Guidelines - DCOM Determining RL status

How to Determine Re red Local Pastor Status

Issue

Guidelines

At the spring 2020 Business of the Annual Conference (BAC) review session, it became apparent that there was confusion around the term: Re red Local Pastor vs the term Local Pastor who has Re red.

Background In our DCOM handbook (pg42) the following is stated: “RL or Re red Local Pastor status is a technical term reserved for local pastors who have been approved for re rement and are current with their studies at the me of re rement (made adequate progress as defined by Holston and/or completed the basic Course of Study). RL status allows re red local pastors who are not serving an appointment to retain voice, but not vote, at Annual Conference. RL status also allows an appointed pastor to request a limited license for a re red local pastor to assist with ministerial du es, including sacraments, in the church where the re red local pastor is a member.

Local pastors who are serving in re rement, unless qualifying for RL status, will con nue as either full‐ me or part‐ me local pastors. If a local pastor who was not eligible at the me of re rement for RL status but becomes current with required studies while serving in re rement, the local pastor may request to be listed as a Re red Local Pastor (RL).”

This understanding is based on ¶320.5 which states: (emphasis added) 5. Re rement of Local Pastor—A local pastor who has made sa sfactory progress in the Course of Study as specified in ¶ 318.1 or .2 may be recognized as a re red local pastor. Re rement provisions for local pastors shall be the same as those for clergy members in ¶ 358.1, .2, .4, with pensions payable in accordance with ¶ 1506.5a.

Re red local pastors may a end annual conference sessions with voice but not vote.

A re red local pastor may be appointed by the bishop to a charge and licensed upon recommenda on by the district commi ee on ordained ministry without crea ng addi onal claim upon the conference minimum compensa on nor further pension credit.

The following are BOD paragraphs referenced in sec on above: (emphasis added) ¶318.1. Full‐Time Local Pastors—Those eligible to be appointed full‐ me local pastors are persons (a) who may devote their en re me to the church in the charge to which they are appointed and its outreach in ministry and mission to the community; (b) who receive in cash support per annum from all Church sources a sum equal to or larger than the minimum base compensa on established by the annual conference for full‐ me local pastors; (c) who, unless they have completed the Course of Study or other approved theological educa on, shall (i) complete four courses per year in a Course of Study school, or (ii) shall have made progress in the correspondence curriculum prescribed by the General Board of Higher Educa on and Ministry (¶ 1421.3d), or (iii) be enrolled as a pre‐theological or theological student in a college, university, or school of theology approved by the University Senate; (d) who, when they have completed the Course of Study or a Master of Divinity degree from a seminary listed by the University Senate, are involved in con nuing educa on (¶ 350); (e) who shall not be enrolled as a full‐ me student in any school. ¶318.2. Part‐Time Local Pastors—Those eligible to be appointed as part‐ me local pastors are persons (a) who have met the provisions of ¶ 315; (b) who do not devote their en re me to the charge to which they are appointed; or (c) do not receive in cash support per annum from all Church sources a sum equal to or larger than the minimum base compensa on established by the annual conference for full‐ me local pastors; and (d) who, unless they have completed the Course of Study or other approved theological educa on, shall (i) complete two courses per year in a Course of Study school, or (ii) have made progress in the correspondence curriculum prescribed by the General Board of Higher Educa on and Ministry, or (iii) be enrolled as a pre‐theological or theological student in a college, university, or school of theology approved by the University Senate.

Analysis It is important that DCOM’s determine whether local pastors that are re ring have met the criteria outlined in these paragraphs. Primarily because Local Pastors that meet these criteria at the me of re rement will retain the right to voice, but not vote at the annual conference.

Consider this scenario: Pastor X is a full me local pastor serving a local church. Pastor X has completed COS. Pastor X decides to re re. As a local pastor, you are a member of the annual conference because you a serving a local church. If you do not serve a local church, then you are not a member of the annual conference. By having the status of Re red Local Pastor, Pastor X retains the right of voice at any annual conference subsequent to Pastor X’s re rement. Had Pastor X not have completed COS or been making adequate progress towards comple on of COS, then once Pastor X re red, then Pastor X would not have the right of voice at any subsequent annual conference session.

Secondarily, there is the ma er of Pastor X and sacramental authority in the church where Pastor X is a member.

Please note the la er part of that phrase: “…church where Pastor X is a member.” Upon re rement, a local pastor’s membership transfers back to a local church. In effect, the re red local pastor is now a lay person. Full Connec on members (FE, FD) and Associate Members (AM) have their membership in the annual conference, even a er re rement. Thus, for a local pastor, the designa on of Re red Local Pastor (RL) also allows the person to con nue to administer the sacraments and perform ministerial du es in a local church at the discre on of the local church pastor at whose church the RL has membership. Those Local Pastor’s that re re without comple ng

COS or making appropriate progress will not have that authority.

