January 2019 Volume 30, No. 1 nationalchurch.org
the
messenger
How “It” Happens:
Pastoral Appointments in the United Methodist Church By Rev. Michael Chamberlain ____________________________
Coming Next in Worship In planning and delivering sermons, the temptation for pastors (as well as for congregations) is to turn most often to biblical texts that they find comforting and/or familiar. As we begin 2019 and move into Epiphany and Lent, we are turning to the lectionary – at our Metropolitan Memorial campus – for our preaching texts. The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year cycle of scripture readings that lead us to texts that we might not have chosen. In doing so, it offers the potential to push us to engage with messages we may not have been aware we needed to hear. In the second half of January, as an example, we will begin a series entitled, These Three Abide, as we look at three texts that point us to Faith, Hope, and Love. I have already been challenged as I have begun looking at these three wellknown fixtures in our collective Christian conscience – particularly at the way that they interact to form something more than the sum of the parts. Continued on page two
There are many questions that crop up in the face of a new pastoral appointment: • How are “they” going to decide who our new pastor will be? • Will we have any input? • When will we know? • Do we get to interview? There are more questions than these of course and those of us who have had the privilege of serving as superintendents have encountered most of them at one time or another. The simplest answer to all the questions is that in the United Methodist Church, appointments are made by the bishop in a collaborative process involving pastors, congregations, and the bishop’s cabinet (all the superintendents together). The goal of the process is to maximize the missional effectiveness of each local church through matching pastors and churches in the best way possible. In November, members of NUMC’s congregation had the opportunity to share their thoughts on pastoral leadership with members of the StaffParish Relations Committee (SPRC). Having received that input, the SPRC submitted a “Congregational Profile” that contained both a description of the church’s strengths and needs as well as its considered opinion regarding the pastoral gifts which would best fit at National. Other churches in the conference were doing the same. At the same time, pastors across the conference were indicating their availability for new appointments as part of their annual evaluation process. What then follows is an “inventory” by the bishop and cabinet of all existing or anticipated openings in the conference and the submissions received from pastors. At this point in the process different bishops and cabinets deliberate in different ways but in all cases bring the input of the pastors, the congregations, and the superintendents into conversation about what appointment would best suit the spiritual well-being and missional effectiveness of each church. It is a long process demanding much prayer and patience and the persons whom I have known who have been involved in it treat it with the utmost respect and seriousness. In the Continued on page two