What's a Rockbrook?

There is a particular protocol within The United Methodist Church for being appointed. It begins with a telephone call from the superintendent of the district in which the prospective appointment is located. In the spring of 1988 my call came from the Reverend Donald Bredthauer whom Mary and I both knew as a former associate at First UMC in Lincoln. Don was now superintendent of the Omaha District, and there was an opening for an associate pastor at the somewhat prestigious Rockbrook UMC on Omaha’s west side. The senior pastor, Richard Carter, was unhappy with his current associate, the Reverend Patrick Culligan, and was looking to replace him (this scenario will eerily be repeated nearly ten years later). Viola! Enter stage west the fledgling local pastor for whom the choice between Williams, Arizona and Omaha, Nebraska was a genuine no-brainer. For what I later discovered was more to maintain the appearance of consulting the local congregation than anything else, it was arranged for me to fly to Omaha to meet with Rockbrook’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC). I say that this is just going through the paces for good reason. The principals involved (the bishop, the district superintendent, and the senior pastor in charge) have already met and agreed to the prospective appointment which is then presented to the local congregation not on the basis of would you like to consider this appointee but rather here is your opportunity to meet the person we have selected for you. The SPRC could theoretically reject the proposed appointment but it would be much to the local congregation’s detriment for having challenged the authority of the bishop, etc. It was, therefore, perfunctorily agreed that the Nebraska Annual Conference would welcome my local pastor’s license with open arms so long as I would attempt to work with the Reverend Richard G. Carter.