Seth’s Message
As I write this article we are in the final days of confirmation (please see the accompanying article). One tradition that I always implement on our final class is something I call “Playing Church”. Depending on how much time we have and the number of confirmands we play act the very structure of the church. Some years we have an Administrative Council chair, a Finance Chair, Trustees Chair, etc. We go over the church budget, the Nominations process, how decisions are made, etc. This year our time and numbers were limited so we focused on one area that was very pertinent to our current time … how pastors are appointed in The United Methodist Church. So, we had one confirmand who was the Bishop / District Superintendent, the other confirmand pretended to be the S/P-PRC chair, and I acted as Pastor Seth and Pastor Sue … and then we went through the process. It got me thinking that I should share with you how this went.
Let me begin by saying that I have been a pastor for 26 years and will be moving on to my 6th appointment. In that time, I have worked with 7 Bishops, 9 District Superintendents in 3 Annual Conferences. The process is different with each Bishop and in each Conference but the results are still the same, the appointment of a pastor. What we talked about in Playing Church was unique to this year.
To begin, in January, we decided to buy a home in the Bitterroot valley community of Lolo. This would be the place we would retire. I knew going into 2025 that I would be moving from Butte, I just didn’t know where. Sarah and I had many conversations and were prepared that I could be appointed anywhere in the four states of our Conference (Montana, Utha, Colorado, and Wyoming). In February, the District Superintendent (DS) met with the chair of the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee (PPR) and several other leaders of Aldersgate. I was not available for the meeting, so the DS scheduled a meeting with me at a later date. I was told that Butte would be moving to a part-time pastor and we talked about “possibilities.” I shared that I needed a full-time appointment. Remember, the confirmands were play acting this whole scenario. I then mentioned that on the Conference web-site was a place where appointments were announced and what places were available. I asked the confirmands, “how many times do you think I check that web-site?” And the response was, “all the time!”
On Monday, March 17th, I was in Lolo and the DS called me and said that the pastor in Stevensville was moving to Colorado. I was speechless. I did not think it was possible that I would be appointed to a church in the Bitterroot valley. Now here is where the play-acting and reality combine. I accepted the appointment, met with the Stevensville committee a week later, and then our PPR chair (Bonnie Canty) read the letter to the congregation.
I could not share with the confirmands how the process worked with Sue McNicol, but I did share with them (something we play acted) that the PPR committee had a meeting with the District Superintendent where she introduced Sue and it was announced that she would be appointed half-time here and half-time in Dillon. Then the following Sunday the letter was read by the PPR chair.
Could this process change in the future? Yes! We have a new Bishop. I expect that the next time there is a change in pastors for either Aldersgate, or Dillon, or Stevensville that the process will be different but the results will still be the same. The appointment process goes back to Francis Asbury who led the Methodist Episcopal Church in the early years of our nation’s founding. Is the process perfect? No! Can we do better? I believe so. Will there ever be a better way of selecting, choosing, appointing, calling a pastor? I believe so. However, this is the process we have in the Mountain Sky Annual Conference for 2025.
Seth