Ministry News

If You're a Methodist Pastor, You May Not Want to Read This

Details: Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:02

Most churches struggle with the "20/80 Rule," by which 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. "If only we had another [fill in the blank] pastor," is a common cry heard on church staffs nationwide.

Don't expect to hear that anytime soon within the United Methodist Church (UMC), however. That's because the denomination is currently facing a unique problem: too many pastors and not enough churches. Since 1956, UMC pastors have had what one denominational leader called a "sacred trust" of guaranteed appointment: As long as ministers agreed to serve wherever assigned, they could be assured they'd have a job. But with the denomination's membership and finances both shrinking, the luxury of pastoral job security could be one of the first things placed on the chopping block.

"There's a good deal of momentum toward doing away with guaranteed appointment," said Lovett Weems, the church leadership director at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Since peaking at 10.8 million a half century ago, UMC membership has declined to around 7.8 million. According to Weems, a UMC church needs about 125 people to support a full-time minister, yet most churches within the denomination average 95 people each Sunday. In addition, Weems says at least half of all Methodist churches average 50 people or fewer.

Though debate continues to stir within UMC leadership, a decision on doing away with guaranteed appointment will not be formally made before 2012, when denominational leaders meet for their general assembly. [tennessean.com, 11/14/09]

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Comments

+1 #8 K. Hodges 2009-11-18 13:34

Mr. Lavigne,

Apology humbly accepted. Heaven knows I've misread more than my fair share of emails. :cry:

Blessings on you and your house. :lol:

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0 #7 Wes Lavigne 2009-11-18 00:12

I do apologize K. Hodges- I did misread. That is one of the challenges of online discussion. Thanks so much for your comments.

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0 #6 K. Hodges 2009-11-17 13:34

Mr. Lavigne,

Perhaps I was unclear. :-?

The "Pagan" body I was referring to was my own, absolutely not the UMC. :-)

As I said, I have an eternal debt to the Saints in my former UMC congregation that journeyed with my to my redemption at the Cross. I am more thankful to them than words can adequately express. Several of them are still my closest Brothers & Sisters in Christ.

As I said, I continue to pray for the UMC...

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+1 #5 Lori349898 2009-11-17 13:34

I don't know where they get their info from, but my UMC runs between 250 and 275 any given Sunday and we have 2 serves and new members join several times a year. The UMC up the street my my church is at least double in size with 3 services and growing. Articles like this need to be careful about lumping all UMCs together and making it sound like we are all in a doward slide when it is far from the truth.

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0 #4 Wes Lavigne 2009-11-17 13:20

Some pretty hurtful comments by folks- The United Methodist Church is still the nations second largest protestant denomination, recent gallup polls show it is the most trusted Christian denomination on the American religious landscape. United Methodism provides a faithful witness in every county in the United States. It is interesting that one of the comments challenges us to return to Wesley's original message- Christ's gospel message was a social gospel. There are over 2000 thousand scriptures that deal with the Christian's obligation to the poor- we are "getting back to the book"-I would argue we were "getting back to the book" before gettign back to the book became cool. What the article completely fails to recognize is that there is a sizable amount of these churches being served by local pastors who are not garaunteed appointments year to year. Thanks for your prayers K.Hodges but I suspect this "pagen" body has a few good moves left in it yet.

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+1 #3 K. Hodges 2009-11-17 06:59

I came to Christ five years ago in a United Methodist congregation in the Bellbrook-Centerville Ohio area. While I will be forever thankful to the handful of saints in that congregation that saw the Heart for Christ in this "Pagan" body.

After 2 1/2 years. God had me leave that congregation to follow my passions in search of a Body of Christ that focused on evangelism and service to the greater community. I praise God regularly for leading me through the spiritual darkness to the bright light of a CMA [Christian and Missionary Alliance] congregation and fellow believers in south Centerville that understand its called "The Great Commission", not The Great Suggestion.

The Body of Christ is more than a cloistered social club, with an inward focus. Christians are to prepare the way for our Savior's return.

I continue to follow Paul's advise in Ephesians 6:18, and "...always keep on praying for all the saints.", in the Body of Christ that is the United Methodist Church.

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+3 #2 Peter Millist 2009-11-17 06:12

It's time to get back to Biblical preaching, with an emphasis on the Gospel of "you must be born again". This is what Wesley was all about. Cut out the Social gospel, cut out the gimmicks, cut out the waffle. Get back to the Book!

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+6 #1 TruthInLove 2009-11-17 05:24

The level of decline in the UMC is disheartening. So, when is the leadership of the denomination going to get serious about training all pastors in evangelism and church renewal.

It's not that all of these churches aren't needed. They are surrounded by people who need Christ.

The UMC's work in social ministry is outstanding, but it's time to get to the other side of the coin and bring back a passion for evangelism to these congregations.

Truly all of these pastors are needed, but they need to be retrained to reach out to the mission field that is America.

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