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Appointment-Making Values and Practices

In the United Methodist Church, the resident bishop, in collaboration with the conference superintendents, is responsible for appointment-making. A pastor, a committee on pastor-parish relations, a district superintendent, or a bishop may initiate a request for a change in appointment.

All appointments are prayerfully made to continue the church’s mission of nurturing passionate disciples of Jesus Christ that embody love, mercy, and justice for the transformation of the world.

While appointment-making is a sacred task that occurs year-round, most appointments are made from January 15 through April 15 and formally announced at the regular session of the Annual Conference.

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 personal issues that could impact an appointment through the pastoral profile, advisory form, and yearly One-on-One meeting no later than December 1st.

The appointive cabinet base 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 the mission and God’s vision for their community and congregation.
3. A pastor’s willingness, passion, ability, and track record 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.

When deciding on appointments, the appointive cabinet prayerfully considers the following three mission-critical questions:

1. Do the potential pastor's core beliefs, spiritual gifts, skills, and experiences intersect with the congregation and community's needs, hopes, and aspirations?
2. Is the potential pastor’s leadership style and personality suitable for the congregation and the community?
3. Will this appointment maximize disciple-making in the context of the congregation?

New appointments are announced on Wednesday at 1:00 PM on the conference website.

Open Churches

During the regular appointment season (January to May), the cabinet will post a list of the open churches being considered on Wednesdays on the Conference website beginning January 15.

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

Clergy communicating their interest in an open church,

• 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 of 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).

• If serving in another conference, notify your resident bishop and district superintendent before inquiring with UNY.

Reconsiderations

Pastors and congregations may ask for reconsideration of an introduced appointment based on 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 ask for reconsideration by emailing their superintendent within 24 hours of being notified about the new appointment. A Staff Parish Relations Committee may ask for 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 introductory meeting with the SPRC. The email must identify the perceived 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 ten days after receiving the request.