DECEMBER 2010


ThE WEsT ViRGinia UniTED METhODisT • www.wvumc.org


Bishops urged to embrace change


By Heather Hahn, UMNS


United Methodist bishops need to transcend the sta- tus quo and abandon church structures and practices that are not working, Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster said Nov. 2 in his presidential address to the Council of Bishops. “By our decisions and actions


this week in Panama, we will either lean into the future or content ourselves with more of the same,” Goodpaster told the crowd of more than 80 active and retired bishops from around the global church. “Many of us are convinced that what we have in place will work if we try hard- er, give more or change a few of the players. Tat’s a recipe for further decline.” On Nov. 3-4, the council will


discuss the recommendations in the Call to Action Steering Team report, which recom- mends widespread reforms in the church from consolidat- ing general church agencies to


UMns fiLE PhOTO/ROnny PERRy


United Methodist Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster urged the denomi- nation’s bishops, meeting in Panama City, Panama, to focus on what is about to happen rather than what has always been.


holding bishops and clergy ac- countable for church growth. Some of the suggested changes


require legislation at General Conference, the church’s top law- making body, which will next meet in 2012. But bishops can begin now by leading the charge in helping the church discern a better future, Goodpaster said. He quoted the Call to Action


report, which said, “Leaders, beginning with the bishops … must lead and immediately, repeatedly and energetically make it plain that our cur- rent culture and practices are resulting in overall decline that is toxic and constricts our missional effectiveness.” To heed God’s direction for the church, Goodpaster asked


the bishops to join him in fasting and prayer every week from now until General Con- ference. He suggested the bish- ops follow the example set by John Wesley, who fasted every Tursday evening and Friday. He also asked the bishops to


host monthly conversations among clergy and laypeople about how once again to be- come “a movement of Christ … that, by God’s grace, trans- forms the world.” In the wake of decades-long


membership declines in the United States, the Council of Bishops and Connectional Table created the 16-member Call to Action Steering Team, which includes clergy and laity, to reorder the life of the church for greater effectiveness in the church’s mission to “make dis- ciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Te group’s recommenda-


tions include: • Starting in January 2011,


make congregational vitality the church’s “true first prior- ity” for at least a decade.


• Dramatically reform cler-


gy leadership development, deployment, evaluation and accountability. Tis would include dismissing ineffective clergy and sanctioning under- performing bishops.


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ways for the denomination to measure attendance, growth and engagement. “We should passionately care about re- sults,” the group said.


•Reform the Council of


Bishops, with the active bish- ops assuming responsibility for promoting congregational vitality and for establishing a new culture of accountability throughout the church.


•Consolidate general church


agencies and align their work and resources with the pri- orities of the church and the decade-long commitment to build vital congregations. Also, the agencies should be reconstituted with smaller, competency-based boards. Bishop Rosemarie Wenner


of Germany, who will succeed Goodpaster as the next presi- dent of the Council of Bishops, said she is looking forward to the weekly corporate fasting. Wenner said she is eager to know how bishops can help their con- gregations gain vitality and help the church overall overcome its fear of structural change. “If we are going to lead the


church,” Goodpaster said af- ter his speech, “the spiritual foundation has to be front and center.”


• Collect statistical informa- tion in consistent and uniform


hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist news service.


Got photos to share from Fall Workshop? Upload them at www.facebook.com/wvumc


yOUTh faLL WORKshOP


PhOTO By LaURa aLLEn More than 300 youth from all parts of the West Virginia Conference gathered at Cedar Lakes near Ripley Nov. 19-21 for Youth Fall Workshop. This year’s theme, Square One with God, was designed to re- mind youth that when life gets tough, they can always lean on God to see them through.


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