Greetings to clergy and laity of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference:

 

 

Many United Methodists have been awaiting The United Methodist's Judicial Council ruling on whether or not the General Conference's legislation to eliminate "guaranteed appointments" (a phrase that's not used in the Book of Discipline but has historically insured that all clergy of good standing will be appointed) would be constitutional and stand as disciplinary. The ruling was officially released as of Monday, October 29, 2012.

The Judicial Council ruled that it was unconstitutional to remove the historic "guaranteed appointment" and any disciplinary language in the new Book of Discipline that allowed for it. You can read the ruling by clicking here.

My response is largely the same as if it had been ruled the other way! That is to say that the elimination of "guaranteed appointments" was not on my "top list of legislation" that I wanted passed at General Conference. There is already a process for removing ineffective clergy and the legislation only added more requirements to it.  Also, the Northern Illinois Conference has a statement on clergy effectiveness (click here to read) which is the guide to determining who is fit for ministry. 

One of the potential unintended consequences to the elimination of "guaranteed appointment" that I was concerned about was that in a time when we need to foster a culture of experimentation, it might actually work against the encouragement of innovation if clergy would fear taking risks that could fail.

Individual clergy as well as the annual conference itself should be taking risks, doing innovative ministry, and learning from the mistakes/failures we encounter. There is a quote attributed to the futurist Alvin Toffler that speaks to my philosophy on effective ministry and that is, "illiteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and write, but by those who cannot learn and relearn." Clergy need to keep learning and retooling for changing times.

I'm sure some of you gave a big sigh of relief after the ruling, but it wasn't going to make a big difference one way or another for me. I pray for all clergy to be "literate" in change and innovation so that all of us - and I do include me - will be faithful and fruitful in our ministry.


Sally Dyck
Resident Bishop
Northern Illinois Conference