Tag Archives: UMC

Church Growth = Increased Pastor Salary?

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An interesting article at Slate.com, The Almighty Dollar: Are preachers motivated by the desire to save souls or to make cold, hard cash? raises the question of clergy compensation. By researching data from the Oklahoma Annual Conference researchers found:

“It turns out United Methodist congregations gave their leaders a $15 boost (in 2008 dollars) on average for each new member added (about 3 percent of new revenues generated from the membership increase) and cut their pay by about $7 for each member lost.”

The article implies causation, while I believe that the data is clearly correlation. However, it is interesting.

How should clergy be compensated? In what way should pay level be determined for clegy?

2010 State of the Church Report for the UMC

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I appreciate the work to produce the State of the Church Report for The United Methodist Church. You can find it online here or use this link to download a PDF of the entire report. Here are a few tidbits that I found to be of interest:

  • The median age of the population in the U.S. is 35; the median age of attendees in The United Methodist Church is 57.
  • When asked if their congregation had a clear vision, goal or direction for ministry, 35% agreed that it did and stated they were strongly committed to those goals.
  • Churches with larger memberships tended to grow, while smaller-membership churches tended to shrink.
  • Professing membership in the U.S. has declined every year since 1968.

The craziest of these stats is that 65% of congregations did NOT have a clear vision, goal or direction for ministry. Then, what are they doing? Where do these congregations find guidance to make plans for the future?

What to Do with Unhealthy United Methodist Congregations

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I recognize there is debate about how to determine what makes a congregation healthy.

What to do with an unhealthy United Methodist congregation is more difficult to determine than what to do with inffective United Methodist clergy.

Kick them out of the denomination? In some cases, this might allow the congregation to become healthier. It clearly doesn’t help unity in the church.

Appoint a new pastor? This may or may not have results. Understanding the congregation as a family system suggests that this may not have much impact.

Put them on probation? A period of time with focused efforts at renewal may be helpful, however there may not be much of an incentive.

Can you help me out with what to do with unhealthy United Methodist congregations?

What to Do with Ineffective United Methodist Clergy

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I recognize there is debate about how to determine what makes a clergy person effective.

Whatever criteria is used, when a clergy person is determined to be ineffective she or he should find another job before the end of the appointive year.

This doesn’t mean being kicked out of the church or Christian community.

It means helping people find a different path for their employment. That’s all.

As a newly ordained elder (clergy) in the UMC, this is what I want for myself. If I am not effective, help me to recognize that and find some other way to support myself and my family.

Top 13 Characteristics of Effective Clergy

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Some of the hoopla around guaranteed appointments is around the question – How do you determine what makes for an effective clergy person? That’s easy. Straight from paragraph 340 of the Book of Discipline, an effective clergy person will…

  • love God and love their neighbor.
  • preach, teach, lead worship and engage people in witness.
  • provide spiritual guidance.
  • marry and bury.
  • visit people in their homes to provide care.
  • practice integrity in maintaining confidences.
  • be responsible for sharing baptism and holy communion.
  • provide administration for the local church, annual conference and general church.
  • be inclusive.
  • live as a servant leader.
  • organize the church to live out their faith in the world.
  • equip others in the care and spiritual formation of others.
  • work for unity in the church.

If a clergy person is gifted and effective in these things, there will be clear evidence in the church.

A clergy person with evidence of gifts and effectiveness will continue to be appointed regardless of her or his appointment being guaranteed.

Top 8 Reasons to End Guaranteed Appointments in the UMC

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If I could change one thing in the United Methodist Church today, I would end guaranteed clergy appointments. Here are the top 10 reasons to end this practice:

8. Ineffective clergy will be more easily removed from leading a United Methodist church.

7. Effective clergy will be responsible for a increasing number of churches.

6. The circumstances that called for guaranteed appointments have changed.

5. A guaranteed job can foster complacency.

4. Provisional clergy would not be refused ordination based on availability of an appointment.

3. Continuing to do things the same way will not bring different results.

2. It would put an end to the advice to “Be a pastor only if you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else.”

