07 Mar Pastoral Ministry Team – What It’s Been Doing

The PMLT meeting in February. Chairman Tom Brodbeck is on the right.
The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team was created by the 2005 US National Conference to oversee the licensing and ordination process and give leadership to the professional development of our ministers. Bishop Ron Ramsey appointed Tom Brodbeck as chairperson.
This group has met twice, most recently on February 27-28, 2006. Tom Brodbeck reports the following:
Summary of Decisions Made.

• We reaffirmed the action of the US National Conference that the sections on “Ministry” from the 2001-2005 Discipline, plus the denomination’s official statements on theological issues, will constitute the Pastoral Ministry Handbook. Theological issues included so far are: Depravity, Divine Foreknowledge, Destiny of the Unevangelized, the 1974 statement on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and an 1977 statement on the Word of God. We are in the process of editing the sections from Discipline for posting on the website.
• We appointed PMLT team members as chairmen of regional Ministerial Licensing and Ordination Teams. With this format, we will be able to have up to ten regional teams trained and ready to interview and assess ministerial candidates, with a consistency in interview style and outcome. Each chairman is submitting names to the bishop for approval as additional team members. Each team will establish two interview dates (one in May, one in October) to be announced to the church.

“To Do” List

• Review the delivery system and expected outcomes for United Brethren Church history.
• Review and confirm the names of the ministers who are in licensing process from each of the conferences
• Re-think all of the licensing options provided within the US church.
• Review and revise recruitment materials and develop (with the Bishop) a comprehensive strategy for recruiting new ministers.
• Design and develop ways of tracking and advertising quality continuing education opportunities for elders.
• Review and revise the current roll of ministers

19 Jan Cluster Coaches Appointed

It is a new year for the United Brethren Church–not just because the calendar says it’s a new year, but because of all the changes that became official on January 1. One of those changes involves organizing our churches and pastors into Healthy Church Clusters, rather than organizing around conferences. The Healthy Church Cluster is now the entity to which congregations and pastors are primarily accountable.
A cluster is a group of 7-10 pastors and churches who meet on a regular basis for mutual support, pastoral development, encouragement, coaching, accountability, friendship, healthy church development, fun (yes I said fun!), sharing of ideas, prayer, and reporting. Thus far, 31 cluster groups have formed. Pat Jones, our new Director of Healthy Church Ministries, has worked hard at organizing these clusters. Some decisions remain in certain areas of our denomination, and some pastors have not responded to the call to join a cluster. But for the most part, we are well organized.
One of the bishop’s responsibilities is to appoint a leader for each group, a person we are calling the Healthy Church Cluster Coach. Bishop Ron Ramsey has announced the leaders for all of the clusters which have formed thus far. You can view the clusters and leaders here.
The first Cluster Leader Training will take place on January 25 and 26 at the Michindoh Ministries Camp and Conference Center in Hillsdale, Mich.

19 Jan National Conference Assessments

As of January 1, the new National Conference structure is official. One major change involves the way we handle assessments (sending monetary support for denominational ministries). Each church will now send 3.5% of its total income (minus new construction funds, missions giving, and estate gifts) directly to the United Brethren Headquarters. No longer will churches send assessments through the conference. Each church is responsible for calculating the amount they need to send.
Please note that the 3.5% is just the assessment portion. Any other funds, such as pastor pension, need to be kept separate. Conferences may require an additional percentage (for instance, Central Conference churches must give an additional 1% to support conference ministries until the conference is able to official dissolve–something it can’t do yet because of pending legal action against the conference).
Your church’s treasurer should have already received forms to use when sending money to headquarters.

19 Jan 2005 Yearly Reports

On January 19, the annual reports for the year 2005 were mailed to all ministers. The forms have changed very little from previous years. However, the reporting process has changed. The originals will be sent to the Bishop (instead of to the conference superintendent). In addition, Bishop Ramsey wants pastors to make copies for their fellow cluster members. The cluster will serve as the “auditing” committee, since it is the place where congregations and pastors are primarily accountable. Information about the reports, including downloadable forms, is available online.

21 Dec Cluster Update

For the past couple months, local churches have been organizing into “clusters” of 5-7 churches. A good share of our churches are now identified with a cluster. Bishop Ron Ramsey plans to announce the cluster leaders by the end of the year.

06 Dec Status of the Annual Conferences

The ten annual conferences in the United States are in the process of discontinuing their cooperative ministries. Here is a quick status report on some of the conferences.

