wfn.org | Council of Bishops continues to explore leadership issues

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 13, 2001 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.     10-71B{529}

NOTE: For additional coverage of the United Methodist Council of Bishops'
meeting, see UMNS stories #520-525 and #528.

By Tom McAnally*

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Council of Bishops is
continuing to wrestle with questions about how to provide the most effective
leadership to the church, and whether that might include extending the term
of its president.

The council has no central office or staff.  It elects one of its active
bishops to serve as president for a one-year term. Its secretary serves a
four-year term in addition to the regular responsibilities of providing
leadership to a geographic area and the church at large.
 
During their Nov. 5-9 meeting, many of the bishops expressed support for
lengthening the president's term, but they also said it would be unfair for
an individual and his or her own area to have that added responsibility.
 
A constitutional amendment that would have allowed a bishop to be assigned
to full-time responsibility for the council was overwhelmingly approved by
annual conferences at one point in church history, but it failed to receive
the necessary two-thirds vote by General Conference delegates.

Critics have said that a bishop working full time for the council might be
seen as an "archbishop." Others contend it could disrupt the group's
collegiality.

In a presentation to the international council, retired Bishop Jack Tuell
said the denomination's history has been one of movement toward longer-term,
hands-on pastoral leadership. In contrast, he said, "one area of the
church's life which has been little touched by these missional shifts toward
longer-term pastoral leadership is in the general church, the whole
connection."  

To put it another way, Tuell said, "The church has given the pastor of a
local church a longer term in which to give leadership; it has given the
annual conference a 'pastor' in the form of a resident bishop who may serve
eight to 12 years; but the 'pastor' of the whole connection (the Council of
Bishops) is operating under a structure almost identical to that in effect
throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, which by its design negates the
possibility of long-term pastoral leadership and the most effective
missional outreach."

The need for reforming the council structure has been evident for decades,
he said. In 1968, the year of Methodist-Evangelical United Brethren union,
the council proposed a constitutional amendment saying "nothing herein shall
prevent assignment on a quadrennial basis of one bishop for full-time
responsibility in the Council of Bishops."  

The uniting conference voted to send the proposal to the annual conferences,
where it was approved by a vote of 21,699 to 5,585. Tuell noted that the
proposal was approved by about an 80 percent majority, far exceeding the
necessary two-thirds majority. When the vote was reported back to the 1970
special session of the General Conference, it failed to receive the
necessary two-thirds approval by delegates. The count was 454 in favor, 484
against.

Tuell, then president of the council, appointed a committee to study and
make recommendations for structure. The committee made a far-reaching
proposal that would have created the office of "presiding bishop." The
council didn't approve the idea, and the subject was dropped.

The council today finds itself being asked to provide greater leadership
both for the denomination and ecumenical bodies, Tuell said. "The frequent
rotation of officers and executive committee membership, coupled with lack
of staffing, make giving such leadership to 14 well-staffed general agencies
very difficult if not impossible."

As the council is now structured, it lacks the continuity of leadership and
direction that true pastoral leadership provides, he said.

The fears expressed in moving toward a presiding bishop often center on fear
of power, Tuell continued. "One retired bishop's speech during the debate on
the proposal 11 years ago, suggesting that the proposal violates the
principle of the equality of all bishops, was sufficient to defeat the
proposal."

The purpose of the plan was not to create an "archbishop" but to "enable the
whole Council of Bishops to effectively carry out its constitutional task of
'general oversight and promotion of the temporal and spiritual interests of
the entire church,'" he said, quoting from the church's constitution.

Several former council presidents spoke to the issue. "It is not how the
president leads the council but how the council leads the church and the
role of the president in that process," said Bishop Bill Oden of Dallas.
Like other former presidents, he said the church takes little notice of the
rotation of the council presidents. Several told of getting mail addressed
to the president years after their terms had ended.  

Oden, who serves as president of the governing board for United Methodist
Communications, said that in the present media age, "We need a spokesperson
for our denomination and for our own leadership."

Bishop Woodie White of Indianapolis said he was open to discussing a
four-year term for a "set-aside" bishop, but he would not favor a four-year
term for an active bishop under appointment to a geographic area. "The
volume of correspondence alone is a tremendous job," he said. "The longer
you stay in office, the more would come to your desk." 

Addressing the issue of power, Bishop Emerito Nacpil of the Philippines
said, "We would hope we would be known as a church led by a council, not a
presiding bishop."

Currently serving as president of the council is Bishop Elias Galvan of
Seattle. Serving a four-year term as secretary is Bishop Sharon Rader of the
church's Wisconsin Area. The council includes 50 active bishops from the
United States, 17 active bishops in Europe, Africa and the Philippines, and
about 50 retired bishops. Retired bishops have voice but do not vote during
business sessions. 
# # #
*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service, the church's
official news agency.

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United Methodist News Service
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