1. Over time, the overall effectiveness and competency of clergy in the United Methodist Church will increase thereby aiding the church in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

2010 #kswumc – Zimbabwe Partnership

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Yesterday I focused a lot of my energy around the covenant between the Kansas West and Zimbabwe East Annual Conferences. It was my responsibility to pull together the team that shared stories of the trip and presented the legislation. While not speaking, I probably got more anxious than was strictly necessary trying to corral the effort. It went great. Wonderful stories and testimonies shared, excellent video production, good discussion from the floor and in the end a unanimous approval. Following the presentation was the Taste of Zimbabwe dinner. I cooked up some of the vegetables over lunch break during conference and served sadza and rice during the meal. Bishop Nhiwatiwa spoke just the right amount and was encouraging, insightful and funny. I have found his words meaningful every time that he has addressed a group of which I have been a part.

A few other highlights from yesterday:

  • Starting off the day with a presentation of Godspell
  • Responding to Wesley’s historic questions in front of the annual conference along with the others to be ordained tonight.
  • Hearing the stories of the retirees in their own words at the retirement service last night. Especially, my Aunt Karen Osterman Fieser as she retired from over 25 years as a chaplain at Wesley Medical Center.
  • Meaningful conversations with various colleagues throughout the day.

It is good to be here.

2010 #kswumc Annual Conference

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The annual conference season has begun in The United Methodist Church. This week I will be attending the Kansas West Annual Conference in Salina, Kansas. I hope to post each day this week about annual conference.

According the the 2008 Book of Discipline ¶601, “The purpose of the annual conference is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by equipping its local churches for ministry and by providing a connection for ministry beyond the local church; all to the glory of God.”

I hope and pray that this gathering of the annual conference will be a means to accomplishing this purpose. Do you believe that your annual conference, Kansas West or elsewhere, fulfills this purpose?

PS – #kswumc is a Twitter hashtag for the annual conference. You can follow live updates from the conference by searching for that text at twitter.com.

Social Media Club of the UMC

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I have enjoyed being involved in #SMCKC, the Social Media Club of Kansas City. I have learned a lot from others, particularly over the past few months in presentations on social media efforts from various local companies. In addition, conversations have proven to be fruitful.

So why not #smcumc? A Social Media Club for The United Methodist Church? A mission or purpose statement could be similar to that found at the #SMCKC website:

“Our primary goal is to help the greater Kansas City and sister communities across the country understand social media’s purpose, use and benefits. #smckc was founded on six pillars: Awareness, Education, Advocacy, Industry Leadership, Adoption of Standards, and Technology.”

I believe that the UMC at all levels, from local church to general agencies and general conference could benefit from better leveraging social media.

Who’s in?

#UMC Bishop Scott Jones’ Statement on #HCR in the US

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Kansas Area Bishop Scott Jones released the following statement March 22, 2010 regarding the United Methodist Church’s role in the passage of health care reform over the weekend. Please feel free to share these remarks. Bishop Scott Jones’ statement:

The United Methodist Church has had a concern for health care for more than 250 years. We have founded medical clinics, hospitals and medical schools. We have delivered health care to the poor. We have a long history of advocating for public health practices such as reducing use of tobacco and alcohol. We believe that God seeks the best for all people, including their health.

Many current health care issues are complicated, and yet we have a consistent position seeking care for all. The Social Principles urges all persons to pursue a healthy lifestyle. It also says that “Health care is a basic human right” and “We believe it is a governmental responsibility to provide all citizens with health care.” In 2008 the General Conference adopted Resolution 3201 “Health Care for All in the United States”.

Based on this resolution, the General Board of Church and Society worked for health care reform without endorsing any particular bill. I believe that the General Board worked for the principles contained in our church’s teaching.

Many faithful and loyal United Methodists disagree with this particular legislation. While believing that health care for all is important, they think there are better ways of achieving that important goal than the ones contained in this legislation. Some of our United Methodist members of Congress voted against this legislation while others voted for it. It is quite appropriate that we have a diversity of opinion about the best ways to achieve a better society for all God’s children. Two related issues are important here.

One should remember that George W. Bush, George McGovern, Robert Dole and Hillary Clinton have all been faithful United Methodist Christians who served their country in the political arena. At various times, different parts of our church have been angry with different ones of these persons, but I am proud to serve a church that includes such great leaders as these.

Second, we are people of the extreme center who should resist polarizing and demonizing influences in our culture. We should be talking about issues faithfully and carefully with mutual respect for those who disagree with us. God expects us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and the way we carry out our political activities should reflect that kind of love for all.

Contact us: Kansas Area Bishop’s office at kansasbishop@kswestumc.org or 316-686-0600

I appreciate Bishop Jones’ timely response to the legislation which does prove to be divisive. Will you please share your thoughts, feelings or opinions about the role of the church in politics?