The Call to Action Aftermath

There are some bishops who feel they are called to the ministry of reorganizing the denomination to fulfill their vision of the Church.  If they were the retired ones, I could understand that impulse.  And I would be tempted to take them seriously if for no other reason than they were more mature and experienced.

It appears some very bright “young bucks” caught the fever of simplification of structure that has been attempted across the United States but which the Judicial Council has invariably struck down because those plans took Disciplinary authority away from bodies and attempted to give it to others, contrary to the Discipline.

To be clear about what was involved, remember that bishops have been in charge of each board and agency since General Conference was persuaded that those groups needed monitoring to minimize turf fights, rampant expenses, and other bureaucratic problems.  A bishop has been president of each and has had the pleasure of a half dozen or so episcopal colleagues on the board with them to help in the monitoring and governance of each body.

So now after all these years under their careful administration and watch, they joined with the heads of those boards and agencies and some others (successful pastors of mega-churches) to cut the expenses, the staffs, and the independence of those bodies.  They called their plan, “The Call to Action.”

It was intended to revitalize local churches and make the denomination leaner but more efficient. 

I don’t know whether they were covering up their ineptness for not fulfilling their responsibilities as the presidents of those bodies or whether they actually saw where changes could be made or were just wishing to continue experimenting with structure (often called re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic) or offering something else to save money rather than their own financial packages, or seeking something more Calvinist in our structures so eventually it will be easier to merge with the Southern Baptists.  (I’ve been warned that I sometimes say things in cutting ways.  That happens when one cannot get a word in edgewise.)

Simply described, The Call to Action sought to eliminate the guaranteed appointment, reshuffle the boards and agencies to make them smaller and compacting their functions, and to gain a set-aside bishop who could help coordinate the ministries of the Church and the Council of Bishops, and to speak on behalf of the Church.  It would save lots of money and “we’d all be happy and gay,” to quote an old camp song.