Mislaid Plans for Vitality in the UMC: Overstretching, Outsourcing, and a Postage Stamp

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A United Methodist Insight Exclusive

What is the cost of vitality? For years, United Methodists in the United States have been searching for an elusive elixir to revive this church. We have overstretched, outsourced, and under-planned in the face of demographic shifts, social change, and missional realities. Desperate to restructure ourselves into new life, we yearn for a viable proposal – any proposal at all, really – that promises to reverse decades of decline.

Before commenting on the proposed “Plan UMC Revised,” I invite us to consider the following possibilities. What if:

  • The United Methodist Church had as much geographic coverage of the United States as the U. S. Post Office? 
  • Local congregations in the UMC were as numerous as McDonald’s worldwide?
  • The UMC could outsource its ministry to contract workers, providing pastoral leadership in local congregations at a fraction of the cost of seminary trained, ordained clergy?
  • The UMC reduced its general church structure at the same time it claimed worldwide ambitions?
  • For less than the price of a postage stamp, the UMC could initiate vital conversations, promote racial and gender justice, and work to prevent racial, sexual, and gender harassment and abuse?

Which of these possibilities would be good ideas for the long-term missional vitality of this denomination? Are these ideas too ambitious? Too unrealistic? Too short-sighted? Too preposterous? Before you read on, let me assure you that they are all true. Each represents the other half of a familiar conversation about church vitality.

New Church Starts … and Old Church Closures

There are over 32,000 United Methodist congregations in the United States, almost one in every county of every state. We have more local missional outposts than the US Post Office. We also have more local congregations worldwide than McDonald’s has franchises. There are nearly 40,000 United Methodist churches worldwide.

This means that every time we engage excitedly in conversation about new church starts, there is another half to that conversation that is not nearly so motivational: old church closures.

The truth is, the UMC has too many congregations in the United States. We have so many congregations we don’t know how to manage them all or what to do with them. And, our leadership does not have the courage or the moral will to close them. So, every time we focus on new church starts without also discussing the hard work of old church closures, we are contributing to the delusion that ministry is only about birth and growth and not also about sustained presence, a good life, and, eventually, death.

The Cost of Savings on Ministerial Leadership … Outsourcing

The fastest growing demographic of pastoral leader in the UMC is the contract worker. The UMC, motivated by perceived missional needs, financial constraints, and the inability to confront the necessity of closing existing congregations, has moved toward outsourcing its ministry. Local licensed pastors are the majority of clergy in some conferences and increasing in number in every conference.

This is not an argument against the individuals in this role. I know many gifted and effective local licensed pastors, proclaiming a gospel message consistent with John Wesley and the traditions of Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren Churches preceding the UMC. There is a role for local licensed pastors in the UMC. We have a rich legacy of lay preachers and lay leadership in Methodism. However, we owe them more than a quick license, a prayer, and a one-year contract. There is no covenantal commitment here. The church has no obligation to and little investment in our local licensed pastors. The UMC should ordain them, raising the bar of expectation for theological training and accountability in the process.

The truth is, the UMC has undermined its own distinctiveness in an attempt to stay afloat in the rapids of social and demographic change. We have tossed overboard itineracy for locality, connectionalism for congregationalism, covenantal commitment for temp workers, and theological training for expediency. I know too many licensed local pastors who, lacking adequate theological training, Wesleyan commitment, and connectional ties, serve to distance our denomination from its tradition and theological roots. We cannot continue outsourcing ministry and expect to maintain ecclesial integrity. The cost to missional vitality is too great for this short-term savings.

A Mislaid Plan Revised … Attending to all the Wrong Questions

At precisely the time when the UMC ought to be reconsidering its aversion to church closings, its dependence on outsourced ministry, and the unfinished business of its 2008 merger with the Methodist Protestant Church of Côte d'Ivoire, some leaders from the United States continue to revise a plan that addresses none of these issues.

When the UMC ought to be grappling with the natural consequences of its worldwide ambitions, “Plan UMC Revised” focuses on streamlining accountability in the General Church by reducing the number of decision makers and agencies. Whatever its merits, “Plan UMC Revised” simply fails to take into account the more important issues facing the denomination.

Reducing the size of the Connectional Table and restricting the general agencies from electing their own executives does not address any of the global dimensions of the UMC or the more important issues facing the US jurisdictions. The plan seeks “to evaluate agencies based on how they direct the flow of energy toward vital congregations and carry out the mission of the global church.” Yet, the details of the plan focus not on the major challenges above but rather on eliminating the two smallest commissions. It is difficult to see how concentrating more power in the hands of fewer people will increase accountability and effectiveness for our denomination.

The truth is, eliminating the General Commission on Religion and Race and the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women as independent commissions undercuts accountability in our connection. Women and minorities still experience harassment, discrimination, and abuse in the UMC. Furthermore, the challenges of intercultural competency and discrimination against women only increase as we consider the diverse ethnic and racial demographics of our mission field in the United States and worldwide. Women face significant barriers to ordination in the central conferences.  There is still a conference in Europe with no women clergy, and one of the largest conferences in Africa has barely more than 5% women among its clergy.

The Price of a Postage Stamp … Investing in What is Really Vital

Why are GCORR and GCSRW the targets of this proposal? Eliminating GCORR and GCSRW would save at most (if their budgets were entirely eliminated) 40 cents per member per year in the United States. The Plan UMC Revised would lead us to believe that we could make a significant impact to the vitality of the local congregation while ignoring the bigger issues facing the church—and for less than the price of a first-class postage stamp.

This chart shows the UMC General Church Budget for 2012-16. The two small slivers around 11 o’clock represent the budgets of GCSRW and GCORR. I wonder why UMCOM’s $72 million quadrennial budget is not part of the conversation? Or any of the other larger slices of this pie? Why would we focus on the smallest budget items within a proposal for major restructuring and accountability?

Clear financial vision would have us focus on the largest budgets, not the smallest. If we really want to increase vitality in local churches, we need to focus on the 85 percent of the offering that stays right there, in each congregation. Looking further, we ought to consider the 7 percent that stays regionally, given to district and annual conference funds. Then, we might consider the 2 percent of offerings given to support the general church budget, and lastly, not firstly, consider eliminating the 2 percent of general church funds used to support the full and equal participation of women at all levels of the church. I can think of no better investment of my 14 cents per year. Add to that advocacy for racial justice and vital conversations about cultural competency, and I’ve spent less than the price of a postage stamp on something really vital.

There are many challenges facing the UMC, both in the United States and worldwide. I urge General Conference delegates not to jump behind a plan that ignores the more important issues.

The Rev. Dr. Darryl W. Stephens, a clergy member of the Texas Annual Conference, serves as director of the United Methodist program at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pa.