wfn.org | Field Staff Phase Out

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3416 notes).

Note 3413 by UMNS on Feb. 5, 1997 at 15:53 Eastern (3458 characters).

SEARCH: field staff, UMCom, communications, Weidman
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Green                              59(10-71B){3413}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470              Feb. 5, 1997

Plan for improving services to annual conferences
calls for phasing out UMCom jurisdictional field staff

     
     NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- United Methodist Communications is
planning a new way to service the needs of annual conferences,
according to the agency's top executive Judith Weidman.
     In a statement here Feb. 4, she said the agency's governing
board meeting in April will be asked to phase out the UMCom field
staff -- one person in each of the five U.S. jurisdictions.
     In their place would be a three-member annual conferences
services staff based in Nashville and headed by an executive-level
staff person.
     With these changes, Weidman said UMCom will be able to
respond more effectively to requests from annual conferences that
need consultation and assistance with such needs as computer
technology, media crises and the future of print publications.
     The jurisdictional field staff positions were created in 1965
by the Commission on Promotion and Cultivation, a predecessor of
UMCom. Their primary purpose has been to interpret the churchwide
benevolence programs and funds. After UMCom was formed in 1972,
the field staff continued that task until 1988 when their
assignment was broadened to include communication
education/consultation.
     The change is being made after two years of study and outside
consultation, according to Weidman. The shift is being proposed
unanimously by an UMCom committee chaired by the Rev. Robert
Edgar, president of Claremont (Calif.) School of Theology, she
said. 
     "This is a systems issue," she said. "No one has been fired,
but it is important to remember that we have to look at developing
the best possible system to serve the annual conferences of the
church." 
     She said information from across the church indicated that
field staffers were recognized by people who work within the
states where they reside or in adjoining states, but not as well
by leaders in other states within the jurisdiction. 
     Weidman said that UMCom is looking to have a foot in each of
two worlds. On behalf of the church, UMCom does "umbrella
functions" such as national television and churchwide magazines,
she said. But, "the other foot needs to be firmly planted in
servicing the communications needs of the annual conferences, and
by extension, of the local churches."
     She said studies revealed the agency must: 
     * do a better job of making its services known;
     * provide help in the use of emerging technologies; and
     * help communicators network with each other.
     "There is a need for specialists out there now," Weidman
said. "We've programmed around generalists. Now another skill is
needed."
     The jurisdictional field staff members are Deanna K.
Armstrong, Kansas City, Mo.; the Rev. Ervin M. Dailey, Nashville,
Tenn.; Roderick Hargo, Dayton, Ohio; Donald K. Small, Phoenix,
Ariz.; and Paula Watson, Midland Park, N.J.
     Weidman said she hopes that the leadership for the annual
conference services unit could be in place by Sept. 1.
                              #  #  #   

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