wfn.org | UMNS# 04056-New Connectional Table plans state-of-church report

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New Connectional Table plans state-of-church report

Jan. 24, 2005	 News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {04056}

NOTE: Photographs and related coverage, UMNS stories #057-058, are
available at http://umns.umc.org.

By J. Richard Peck*

SAN DIEGO (UMNS) - An annual state-of-the-church report will be
presented to members of the United Methodist Church around the world.

That's the first major decision made by the newly created "Connectional
Table," meeting Jan. 20-23.

The 60-member body, comprising staff executives and officers of
denominational agencies and representatives of ethnic caucuses and
jurisdictions around the world, invited the Council of Bishops to join
in preparing the annual statement. If the bishops agree, the first
report would be issued in 2006.

The Connectional Table was created last April by General Conference, the
top legislative body of the 11-million member denomination. Delegates to
that gathering eliminated the General Council on Ministries, a Dayton,
Ohio,-based agency that had served as the program coordinating agency
since the Methodist Church and Evangelical United Brethren Church merged
in 1968.

General Conference delegates made it clear that the Connectional Table
would not become another agency but would represent a new way of
discerning and articulating a vision for the global church. The table
was also asked to ensure that the church is a careful steward of
resources for mission and ministry.

Bishop John Hopkins of the Ohio East Area was named by the Council of
Bishops to serve as chairman of the Connectional Table. In his opening
remarks, Hopkins noted that the church is in the liturgical season of
Epiphany, when wise men visited the Christ child and returned to their
homes by another way.

"We are modern magi who have come to experience God's love, and our
expectations are high," Hopkins said. "I don't expect the journey of the
Connectional Table will be easy, but our goal is to help people know who
Jesus is."

The advantage of having people from around the world gather about a
common table became apparent following a report on a recent visit to
Indonesia by the Rev. R. Randy Day, top staff executive of the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

After Day told of the need to rebuild churches in Banda Aceh and
Meulaboh, Bishop Michael Coyner of the Indiana Area pledged $150,000 to
rebuild a church/community center/clinic in Banda Aceh, where the Dec.
26 tsunami killed more than 92,000 people. The Rev. Carl Schenck, pastor
of the 3,500-member Manchester (Mo.) United Methodist Church and a
member of the Connectional Table, followed suit by pledging $50,000 of
the $100,000 needed to build a similar facility in Meulaboh, where 80
percent of the town was destroyed and the same percentage of the 50,000
residents died.

To ensure that members of the table have an understanding of what is
happening in all areas of the world, the 21 representatives from U.S.
annual (regional) conferences will contact leaders of 42 neighboring
conferences, and the seven representatives of seven areas outside the
United States will contact churches in neighboring communities and
nations. Findings will be reported to the table before the preparation
of a state-of-the-church report.

Throughout the four-day gathering, table members met in 10 covenant
groups, which will continue to convene at the table's next seven
meetings for the next three years. In these groups, members shared
personal concerns along with hopes and dreams for the newly created
body. Discussing what should be included in a state of the church
report, covenant groups suggested reports on membership and finances and
comparisons with other years and environmental factors, new church
starts and nurturing ministries, mission efforts, relationships with
social-service agencies and major emphases.

The gathering's agenda was established by a 10-member Transition Team,
chaired by Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher.

That group also handled all the details related to closing the GCOM
offices in Dayton. The building, which once housed offices of the
Evangelical United Brethren Church before the 1968 merger, is on the
market with an estimated value of almost $1 million. With few tenants
still occupying the building, the church is operating the structure at a
loss of $5,000 a month.

With help from Irene Howard, general counsel for the denomination's
General Council on Finance and Administration, the Transition Team
transferred all GCOM assets and liabilities to denominational trustees
and drafted articles of incorporation for the Connectional Table.
Individual severance dates were set for each of the 13 GCOM employees,
with the last person terminated Dec. 31. Team members expressed thanks
to Dan Church, former top staff executive of GCOM, who helped the team
through the process of closing the agency.

Hopkins told members that he had developed a checklist for the
Connectional Table:

·	Confront reality and discern a vision for the church.
·	Focus on Christian formation with the Council of Bishops, including
Kerygma (proclaiming the Gospel), Kononia (developing nurturing
communities) and Diakonia (engaging in servant ministries).
·	Form a respectful learning community.
·	Appreciate the strength of the church at all levels.
·	Understand the flow of resources in the church.
·	Understand the work of general agencies.
·	Understand how conferences develop healthy churches.
·	Support efforts to coordinate programs and budgets.
·	Share a vision with the 2008 General Conference.

In other sessions, members of the table:

·	Agreed to allow the chairperson to create an advisory team of three
to five people to select staff and plan for future meetings.
·	Agreed that because of the uniqueness of the table, no proxies would
be allowed to attend when representatives from caucuses, agencies or
jurisdictions are unable to attend a meeting.
·	Heard the Rev. Russell Richey, dean of Candler School of Theology in
Atlanta, urge members to "live into its vocation," finding ways to hold
the denomination together and guiding the church in its mission.
·	Agreed to read and discuss by e-mail one of three books: The Ice
Cube Is Melting: What is Really at Risk in United Methodism by Lyle
Schaller; The World Parish? Hopes and Challenges of the UMC in a Global
Setting by Bruce Robbins; and Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to
Get Things Right by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan.
·	Began the meeting with a service of Holy Communion and concluded
with a love feast.

# # #

*Peck, a clergy member of the United Methodist Church's New York Annual
(regional) Conference, is a correspondent for United Methodist News
Service. He served as the staff person for the General Council on
Ministries' writing team that prepared the Connectional Table
legislation for the 2004 General Conference.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org