http://archives.umc.org/interior_judicial.asp?mid=263&JDID=1295&JDMOD=VWD&SN=1100&EN=1189
The Arkansas bishop was asked to rule on whether a pastor who received denominational financial help had to fulfill five years of service in the conference that helped the pastor get the student loan. The bishop ruled that even though the pastor started out in Tennessee, she was only obligated to do the five years somewhere in the connection. The Council pointed out that the funds were from the general church and that the conferences were just trustees of the fund. We have no idea how the Tennessee bishop would have ruled.
The Council may run into a turf dispute on this kind of situation in the future. Hopefully, they won’t because of the inclusion of the “trustee” factor. It will depend on how highly a bishop values a particular pastor.
And what a treat for the Council that the facts were uncontroverted!
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