UMC JUDICIAL COUNCIL FALL 2012 SITTING ROUNDUP GUARANTEED APPOINTMENT UPHELD

The UMC Judicial Council in it just concluded fall 2012 sitting has upheld the long stand guaranteed appointment of UMC clergy. Though I am a huge fan of clergy excellent performance, yet I still felt the General Conference “missional purpose” which calls for abolishment of guaranteed appointment is ambiguous.  Hence the decision of the council:

“Security of appointment has long been a part of the tradition of The United Methodist Church and its predecessor bodies. Abolishing security of appointment would destroy our historic plan for our itinerant superintendency. Fair process procedures, trials and appeals are integral parts of the privilege of our clergy of right to trial by a committee and of appeal and is an absolute right which cannot be eradicated by legislation. The amendments to ¶ 337, as contained in Calendar Item 355, are unconstitutional and violate the third and fourth restrictive rules of the Constitution. The original ¶ 337 of the Discipline is restored and maintained and the changes made thereto at 2012 General Conference are null, void and of no effect. The amendments to ¶ 321, as contained in Calendar Items 352, is also declared repugnant to the Constitution and hence, unconstitutional. The original ¶ 321 of the Discipline is restored and maintained, and the changes made thereto by the 2012 General Conference are null, void, and of no effect. Calendar Item 358, the new transitional leave ¶ 354, is declared unconstitutional, and Calendar Item 359, which removed the language of a transitional leave from ¶ 354 of the Discipline, is also declared unconstitutional. The current language for a transitional leave as provided for in ¶ 354 is restored and maintained.”

The next questions are:  what mechanism do we have in place that will insure effectiveness of our clergy? How can the General Church adequately help the ineffective clergy in meeting the expectation of the church? What are we doing to make the pastoral vocation attractive for young generation of clergy who are contemplating joining this ministry? We all agree that we need congregational vitality, but still we are not able to diagnose the real problem that is causing decline in our church before offering solution. We are captivated in treating secondary causes while the primary cause lays beneath untouched. We read to rise up to reality and stop treating church like a business center.