*primarily where the Church encounters the world;
*a strategic base from which Christians move out to the structures of society;
*to minister to persons in the community where the church is located;
and further, that one of the minimal expectations of an authentic local church is "to cooperate in ministry with other local churches"; and
Whereas, ¶ 206.1 indicates that, with guidance of the Holy Spirit, local churches "may enhance their witness to each other and to the world by showing forth the love of Jesus Christ through forms of mutual cooperation"; and ¶ 206.2 defines cooperative parish ministry as "an intentional plan of enabling congregations, church-related agencies, and pastors in a defined geographic area to develop a relationship of trust and mutuality which results in coordinated church programs and ministry, supported by appropriate organizational structures and policies"; and
Whereas, four national United Methodist consultations on cooperative parish ministries have been carried out in response to requests from laity, pastors, conference leadership, researchers, and other persons skilled in cooperative parish ministry; and the Fourth National Consultation on Cooperative Parish Ministries was held at Louisville, Kentucky, November 16-19, 1995, with an attendance of 476 with approximately another 100 not being registered due to limitations of space; and in its final plenary, unanimously directed that a petition detailing the cooperative parish ministry concerns indicated in this petition be forwarded to the 1996 General Conference; and
Whereas, a major study of cooperative ministries was completed in November of 1995, which received information from 504 of the 526 United Methodist districts and found that 43 percent of the districts have cooperative parish ministries of some type; and
Whereas, Strategy VI of the report of the Task Force on the Small Membership Church, which was ordered by the General Conference and received unanimous approval from the 1992 General Conference, calls for "The initiation, ongoing development, and support of a cooperative/team style of ministry in which nurture, outreach, and witness ministries can be more effective"; and three of the report's "Implementation Strategies" refer to the importance of developing strategies, procedures, and policies that will facilitate the use of cooperative parish ministries for purposes of ministry and mission by the General Conference, the General Boards of Discipleship, Higher Education and Ministry, and Global Ministries, and conference cabinets, Councils on Ministries, and seminaries; and
Whereas, cooperative parish ministry, along with circuits and stations, is defined as a type of United Methodist pastoral charge (¶ 205.2); and
Whereas, in ¶ 1006.14, the General Council on Ministries is charged with reviewing and evaluating "the effectiveness of the general program agencies in fulfilling the ministries assigned to them (see ¶ 802.3)"; and in ¶ 1006.11, with resolving any overlapping functions or lack of cooperation among the general program agencies by "coordinating...programs where two or more general program agencies are involved"; giving leadership with planning and research, "thereby helping all levels of the Church to evaluate needs, set goals, and plan strategy..."; and in ¶ 1006.8, with providing resources to annual conferences and Councils on Ministries related to their tasks; and
Whereas, the General Council on Ministries is charged with the responsibility for training district superintendents and directors of Councils on Ministries; and
Whereas, in the twenty-first century, cooperative parish ministries can be expected to shape shalom communities of hope, where increased nurturing, outreach, and witnessing by churches and their communities will take place;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the General Conference direct the General Council on Ministries to:
*activate a process for consulting with the bishops of the Church regarding the criteria that should be used in fixing the charges and implementing the appointment processes used with pastors and other staff assigned to cooperative parish ministries in rural, town/country, urban and suburban settings; and
*initiate a careful study that will assess the effectiveness with which the general boards and agencies of the Church are resourcing cooperative parish ministries and the annual conferences are making creative use of cooperative parish ministries; and further,
*secure annual progress reports from the General Board of Global Ministries, which has primary programmatic responsibility for cooperative parish ministry, and from the other general boards and agencies, the bishops and cabinets, and the annual conferences on their roles and responsibilities with cooperative parish ministries; and further,
*include training on the characteristics and particular needs of circuits and cooperative parish ministries in the annual training sessions conducted for new district superintendents and conference council directors.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 22661-GM-NonDis-O$
1996 United Methodist General Conference