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Commentary
GEN-X RISING: Gen-X’ers looking for ‘A Future with Hope’ Andrew C. Thompson, Apr 14, 2008
Andrew C. Thompson
By Andrew C. Thompson UMR Columnist
The theme of this year’s General Conference is “A Future with Hope.” For those Generation X and Millennial clergy who still have hope for the church’s future, tracking issues especially relevant to us is a good idea.
General Conference will take place April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. The nearly 1,000 delegates will be considering 1,564 pieces of proposed legislation.
As expected, a disproportionate number of the petitions deal with issues of sexuality and childbirth. And you can bet that most of the media attention around General Conference will focus on the inevitable struggle between the two parties on either side of the church’s great divide: those who want to keep the church’s doctrine in conformity to Scripture and the broad catholic tradition, and those who insist the church should better reflect the pluralistic, individualistic culture of wider American society.
Despite pleas from the bishops, one suspects that real holy conferencing will be difficult to attain.
The “hot-button” issues are as important for younger clergy as they are for anyone else. But we should not let them obscure other issues that could have tremendous bearing on how young adults think about and enter into the ordained ministry.
One of these issues is the system of so-called “guaranteed appointments” for all ordained elders. Currently, ineffective or even incompetent pastors who are elders in full connection have a right to be appointed.
But the Council of Bishops, together with the General Board of Discipleship and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, has submitted a petition to modify language about appointments expressed in the Book of Discipline. Under the proposed changes, elders can forfeit their rights to an appointment if they show a lack of effectiveness in ministry or refuse the appointment their bishop chooses for them.
While the language of effectiveness is a bit troubling—what does “effectiveness” mean, exactly?—the overall intent of the petition is a good one.
Some have warned about potential abuse of power by bishops armed with a newfound ability to deny appointments. But such a potential is far less of a threat to the church than the damage that is done by incompetent clergy who are moved annually, only to inflict their dysfunctions on congregation after congregation.
Young clergy who enter the ministry in their 20s are typically highly motivated and exhibit a clear sense of calling. They should recognize that such legislation promotes a higher standard of ministry among the clergy, which will positively impact their own careers and the churches they serve.
The other big issue that young clergy should pay attention to involves proposed changes to the ordination process. As a chronic topic of frustration for young clergy, the possibility that ordination candidacy could be humanized has raised significant hopes around the connection.
The Texas Annual Conference, in particular, has been pushing a grassroots effort on the Internet to support petitions designed to “simplify and streamline” the candidacy process by reducing some time limits, removing redundant steps and allowing annual conferences greater leeway in adapting the process to local conditions. (For information, go to www.txcumc.org/candidacystatement).
In the best-case scenario, the General Conference can make some of these changes without eliminating the healthy rigor needed to make sure we maintain an educated and called clergy. It’s a challenging task, but by no means impossible.
Gen X’ers were born between 1965 and 1982, so they’re now between 26 and 43 years old: the generation primed to take over the leadership of the United Methodist Church.
Millennials are right behind them. Born between 1983 and 2001, they are 25 years old and younger.
Clergy in these age groups are a precious resource the church will be relying upon heavily in the coming decades. The actions of General Conference may have a big impact on how the clergy in these groups will be shaped and molded.
Andrew C. Thompson
