Myths of Annual Conference: Supervision

I am in my third year of ministry as an appointed United Methodist pastor. An important part of my life is that I am a member of the annual conference. The annual conference is a community of those who have been called to a life in ministry within the United Methodist Church in a particular geographic area. It is also an annual business meeting to order our life together.

I have encountered several feelings about life in the annual conference that I believe are myths. One of these myths is that as a clergy person I should be reluctant to share my personal life with colleagues because that person may some day be my supervisor as a District Superintendent one day.

This is complete garbage.

I believe that it is crucial to share my life with colleagues in ministry because the community of the annual conference is one of the most important, perhaps the most important, community of which I am a part as a United Methodist pastor. I do not care if someone may some day be my supervisor. I think that it is even more important for a supervisor to know who I am as a person. Avoiding relationship because of a potential supervisory role in the future is a myth of the annual conference.