Mid-Atlantic. Mid-Atlantic Conference voted unanimously during its mid-year session on November 12 to discontinue the conference as of the end of 2005. Most of the conference’s 55 churches are expected to be functioning in clusters by that time. Legal ownership of the Rhodes Grove Camp and Conference Center will be transferred to its board of directors, but the National Conference will establish a meaningful covenant relationship with the ministry. The Mid-Atlantic Foundation will be used to provide group health insurance and stewardship services to churches on the East Coast and elsewhere. Mid-Atlantic includes churches in Pennsylvania, Virginia, W. Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.

Central. Central Conference has been closing down its cooperative ministries and helping churches make the transition to the cluster arrangement. Because of pending legal action involving the conference, Central Conference cannot dissolve the corporation. Until a lawsuit is settled, Central Conference will continue as a legal entity, with a downsized (six person) conference council providing oversight. Superintendent Tom Brodbeck will continue as fulltime superintendent until the end of 2005, and will then continue in that role on a part-time basis at $100 a month, mainly to provide general oversight and handle whatever legal details are needed to formally dissolve the conference. Central Conference includes churches in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Michindoh. The Michindoh Annual Conference voted 72-10 to empower its conference council to care for all of the details of dissolution. The conference council meets this week.

Sandusky. Sandusky Conference approved disbanding as a conference during the 2005 annual meeting, which came after the National Conference. Conference administrative activities will be handled by the Conference Council through 2006. Currently there are nine churches in the East District and 7 in the West District. Over the last two years, Sandusky has lost or closed four churches (most recently the Jerry City, Ohio, church). Most of the churches were already involved in a cluster group.

California. Most of the churches of California Conference have withdrawn from the denomination and started their own group, which they are calling the United Believers in Christ. Only the UB church in Pixley, Calif., and the Hispanic Cellular Church in Canyon Country remain.

Michigan. Michigan Conference will hold a mid-year conference in February, and will make decisions then about the future of the conference. Most of the churches are already organized into clusters.

06 Dec Cluster Update

The US National Conference is transitioning to a structure based on clusters–an average of seven churches whose pastors meet together regularly for accountability, encouragement, and training. Many of the clusters have already been formed, and Bishop Ramsey will be appointing the cluster leaders in the weeks ahead. A meeting of cluster leaders is scheduled for early in 2006.

The UB website contains a list of the clusters which have formed thus far. Most are organizing on a geographic location basis and staying with churches in their own conference (though a few have crossed conference lines).

25 Oct 2005-2007 Discipline Ready

The United Brethren Discipline for 2005-2007 has now been posted online. You can view the individual chapters, or download a PDF of the whole document.

16 Sep Mid-Atlantic Conference Moves to Disband

The Mid-Atlantic Conference Council, during its September 10 meeting, passed a recommendation that the Mid-Atlantic Conference “officially disband operations as of December 31, 2005, unless otherwise needed.” This recommendation will be voted on the Mid-Year Conference Session on November 12. That meeting will be held at the Prince Street UB church in Shippensburg, Pa.

Anthony Blair, in an email, explained, “The December 31 date was chosen because on January 1, we will move into will move into the new national conference structure, including the paying of assessments (3.5% of income) directly to the national office. This motion gives us the option of continuing some functions later that than date if needed. A transition team will likely be appointed to help us move from status quo to the new structure. If we vote in the affirmative, the Mid-Year Council Session will include a worship experience to celebrate what God has done among the conference for the past 216 years.”

The Council would like to continue a group health insurance policy for active ministers after the disbanding of the conference. It authorized “the Commission of Administration and Finance to continue looking for any and all possibilities for a vehicle for an insurance group plan, and that funds be made available for necessary legal advice….The group health insurance plan for retired ministers, spouses, and widows is more difficult. The conference supplements the premiums on this plan by $90,000 annually from conference funds. If the conference no longer exists, those funds will no longer exist and a number of our older retirees in particular cannot afford to pay for our current plan all by themselves. Our relationship with and commitment to our retirees means that we cannot simply abandon them to their own devices in this situation….

“During the Mid-Year Council session the Commission on Administration and Finance would like to meet and discuss options with all of the participants in the retiree plan who are able to attend. Those who are not able to attend will be met with individually at their homes as necessary. Again, the intention is treat our retirees with grace and respect through this process, present multiple options to them, and assist them as necessary in identifying an option that best suits their financial and medical parameters.”

The Conference Council didn’t take formal action on anything relating to clusters, but did spend considerable time addressing the transition to healthy church clusters. Both the national office and the conference Commission on Church Growth and Renewal will be assisting churches to create and/or find clusters this Fall.

The Council did not have an opportunity to address the future of Rhodes Grove Camp, but recognizes that the relationship with the camp will need to be re-defined if the Mid-Atlantic Conference no longer exists. Options include transferring ownership to the national conference, creating a membership organization to support the camp, folding it into the Mid-Atlantic Foundation, or establishing a covenant relationship that preserves its UB identity without the legal liabilities of outright ownership.