Observations from the Methodist Blogger Profiles, II

If you could affect one major policy change in the Methodist Church, what would it be?*

Andy Bryan:
The elimination of the clause that states homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching,” which would subsequently lead to the allowance for marriage and ordination of people who are homosexual. No single clause has caused the denomination more strife than this one.

Theresa Coleman:
It's a hard thing to feel like a second class citizen -- especially in the church -- and then realize that I have been oppressed. And repressed. The way women are treated in this denomination can still fire up my ire.*

Michael Daniel:
I would demand a stand on abortion, one way or the other.

Richard Hall:
A 5-year Presidency would be a start.

Greg Hazelrig:
We need to be able to hold bishops more accountable and have all the Annual Conferences adhering to the same set of guidelines when it comes to disciplinary actions.

Steve Heyduck:
I would change the presumption that the local church exists to serve the Conference and General Boards and Agencies and the bureaucracy with no real connection to local laity that ensues.

Larry Hollon:
That we would re-focus on effective ministry with the poor, physically challenged and vulnerable, and develop the skills to carry out ministry with these people equal to our skills in ministering to our members who are middle class and upper middle class.

Grandma Jean:
Mandatory retirement at age 70.

Lorna Koskela:
Oh another toughie! Don’t tell our bishop but I’m not an expert on the BoD or the inner workings of the UMC. In Finland at least there is a lot that I feel needs to be changed – we could get rid of probably half of the committees at least! Sometimes I feel we’re in a time warp. Prayer please

Gregory Lee:
Increase in membership of laity on District and Conference Board of Ministries.

John the Methodist:
I would bring rogue conferences (such as California-Nevada) to heel.

Craig Moore:
I would like to see the UMC set up a budget that would help seminary students pay for school. Then, after a numbers of years of service to the church, write off the debt. That is how I got through seminary in another denomination.

Chris Morgan:
I will hedge on this question, because my thoughts on this subject are not yet fully formed. I believe we should have a conversation regarding guaranteed appointments. On the one hand, the guarantee permits clergy to speak with a prophetic voice and still provide for their families. On the other hand, it often creates scenarios in which clergy who have a history of damaging churches are dispatched to other churches to inflict similar harm there. I think there is probably a middle ground someplace—keep the guarantee in a general sense, but in specific cases require a program of CPE-like supervision to preserve that guarantee.

Jonathon Norman:
I would like to see Bishops able to move across jurisdictional boundaries. I think our conferences and bishops have missed out on some wonderful potential “good fits” for ministry because we only allow bishops to move within a certain geographical area. Although, I’m still holding out that Bishop Willimon might make it to Tennessee next go around.

Gerry Charlotte Phelps:
To make it more democratic, through equal representation at General Conference for all UMC members. At present, UMC members in some parts of the country get more votes, in relation to their numbers, than members in other parts. Making representation equal for all members would help bring the UMC into line with the views of a majority of its members. And also end domination of that majority by a minority.

Beth Quick:
I hope to see a change in issues of ordination and holy union for gay and lesbian persons, as well as removal of language calling homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching” from the Discipline.

Shane Raynor:
I only get one? How about two: go from an annual appointment system to a multi-year covenant appointment system, and get rid of certain boards and agencies. (You know who you are.)

Gavin Richardson:
I sometimes get frustrated by pastorship that forgets their role as a facilitator of the church’s ministry. (there actually might be policy for this but..) I wouldn’t be at all upset if there were quicker system for removing/replacing/retiring pastors that abuse power. Throw into this pastors who go plain crazy but just get shuffled from church to church. Can we just get rid of these folks who kill congregations?

Brett Royal:
I think it’s sad that Methodists aren’t known for sound biblical teaching and doctrine. We are way to accepting of doctrine and teaching that is unbiblical.

Joel Thomas:
I would change the 50-50 clergy/laity voting split in Annual Conferences and General Conference to one-third clergy, two-third’s laity. That would result in many of my own positions being defeated or even some portions of the Book of Discipline that I favor being rescinded, but I think laity empowerment is necessary for survival of the denomination.

Dean Snyder:
No one would be permitted to vote at annual conference or General Conference about any group of people or their role and status within the church and/or ministry unless he or she had met weekly for at least two years with members of that group for prayer and personal sharing.

Jay Voorhees:
I believe that it's time to limit the submission of legislation to the General Conference to allow the Conference to function more as a deliberative body rather than a legislative one. As long as we try to be church by legislation, we will be co-opted by powers and principalities.

Cole Wakefield:
Do you have to ask? The gay one.

Dave Warnock:
For the Churches I would be throwing my weight behind Mike Bossingham's Building Family Friendly Churches project. For the "Church" I would be pushing for much more open use of Internet technologies e.g. a weblog for the president of conference etc, rss feeds for methodist.org.uk [now happened] and a planet methodist for all methodist church weblogs. More IT support for Churches and Ministers. For extending the Church I would be reversing the experiment to reduce the the academic requirements of Foundation Training for the ministry.

John Wilks:
For the most part, our Discipline as it stands works just fine. The problem is when folks try to ignore the rules, like the far left with sexuality issues and the far right with the trust clause.
One change I'd love to see is in educational requirements for Elders. Seminary is getting to be so expensive, and Masters of Divinity degree plans keep getting longer and longer. Persons over 30 who a) have children and b) are under pastoral appointment should have the option to enter course of study or substitute a M.A. in Biblical studies for an M.Div. But I'll admit, my thoughts on this are a bit self-serving.


*This question varied slightly with the names of different wesleyan denominations.

**I'm not absolutely sure that Theresa was addressing this particular question because of the unique narrative approach that she took to her MBP.