Dan's Marinations

Now for true confessions.  I frequently, when typing out "United Methodist Church," actually type "Untied Methodist Church."  In light of our most recent General Conference, this silly typo must surely be considered Freudian in some way.  Those ten days in Tampa showed that the denomination I love may at times be more untied than united.  With the exception of altering guaranteed appointments, when it was all said and done this General Conference actually made very few lasting changes.  Sometimes it's not entirely bad when a governing body makes no changes, since potential changes may actually be worse than the status quo. The trouble for us as a church is that the status quo isn't looking so good.  Our membership rolls and worship attendance have shrunk steeply in the 44 years since the merger that created the United Methodist Church.  A large percentage of our churches fail to take in a single new member by profession of faith in a year's time. ...

As Paul would have put it, "in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye" part of the framework of our system of clergy was abolished by the 2012 General Conference.  The conference ended the long tradition of guaranteed appointments for ordained Elders without even floor debate on the issue.  The proposal to end guaranteed appointments for Elders came as part of a larger body of legislation that comprised the United Methodist Call to Action.  The Call to Action initiative is a response to the precipitous forty-year long decline in membership. In addition to the ending the guaranteed appointments, the initiative also called for a significant restructuring of denomination's commissions and agencies, and the creation of a so-called "set-aside" bishop who would not have episcopal residency, but would effectively act as a CEO for the church. Admittedly, I cannot approach this objectively because I have a stake in it.  With that disclaimer, yesterday's decision ...