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Appointment-Making Values and Practices

In The United Methodist Church, the resident bishop is responsible for appointment-making in collaboration with the conference superintendents.  All appointments are prayerfully made to continue the church’s mission and vision of forming followers of Jesus Christ, who empowered by the Holy Spirit: love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously so that lives, communities, and the world are transformed by the healing and liberating love of Jesus Christ.

While appointment-making is a sacred task that occurs year-round, most appointments are made from January 15 through April 15. They are formally announced at the annual conference's regular session.

The following values guide the appointive cabinet in their discernment process for appointment-making:

• Pursue God’s vision for congregations and their communities.
• Match gifts, graces, and strengths, irrespective of credentials
• Honor our multi-faceted diversity
• Connectionalism
• Equity

During the appointment discernment process, the appointive cabinet pays special attention to the racial, ethnic, cultural, generational, and theological makeup of the congregation and the community they serve. The bishop and the superintendents also value pastors' personal needs. Pastors must share with their superintendent any personal issues that could impact an appointment through the pastoral profile, the advisory form, and the yearly One-on-One meeting, no later than December 1.

The appointive cabinet bases its appointments on:

1. God’s vision and missional opportunities in the community, congregation, and the conference.
2. A congregation’s willingness, passion, and track record of collaborating with pastoral leadership to faithfully move forward with God’s vision and mission for their community and congregation.
3. A pastor’s willingness, passion, ability, and track record of engaging congregations and the community in faithful collaborative ministry.

The appointive cabinet and the bishop also consider:

• The conflict level of the congregation and other sensitive issues that might be impacting the congregation’s health and missional impact.
• The congregation’s ability and track record of paying apportionments, pension, health benefits, and basic operational expenses.

As needed, the appointive cabinet will “right-size” a charge or align a congregation with another congregation to ensure long-term sustainability and presence in the community. 

New appointments are announced on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on the conference website.

Open Churches

In the United Methodist Church, pastoral appointments are fixed for one year. During the appointment season, the cabinet reviews ALL appointments. During the regular appointment season (January to May), the cabinet will post a list of the churches being considered for a new appointment on Wednesdays on the Conference website beginning January 15.

Clergy interested in being considered for one of these churches are to inform the episcopal office exclusively via email at bishopsoffice@unyumc.org by Thursday at 3 p.m. and share why they believe they would serve the congregation well. The appointive cabinet will prayerfully consider these requests during their discernment process.

Clergy communicating their interest in a church actively being considered by the cabinet,

• Must understand that requesting to be considered for an appointment is strictly advisory and does not guarantee you will be considered or appointed to the open church.

• Cannot, in any way, communicate with the members or the pastor of the open church to advocate on their behalf.

• Can be assured that their request to the cabinet will remain confidential, will not affect their current appointment, and will not be shared with your current church’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC).

• Clergy from other conferences must notify their resident bishop and district superintendent before inquiring or expressing interest in an open church.

Reconsiderations

Pastors and congregations may ask for reconsideration of an introduced appointment for missional reasons (serious concerns about the pastor’s or congregation’s ability to contextually spread personal and social holiness and lead the congregation in nurturing the five core ministries of worship, evangelism, faith formation, hands-on missions, and generosity). The following will not be considered: race, ethnic origin, gender, color, disability, marital status, age, or educational achievement of a pastor or congregation, as well as the location and size of a congregation. 

A pastor may request reconsideration by emailing their superintendent within 24 hours of being notified of the new appointment. A Staff Parish Relations Committee may request reconsideration by expressing their concerns at the introduction of the new pastor and then sending an email to their superintendent within 24 hours following the SPRC's introductory meeting with the new pastor. The email must identify the perceived missional reasons the appointment will inhibit the spreading of personal and social holiness and nurturing of new disciples in the community for the transformation of the world. Based on the pastor's reflections and prayer, the staff parish relations committee, and the superintendents, the bishop will decide on a request for reconsideration no later than 10 days after receiving it.