Detroit Annual Conference in May was a sort of reflective celebration for Euper and his wife Jackie — also newly retired, from her position of project director for the Flint District — and it gave confidants young and old a chance to appreciate the wit and wisdom of a family who has helped define the path of the conference for years and generations.

Annual conference as a stepping stone

As a high school junior in 1963 Terry was still getting familiar with the church. He was active in his congregation in Whitmore Lake and had his sights set on college — which in his mind meant preparing for an education at the University of Michigan.

That is until his pastor Rev. William Johnson asked him to join him as a church delegate for annual conference at Adrian College. His parents were already going as adult delegates, so he figured ‘why not?’

“I believe in the call of ministry, that people are called to be in the ministry, but I also believe that my pastor, Rev. William Johnson, somehow saw something and he helped to shape and focus that cause,” Terry said. “He was finding ways to use gifts and talents I didn’t even know I had.”

He said he was riveted by the fact the United Methodist Church was much bigger than the small congregation he came from, and he also became “fascinated by (the idea of) being part of a community on that small a campus.”

So four years after first meeting Jackie at middle school youth group, and after his first major church conference, Eueper’s path started pointing toward Adrian College, where he developed many of the skills needed for a career in ministry.

By 1972 he was an official conference clergyman and as he puts it, “God has surprised me every step of the way,” ever since. 

A legacy that spans the family name

It’s hard to wipe a smile from Euper’s face when he’s talking about what God has done in his life.

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Out of the sleeping bag and into the world: Rethinking UMC camping

By RJ Walters, Editor

Through thickets of poison ivy and swarms of obnoxious mosquitoes comes the opportunity to relate, equip and inspire in ways the mortar and brick of a church can’t offer.

But the United Methodist tradition of camping is changing and so are many of the people in leadership positions at camps around the state.

It’s about more than just families sending their kids to camp to learn songs and Bible verses and it’s becoming a whole lot more diverse than just church bodies gathering for a good time.

As congregations gather this month to “Rethink Church” it is apparent that many dedicated directors and volunteers around the state are rethinking camping.

With reservations filling up around the state and deadlines nearing for camp scholarships, the church has more options than ever for recreation, discipleship, and bonding.

What some of the progressive thinkers in the UMC camping arena are doing could be looked at as sound business models, or as simply new means of expanding the church’s reach to make disciples for the transformation of the world.

What’s good for some can be good for all

When Mike Symons took over Lakeview Campground and Albright Park Camp several years ago he was not going to accept the status quo.

A couple of hundred campers here and there coupled with some well-run youth camps was fine, but not up to par with his standards.

“If you do any kind of a marketing study the children camps alone are not doing that well, the adult camps alone are not doing that well. But if you are servicing both the children and adults in a family then you are doing OK,” he said. “For example, if you were to take the other camps in our system, most of them are doing around 700-800 kids a summer at what are exclusively kids camps….we did 1,600 children last year, and we’re not a children’s camp (anymore) —the kids came along with their families, parents and grandparents.”

His theory that “as pocketbooks have tightened in recent years people are cutting back on recreation, but still finding ways to spend quality time together as a family,” is paying dividends.

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