JCD 1148

http://archives.umc.org/interior_judicial.asp?mid=263&JDID=1268&JDMOD=VWD&SN=1100&EN=1181

The Baltimore-Washington conference issue that could not be reviewed when JCM 1139 came down is again before the Council in good order.

The majority of the Council accepted jurisdiction (see the concurring opinion) and made it clear that lay people were not authorized to conduct church conferences in the place of superintendents or Elders assigned by the superintendent.

The bishop had chosen to say that the question of law was moot because it did not deal with any business of the conference. The dissenting opinion supports the bishop.

I welcome the flexibility of the Council to accept worthwhile questions of law as they did in JCD 1126 because they are in harmony with the intent of questions of law as described in the constitution (Paragraph 56.3).

This decision also reminds us that the tendency of Cabinets to minimize their personal contact with each congregation is not Disciplinary. Superintendents are getting to be fewer but with more responsibilities. Consequently, the rift between the conference and the local church grows wider and the clout of superintendents becomes nearly minimal in local churches. We do not have a congregational polity. But that is the direction we are headed.

I do not want to detract from the gifts and graces lay people could bring to conducting of charge conferences. As in preaching, they could outshine us professionals. But what is at issue is the relationship between the congregation and the superintendent whose main role is knowing the churches and the pastors in order to make good appointments and make sure those appointments succeed for both the pastors and the churches. Anything that disrupts that crucial connection needs to be set aside. The further superintendents are from their churches and pastors, the more interchangeable pastors will appear to be. The whole purpose of appointments is undermined when the Cabinet members do not feel they have to try to match the differing skills and experiences of the pastors with the needs of the respective churches.