WELCOME!

Associates in Advocacy now has two sites on the internet. Our primary help site is at http://www.aiateam.org/. There AIA seeks to offer aid to troubled pastors, mainly those who face complaints and whose careers are on the line.

Help is also available to their advocates, their caregivers, Cabinets, and others trying to work in that context.

This site will be a blog. On it we will address issues and events that come up.

We have a point of view about ministry, personnel work, and authority. We intend to take the following very seriously:

THE GOLDEN RULE
THE GENERAL RULES
GOING ONTO PERFECTION

Some of our denomination's personnel practices have real merit. Some are deeply flawed. To tell the difference, we go to these criteria to help us know the difference.

We also have a vision of what constitutes healthy leadership and authority. We believe it is in line with Scripture, up-to-date managerial practice, and law.

To our great sadness, some pastors who become part of the hierarchy of the church, particularly the Cabinet, have a vision based on their being in control as "kings of the hill," not accountable to anyone and not responsible to follow the Discipline or our faith and practice. They do not see that THE GOLDEN RULE applies to what they do.

If you are reading this, the chances are you are not that way. We hope what we say and do exemplify our own best vision and will help you fulfill yours. But we cannot just leave arrogance, incompetence, and ignorance to flourish. All of us have the responsibility to minimize those in our system.

We join you in fulfilling our individual vow of expecting to be perfect in love in this life and applying that vow to our corporate life in the United Methodist Church.

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

If you have any questions or suggestions, direct them to Rev. Jerry Eckert. His e-mail address is aj_eckert@hotmail.com. His phone number is 941 743 0518. His address is 20487 Albury Drive, Port Charlotte, FL 33952.

Thank you.

(9/26/07)


Tuesday, July 20, 2021

JCD 1416

 ee.umc.org/decisions/81539

Having It Both ways

 

The Greater New Jersey bishop was peppered with questions of law over the special-called conference session and its report of a committee recommending steps that should be taken to follow up on the 2019 General Conference.

 

Someone asked the bishop if one of the recommendations was contrary to the Discipline, the one saying the Cabinet should recognize the congregational covenants in making appointments.  The covenants were, in practice, exclusively supportive of LGBTQIA+ issues and personnel so the bishop had to acknowledge that it was indeed contrary to the Discipline.  He so ruled and the Council supported him.

 

As pointed out in the commentaries on most of the other decisions coming out of this one annual conference, the apparent purpose of the report to the special session of the conference for Greater New Jersey had been to show full support for the homosexual and transgender community while avoiding anything said from becoming church law.

 

The impact of the report and of the voting on the ten recommendations was clear even if the bishop could then say, “Nothing happened.”  

 

The most vulnerable of the recommendations was number 7 because it gave a specific direction to the Cabinet that could have restricted the Cabinet’s discretion in making appointments.

 

I see it as aspirational since Cabinets are supposed to be fully aware of the temperament of the congregations and take that into account anyway in their deliberations.  But the bishop chose the same cloak, no vote on the report as a whole but if it had been voted upon, then number 7 was contrary to the Discipline.

 

That he could write that as his response to the question of law really was no skin off his nose.  The mindset of the Cabinet under his jurisdiction could leave number 7 as an unstated motivation.  I think the arcane technicalities of church law have been used to provide cover so that the conference leaders could do what their consciences said to do, given the negative context toward the LGBTQIA+ community laid down by General Conference, especially the latest iteration coming from the 2019 meeting.


 

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