Since there are these two significant ramifica ons related to whether a re ring Local Pastor can be labeled as RL, it is important for the DCOM to have some objec ve criteria on which to report the status of these persons.

The simplest criteria is whether or not the person has completed COS. This is a yes or no evalua ve tool. If the person has completed COS, then the person is listed as RL. If they have not completed COS, then the DCOM must use an evalua ve tool to determine if, at the me of re rement, the person was making adequate progress towards comple on of COS.

Consider this scenario: Pastor X, at the age of 64 responds to God’s call and becomes a cer fied candidate and a ends Local Pastor Licensing School and is appointed as a part me local pastor. According to the guidelines, Pastor X has 12 years to complete COS. The Book of Discipline also states that at age 72 Pastor X must re re. That only leaves Pastor X 8 years to complete COS. Pastor X is unable to complete COS in 8 years. However, Pastor X had been faithfully taking the two COS classes per year for 8 years. In this instance, it would be safe to say that Pastor X was making adequate progress towards comple on of COS and could re re with the label RL.

The difficulty arises if Pastor X had not been following the 2 per year rule. Did Pastor X game the system knowing that Pastor X would have to re re before the 12‐year limit was reached? Did Pastor X have some health issues that precluded taking COS for a year and that caused a backlog on the required classes? Was there some other reason outside Pastor X’s control that contributed to a shor all in the class schedule? These kinds of ques ons require DCOM to make a decision that some might say is subjec ve in nature.

To help with an objec ve approach, I have designed a spreadsheet that will provide some numerical indicators of where a person might be in the process of adequate progression. The spreadsheet is not perfect, but it is based on a formula that compares the me allo ed (8 or 12 years) in comparison to the number of classes offered (20) and looks at the number of years since the 8/12 cycle began and generates 2 numbers. An ideal number of what it would look like if you divided the 8/12 frame by the 20 class frame and the actual progress toward mee ng that meline.

For instance, in the 8 year schema, each year students would be expected to earn 2.5 class points (8x2.5=20). So a er 2 years, the pastor would be expected to have earned 5 class points. If the pastor has taken 3 classes, then the pastor is behind. If the pastor has taken 5 classes the pastor is on track. If the pastor has taken 8, then the pastor is ahead.

For a part me local pastor, it would be expected that each year the pastor must earn 1.67 class points (12x1.67=20). At the end of 3 years, the pastor should have earned 5.01 class points. If the pastor has taken 3 classes, then the pastor is not progressing. If the pastor has taken 5 then the pastor is on track. If the pastor has taken 7, then the pastor is ahead of the curve.

The fly in the ointment will be those pastors that move between FT to PT or PT to FT. I would suggest that is those

scenarios, you will need to exercise more of a subjec ve approach rather than an objec ve approach. At the current me I have not been able to develop a formula that would handle these change scenarios.

Next Steps Each year the DCOM needs to inform the Office of Clergy Services as to whether or not re ring pastors have met the criteria to be labeled as RL. My office will rely on your opinion on this ma er. That means a couple of new forms will be coming your way.

One will be a form to place in the pastor’s DCOM file that specifies whether RL status was granted.

The other will be an ac on form where you can list those to which RL status has been given.

These forms are in the pages that follow. Once the spreadsheet is func onal, a copy will be sent to the DCOM.

Form 18

Declaration that Retiring Local Pastor ሺRLሻ has bet the criteria to be classified as a Retired Local Pastor ሺRLሻ

Name: ________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________________ Phone: (____) ______‐________ Email address: ______________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Church / Charge

District: [__] AP [__] CM [__] HI [__] MV [__] NR [__] SS [__] SM [__] TV [__] TR

After examination, the DCOM of the _____ District certifies that the above named pastor has met the criteria to be considered a Retired Local Pastor (RL). Specifically this pastor has (check one)

[__] Completed Course of Study (COS): __________________________________________ Date of COS Completion

[__] Not completed COS, but was making adequate progress towards completion at the time of retirement.

Upon retirement, the above named pastor will become a member at the following: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Church

District: [__] AP [__] CM [__] HI [__] MV [__] NR [__] SS [__] SM [__] TV [__] TR

Signature: I hereby certify that all the information I have provided is true and accurate.

__________________________________ __________________________ __________________________ DCOM Registrar: Signature Printed name

Date

Copies: [__] Retain original in Local Pastor’s DCOM file [__] Email completed copy to ConferenceSecretary@holston.org

SUMMARY REPORT Action Outline #10 FL & PL that will be designated as Retired Local Pastors (RL) DCOM Registrar: District:

Suggested Motion: Local Pastor Name Last First

Approved Date