wfn.org | Proposed reorganization gets mixed reaction

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

Feb. 19, 1999 Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615) 742-5470* Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B {093}

By Robert Lear*

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (UMNS) - Members of a key United Methodist agency
have mixed reactions to a proposal for reorganizing the church.

The Conciliar Forum, a group of officers and governing members of the United
Methodist General Council on Ministries (GCOM), discussed the plan at a Feb.
15-17 meeting. GCOM is the denomination's chief program coordinating agency.

The plan was drafted by the church's Connectional Process Team (CPT) and
will be distributed widely across the denomination this month.  In
September, CPT members will prepare the final version that will go to the
2000 General Conference in Cleveland, May 2-12. General Conference is the
top lawmaking body of the church.

William S. Hatcher of Statesboro, Ga., a member of both GCOM and CPT,
presented the report at the Conciliar Forum's meeting.

Consensus is not an easy thing to reach in the church, but changes are
needed, Hatcher said. "We cannot keep doing business as usual and expect to
survive. There must be some changes -- all parts of the church must be
Christ-centered ... and that cannot be legislated."

One member of the Conciliar Forum said the recommendations being developed
for General Conference by the CPT could start a needed revolution in the 9.5
million-member church. "We talk about being inclusive without doing anything
about it," said the Rev. Danita R. Anderson of Aurora, Ill.

Others weren't so sure. The Rev. William T. Carter of New York City called
some of the proposals "very cold -- not about who we are or what we do."
The Rev. John D. Cooke of East Aurora, N.Y., said, "Let's not add another
layer of bureaucracy."

The first draft of the CPT report, running to an estimated 22,000 words, and
a response document are being mailed across the church and will be available
on the church's Web page www.umc.org/CPT. The 38-member CPT was created by
the 1996 General Conference to "manage, guide and promote a transformational
direction" for the denomination as it moves into the 21st century.

Among other things, the CPT draft calls for a "United Methodist Global
Conference" of about 500 members representing every annual conference in the
United States, Africa, Europe and the Philippines and meeting every four
years.  A "Covenant Council for Global Ministry and Mission" would guide the
church in global outreach and witness.

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 five U.S. jurisdictions would become regions, and election and
assignment of bishops would be their primary function. General boards as now
constituted would be reformed into a "Covenant Council" for the U.S. Central
Conference.

Carolyn E. Johnson of West Lafayette, Ind., an associate leader of the
Conciliar Forum, questioned whether the CPT believes the church's general
agencies are interested only in programs and not in making disciples.
"Where," she asked, "is the evidence?"

The report "has the feel of a negotiated document--almost  like: 'Ah ha, we
got this done by deadline time,'" Johnson said.

Review of the CPT draft was a major item on the Conciliar Forum's agenda at
the meeting at Epworth-by-the-Sea, a setting on the island where John and
Charles Wesley lived and worked for a time. Remembrances of the Wesleys were
woven into worship periods of the forum.

Other discussions focused on evaluating the GCOM's visit to central
conferences and the council's meeting last fall at a United Methodist
retreat center in Switzerland. Also receiving attention was distribution of
a 12-point statement on "Fulfilling Christ's Mission in the Life of The
United Methodist Church." (See UMNS #647, Nov. 4, 1998, for full text.)

C. David Lundquist, GCOM's top staff executive, said the statement is
intended to build "common ownership for a common direction for mission and
ministry" during the 2001-2004 quadrennium, and to identify financial
resources to support these ministries. The 12 points are the result of two
churchwide consultations and the ongoing work of GCOM.

Reviewing the GCOM "global experience" of 1998, forum members agreed on the
need to focus on mutual ministry with annual conferences outside the United
States. Better communication and more financial support should be included
in that effort. "Are we doing resourcing before we find out the needs?" one
forum member asked.

GCOM should facilitate conversations with leaders in central conferences,
and support bishops who are moving to link annual conferences in the United
States with those in other countries, forum members said.

The full General Council on Ministries will hold its spring meeting April
23-27 at Lake Junaluska, N.C.  A forum on spiritual leadership will be a
major agenda item.

#  #  #

*Lear is retired director of the Washington office of United Methodist News
Service.

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