What's Ahead at General Conference (3-31-12)

Restructuring the United Methodist Church is the last-ditch effort at a takeover attempt for the ministries of the church,” Steve Clunn told a packed room of Dumbartonians. Draft legislation, if enacted at General Conference (April 24-May 4), will put power into the hands of a few people and create a colonial, hierarchical, and centralized denomination, he said.

According to Clunn, Coalition Coordinator at the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), changing the structure will not make individual congregations more vital. “What it will do is shift around money, resources, and energy,” he said.

Instead of the current move to combine 10 boards and agencies into one, MFSA proposes four centers: Resources, Justice and Reconciliation, Congregational Development, and Global Mission. At each of these centers, a 33-member board would have oversight and determine budgets.

Clunn raised these additional concerns about restructuring and other tough challenges facing General Conference decisionmakers in Tampa, Fla.:

• Measuring  clergy effectiveness by one’s alignment with draft legislation is “punitive.” Instead, it should be measured by a peer-review process and should mandate documented records;

• General Conference should be more of a worldwide event;

• Proposed legislation does not address the role and accountability of bishops and laity;

• Some parts of the draft legislation are being implemented before General Conference approval;

• Larger churches are not necessarfily the most vital. (Most United Methodist congregations have no more than 200 members).

--By Ginny Finch