wfn.org | First draft of CPT report to be released in mid-February

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Jan. 26, 1999	Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{043}

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Initial agreements were reached here Jan. 15-18 on
first steps in a "transformational direction" for the United Methodist
Church. 

The recommendations will appear in the first draft of a report to be
released mid-February by the Connectional Process Team (CPT).  The 38-member
group was created by the 1996 General Conference to "manage, guide, and
promote a transformational direction" for the denomination.  Among its
tasks, the team  was asked to propose organizational forms for the church
and to consider its global nature. Chairperson of the international body is
Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher, Springfield, Ill. 

At their next meeting in September, CPT members will use responses from
across the church to create a final draft, which will be submitted for
action to the next General Conference  in Cleveland May 2-12, 2000.

"CPT understands this first draft to be a launching pad for dialogue and
discernment about who God is calling us to be in a new century," Christopher
told United Methodist News Service.  "We are inviting the church to examine
this document not from narrow self-interest but from God's vision for life,
lived personally and socially."  

In preparation for the final report, she said the CPT is asking the entire
church  to "improve this first draft for God's sake and not for the sake of
individual agenda."  

Regarding the most recent meeting, Christopher said the team moved to
"deeper clarity about the nature of covenant community that is found at the
heart of our United Methodist life." That nature, she added, is expressed in
"conferencing" and extends to clergy relationships.

In a section on church structure, a United Methodist Global Conference of
about 500 members is being propose. It would meet every four years and be
composed of four members (half lay, half clergy) from every annual
conference and two members from every provisional conference.  

To achieve balance in global representation, the CPT is recommending that no
single continental region (North America, Europe, Africa or Asia) have more
than 50 percent of the total number of delegates. 

A Covenant Council for Global  Ministry and Mission is being proposed to
guide the church in its global work of nurture, outreach, witness and
leadership development. The council would  assume responsibility for all
work done beyond the geographical borders of the United States. This
includes the international work being managed currently by several of the
church's 14 agencies.  For the first four years (2001-2004) the council
would be directly accountable to the Council of Bishops.

The United States would become a central conference, a title now used for
geographic areas of the church in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. The
denomination has 8.5 million members in the United States and more than 1
million in the other countries.

"As we consider a new structure for the United Methodist Church, we believe
that the era of unequal and dependent relationships has ended and the time
for partnership and mutual accountability has begun," the CPT members say in
their draft.

Under the proposal, the U.S. Central Conference would meet every four years.
Its membership would be determined on the same formula as the current
General Conference, but the total would be smaller since delegates from
outside the United States would not be included. The five current geographic
jurisdictional conferences in the United States would be known as U.S.
regional conferences.  Their primary responsibility would continue to be the
election and assignment of bishops.  Bishops would be consecrated as leaders
of the entire church during sessions of the Global Conference.

In order to avoid another layer of decision-making, the draft calls for
clear designation of authority and responsibilities for the global and
central conferences.  One challenge identified by the CPT is the
determination of which parts of the current Book of Discipline most
appropriately relate to the Global Conference and which portions should
relate to the central conferences to allow for appropriate regional
variations.  Another challenge is determining appropriate content for the
church's Social Principles.  CPT members declare, "It is time to reexamine
our Social Principles to determine their global applicability."

A Covenant Council for the U.S. Central Conference would be created by the
2000 General Conference.  It would include three U.S. bishops, four
representatives from each U.S. region (jurisdiction), general secretaries of
all boards and agencies, two CPT members, one elected member from each of
the general agencies, and  two people chosen for their expertise and
experience in each of four functions identified as necessary in a
transformed church. These are: leadership development;  communications and
resourcing; global ministries, mission, and social advocacy and justice
issues; and administration and finance and stewardship. Additional members
could be added to ensure age, gender, lay/clergy and racial balance. The
U.S. Central Conference Covenant Council will be staffed during the first
four years by a full-time staff person and an organizational consultant
hired under contract, plus other staff persons as needed.

The U.S. Central Conference will have responsibility for a process to align
the work of the general agencies, the structural accountability and
membership beyond 2004.  Work of the agencies will be merged into four
functions identified by CPT as belonging to the Central Conference.  It will
make its report to the 2004 General  Conference.  

After establishing the Covenant Council for Global Ministry and Mission to
serve the entire denomination, CPT is recommending that  the essential
functions currently within the General Council on Ministries be reassigned
to the U.S. Central Conference Covenant Council.   General secretaries who
would normally be forced to retire after 12 years of service because of a
rule adopted by the 1988 General Conference, would be asked to stay on under
contract to help with the four-year transition period. While many of the
details about general agencies are yet to be worked out, the CPT went on
record favoring the reduction in size of elected boards. Function of the
agencies will be merged into the four functions.  

The office of bishop and district superintendent are "pivotal positions in a
transformed church," according to the CPT's draft.  Concern is expressed
that an increasing administrative workload is preventing bishops from
providing strong spiritual and prophetic leadership. It is recommended that
they reduce their responsibilities with general agencies and other
connectional bodies and model spiritual leadership more in their annual
conference.  The issue of inadequate staff support for bishops is also noted
in the report. 

The CPT backed off of an earlier suggestion that bishops have voice but no
vote for the first four years after their retirement, after which they would
have neither.  Instead of this approach, the body is recommending that the
pattern of participation of retired bishops be left up to the council
itself.  By the year 2004, it was reported that there could be 104 retired
bishop and 68 active bishops. Currently there are 68 active bishops and 70
retired bishops.

The status of retired clergy in the annual conference also consumed a lot of
time during the CPT meeting.  Members, with some reluctance, agreed to test
with the church the proposal that clergy persons would have voice and vote
in the annual conference for four years after they retire, after which they
would have no voice or vote.  Exceptions would be retired clergy serving
local churches. 

Trina Bose, San Diego, one of CPT's youngest members, voiced objection to
the proposal, saying it "smacks of ageism."  On the other hand, the Rev.
Jack Loflin, a retired clergyman from Mississippi, said it is time for older
clergy to "step aside" and let younger people in active ministry determine
vision for the future.  By the year 2001, he said there will be as many
retired clergy as there are active. 

CPT members decided not to remove guaranteed appointment for clergy but
said, "the time has come to deal more effectively and compassionately with
ministers who need to move on to other vocational calls.  

Some members argued that the words "guaranteed appointment" are not in the
current Book of Discipline and that provisions are adequate for dealing with
ineffective clergy.  Others pointed to input from both bishops and district
superintendents who said the process to remove ineffective clergy is
unwieldy and that a few "bad apples" are "destroying" church after church.
Before their next meeting, the CPT plans to consult with several groups in
the church on this matter, including the Council of Bishops.

Covenant councils would be the centerpiece at every level of church life but
CPT members stress they are not mandating  structure but a "relational
experience" where everyone is represented at a common table.

At the close of their session here,  CPT members developed a detailed plan
for getting feedback from annual conferences, autonomous and affiliated
churches, central conferences,  general agencies, bishops and other across
the church.  A complete text of the first draft will be posted on the CPT's
Web page as soon as it is available: http://www.umc.org/CPT.

Aileen Williams of Rochester, Minn., said the church will receive from CPT a
process, not a final product which shows where the church will be in the
future.  "We are giving the church a transformational direction... we are
entering a journey together not saying this is the way it should be."

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