Been a while since I posed a why so I thought it was time to ask one again and it is one that puzzles me to a great extent and I am not sure that there is an answer or if there may be a number of answers but I believe it is worth the asking.
I understand that our ministers are allocated following a strange system called stationing and I understand that they come for a specific period of time which can be extended but my why is to do with the extension part of the process.
Why can some ministers stay for many years in a circuit while others seem to move around frequently? I went to Conference in 1983 in Plymouth and for much of the week sat next to one of the ministers from our district who is still serving in the same circuit 24 years later - I can understand if there is a minister doing an absolutely marvellous job and in charge of a growing and vibrant church there may be a reluctance to let them move on, but surely the foundation of Methodism is in the very nature of the itinerant ministry exercised by John Wesley.
I look foward to readers views on this.
2 comments:
Fat Prophet,
Some reflections.
1. If a minister has a spouse who works then the spouse will normally be the main income, that can put a big restriction on moving.
2. Now that more ministers have their children in state education it can be harder for them to move without causing significant problems for that education.
Yet
For a minister to stay beyond the 5 year appointment the circuit meeting has to have a majority vote for them. To stay over 10 years a 75% majority is required. So if ministers are staying longer then it is because the Churches/Circuits want them to.
I had not heard of anyone serving more than 14 years myself.
It may be fairly unique to our district then as I know a couple who did well over 10 years and there is definitely one who has certainly been in the same cicuit and superintendent at that since I was at conference in 1983
Post a Comment