443. Clergy in appointment beyond the local church are full participants in the itinerant system. Therefore, a conference member in an appointment beyond the local church must be willing upon consultation to receive an appointment in a pastoral charge. When either the conference member or the annual conference requests appointment to a pastoral charge, the request shall be made in writing to or from the bishop and the Cabinet. Such a request should be made at least six months prior to annual conference. In both instances, consultation shall give due regard to the individual's special training, experience, skills, and leadership potential.
1. Categories of Appointment--In order to establish a clear distinction between the work to which all Christians are called and the tasks for which ordained ministers are appropriately prepared and authorized, the following categories are established for appointments within the itineracy of The United Methodist Church.
a) Appointments within the connectional structures of United Methodism: district superintendents, staff members of conference councils, boards, and agencies, treasurers, bishops' assistants, superintendents or directors of parish development, staff of general agencies, missionaries, conference-approved evangelists, faculty and administrators of United Methodist schools of theology and other educational institutions, approved by The University Senate, campus ministers, and staff members of ecumenical agencies.32
b) Appointments to extension ministries of members in full connection under endorsement by the Division of Chaplains and Related Ministries of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, such as: chaplains, both active duty and reserve components, Department of Veterans Affairs chaplains, both full and part time, business and industrial chaplains, chaplains in correctional settings, chaplains and counselors in health care settings, pastoral counselors, ministry in community service organizations, and other ministry settings which the bishop and conference board of ordained ministry may designate.33 The division shall annually verify the appropriate employment of persons under its endorsement and request their reappointment.
c) Conference members in service under the World Division of the General Board of Global Ministries may be appointed to the ministries listed in a) and b) above. They may be assigned to service either in annual conferences or central conferences, or with affiliated autonomous churches, independent churches, churches resulting from the union of Methodist Churches and other communions, or in other denominational or ecumenical ministries. They may accept such rights and privileges, including affiliate membership, as may be offered them by overseas annual conferences or by other Churches to which they are assigned, without impairing their relationship to their home annual conference. Conference members in service under the National Division of the General Board of Global Ministries may be appointed to the ministries listed in a) and b) above. They may be assigned to service in the annual conference, in national mission institutions or in other denominational or ecumenical ministries.
d) Conference members may receive appointments beyond the ministry usually extended through the local Church and other institutions listed above in (a) and (b)34 when considered by the bishop and the annual conference board of ordained ministry to be a true extension of the Christian ministry of the Church. These ministries shall be initiated in missional response to the needs of persons in special circumstances and unique situations and shall reflect the commitment of the clergy to intentional fulfillment of their ordination vows to Word, Sacrament, and Order. These appointments may involve clergy with expertise from other vocations. Conference members in such appointments retain conference membership, and the annual conference may choose to extend financial support and benefits for its clergy by vote of the annual conference. (See 722..3, .5.)
The Division of Chaplains and Related Ministries of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry will provide standards to assist in determining the appropriateness of special ministry settings. In addition, it will provide advocacy for persons serving in settings approved under this paragraph.
Those seeking such an appointment shall submit to the Cabinet, the board of ordained ministry, and the Division of Chaplains and Related Ministries a written statement describing in detail the proposed setting for their ministry, sharing a sense of calling to that ministry and their gifts and evidence of God's grace for it, and expressing the intentional fulfillment of their ordination vows. This material will be submitted not later than 120 days before desired appointment to the proposed setting. On recommendation of the Cabinet and the board of ordained ministry, such positions are to be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the clergy members of the annual conference.
The bishop may make ad interim appointments in this category after consultation with the Cabinet and executive committee of the board of ordained ministry, the position to be formally acted upon by the next session of the annual conference.
2. Relation to the Annual Conference--a) Accountability to the Annual Conference.--Conference members under appointment beyond the local church are amenable to the annual conference of which they are members and insofar as possible should maintain close working relationship with and effective participation in the work of their annual conference, assuming whatever responsibilities they are qualified and requested to assume.
