As I was composing yesterday’s entry I realized that I was inadvertently wandering into the realm of jargon esoteric to the Methodists. Since this monologue is primarily for my own therapeutic edification I decided to briefly describe the structure and polity of this uniquely American denomination. What began as a grassroots movement gradually evolved into the bureaucratic monstrosity that exists today.
Laypersons become members of a local parish that is headed by a pastor-in-charge. If that pastor holds only a local pastor’s license s/he is also a member of that local congregation. Local churches are grouped geographically into districts which are headed by superintendents that are appointed by the presiding bishop of the Annual Conference. For the most part, these Annual Conferences are also determined by geography, and the resident bishop for each Annual Conference is elected by the General Conference which meets quadrennially (GC is the big enchilada of Methodism). When a pastor is ordained by an Annual Conference s/he gives up membership in the local church to become a member of the Conference. Much like the military, the ordained pastor agrees to go wherever the resident bishop appoints her or him, just as local congregations agree to accept whoever is appointed to their parish by the bishop. Local church property is held in trust by the Annual Conference (which turns out to be a nifty way of keeping control over renegade parishioners).
This is more than anyone ever wanted to know about The United Methodist Church, but it is basic to a better understanding of the institutional challenges that confront anyone who believes that they should respond to their calling through the UMC. If I had known then what I know now, I probably would have gone ahead and endured the ecclesiastical gauntlet anyway, but an objective outsider would certainly be justified in wondering why?
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