wfn.org | Bishops told trust must be reestablished at all church levels

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 1, 1998	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
(275}

By Robert Lear*

LINCOLN, Neb. (UMNS)--Trust between United Methodist congregations and
the church at the national and world level must be re-established if the
denomination is to realize its potential in ministry, the church's
Council of Bishops was told April 30 here.
	
"Trust is crucial to giving and trust appears to be strained in the
church today between both clergy and laity," asserted a report from a
church-wide task force conducting a four-year study of funding patterns.
Bishop Alfred L. Norris, Albuquerque, N.M., heads the study panel which
is related to the General Council on Finance and Administration.
	
The preliminary report distributed to the bishops said that the lack of
trust is broader than money issues, although it noted that a few
congregations have decided to temporarily withhold their contributions
to the general church.  "It is difficult to know at this time whether
this is a momentary blip on the screen or the beginning of a significant
trend," the  report said.
	
Another "significant finding" in the study so far "is that a higher
value is being placed today on local ministries.  The farther away the
mission or ministry seems to be from the local church, the greater the
difficulty in establishing credibility and trust...."
	
The report asserts that a new holistic approach is called for with a
church "that is flexible, offering many services and options -- a church
which helps people cope with the profound changes facing our society."
A key question posed in the report is "how do we get local churches to
feel a sense of ownership and pride in what they are supporting?"
	
Among the task force's preliminary recommendations is making stewardship
an emphasis for the 2000-2004 quadrennium, with a similar theme for the
2000 General Conference.  "As opposed to a theology based on scarcity,
we want to affirm a dynamic theology of abundance based on God's
manifold blessings," the report concludes.
The task force report included extensive data presented by Donald R.
House, an economist at Texas A & M, and a task force member.  The
statistics dealt with topics such as membership, church attendance, and
contributions as a percent of family income, spending at both
congregational and national church levels, and formulas by which
apportionments to local churches are calculated.
  	
"Membership is falling, but people are giving a higher percentage of
their income," House told the bishops. 
	
In another report looking to the future of the church, a team studying
church structures said that "to be truly alive, we (must) embrace Jesus'
mandate to make disciples of all peoples."
	
If the "church is to provide spiritual leaders, clergy and lay for
congregations," the report asserts, "we must begin at the grassroots by
connecting clergy and congregations together in small geographic
covenant communities."             

Goal of the task force, according to the report, "is to find ways to
focus all activities (at the annual conference and general church level)
to support the work of local congregations and to carry out essential
church functions that cannot occur at the local level....
	
"In terms of organization and structure we are striving to avoid
additional layers of bureaucracy that might stifle our core task of
disciple making and our call to serve the world."
	
Specific recommendations are yet to be developed.  The task force will
report to the 2000 General Conference.

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*Lear is a retired staff member of United Methodist News Service who
resides in Wernersville, Pa.

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