Persons under appointment beyond the local Church shall submit annually to the bishop, the district superintendent, and the board of ordained ministry a written report, on the official form developed for the church by the General Council on Finance and Administration for use by the annual conference. This report shall serve as the basis for the evaluation of these clergy in light of the missional needs of the Church and the fulfillment of their ordination to be minister of Word, Sacrament, and Order. Persons formally evaluated by the institutions in which they serve will provide, instead of an evaluation, a narrative report reflecting their ministry. Clergy serving in appointments outside the conference in which they hold membership shall furnish a copy of their report also to the bishop of the area in which they reside and work. Annual conferences shall review the qualifications of persons in extension ministry status and integrate them into the ongoing work of the annual conference.
b) Responsibility of the Annual Conference--The bishop, representatives of the Cabinet, and the committee on chaplains and related ministries of the board of ordained ministry shall provide an opportunity to meet annually with ordained ministers appointed beyond the local Church who carry on their ministry within the bounds of annual conference, both of that annual conference and those who hold membership elsewhere. The bishop shall convene the meeting which is to be planned by the Cabinet and the board of ordained ministry. The purpose of this meeting is to gain understanding of one another's role and function in ministry, to report to other ordained ministers appointed beyond the local Church and to discuss with them matters concerning the overall approach to ministry in the episcopal area, to interpret the role and function of extension ministries to the larger church through the offices of the bishop and his/her representatives, to nurture the development of various ministries as significant in assisting the mission of the Church, and to discuss specific programs and services which the bishop and his/her representatives may initiate in which the various ordained ministers serving in appointments beyond the local church may be qualified as consultants and supervisors. Using the appropriate resources and personnel of the annual conference, the bishop shall provide for an annual visit to the ministry setting of all persons under appointment beyond the local Church assigned within the geographical bounds of the annual conference, and shall provide a report of the visit to the bishop of persons from other annual conferences.
3. Relation to the Local Church--a) Conference members appointed beyond the local Church shall establish membership in a charge conference in their home annual conference in consultation with the pastor in charge and with approval of the district superintendent and the bishop. They shall submit to their home charge conference an annual report of pastoral duties and the fulfillment of their ordination through their special appointment, including ministerial activities in the charge where they have an affiliate membership relation and in other units of the Church at large, as well as continuing education work completed and anticipated. This report may be the one submitted to the bishop, district superintendent, and board of ordained ministry (443.2a). District superintendents, because of the nature of their work, and the relationship defined in 529.3, 454.1a, 755, shall not be required to have a charge conference affiliation.
All conference members, including those in extension ministries, shall be available and on call to administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper as required by the Discipline (439.1b) and requested by the district superintendent of the district in which the appointment is held.
b) Affiliate Relation to a Local Church--Ordained ministers under appointment beyond the local Church and serving outside of the geographical bounds of their home annual conference shall promptly notify the bishop of the area in which they reside of their names, addresses, and the annual conferences in which their credentials are held. They shall be affiliate members without vote of a charge conference either within the district where they carry out the primary work of their appointment or within the district where they reside. Persons serving outside the geographic bounds of any annual conference are exempt from this requirement. The selection of the Charge Conference shall be made after consultation between the minister and the pastor of the local United Methodist Church.
These ordained ministers under appointment beyond the local Church and serving outside the geographical boundaries of their home annual conference shall submit to the charge conference of which they are affiliate members a copy of the report submitted to their home charge conference and/or an oral report concerning their ministry and the fulfillment of their ordination. The district superintendent shall be responsible for the notification to these ministers concerning the time and place of the charge conference.
4. Affiliate Relation to Annual Conference--Ordained clergy appointed beyond the local Church outside the boundary of their annual conference may, at their own initiative, apply to the board of ordained ministry for affiliate membership in the annual conference in which their appointment is located or in which they reside. By a two-thirds vote of the executive session,35 such clergy may be received with rights and privileges, including service on conference boards, agencies, task forces, and committees, with voice but without vote. Voting membership shall be retained in the appointee's home annual conference for the duration of affiliate member relationship. Nomination to general church boards and agencies and election as delegates to General and jurisdictional conferences shall originate in the appointee's home annual conference. Such persons may serve on the board, agency, task force, or committee of only one annual conference at any one time.36
5. General Provisions--a) These appointments shall be made only to positions related to adequate accountability structures according to guidelines established by the board of ordained ministry and Cabinet in the annual conferences in which membership is held.
b) For information regarding pensions, the conference will continue to list the source of annuity claim for each of its clergy.
c) All conference secretaries shall submit to the editors of the General Minutes a list of such appointments beyond the local Church made in their annual conferences, and there shall be published in the General Minutes a list of ordained ministers in the Church serving in the major categories under these appointments.
d) Conference members appointed beyond the local church shall attend the annual conference in which membership is held.
e) Individual participation in Armed Forces Reserve or National Guard units and part-time employment with the Veteran's Administration shall be reflected in annual conference journals.
32See Judicial Council Decisions 166, 167.
33See Judicial Council Decisions 321, 325, 329.
34See Judicial Council Decision 380.
35See Judicial Council Decision 555.
36See Judicial Council Decision 554.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 443
1996 United Methodist General Conference