Connectional Network Calls for Realignment Study
By Jackie Campbell, WPAUMC News
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4/28/2010
After discussing a plan to reduce the number of districts and realign staff of the Western PA Conference, the Conference Connectional Network (CCN) opted to endorse studying the proposal for a year rather than submitting it to 2010 Annual Conference for action.
The realignment proposal called for reducing the number of districts and superintendents from the current 10 to seven, while replacing some program staff at the Conference Center with six ministry “facilitators” located around Western PA to handle district programming in addition to Conference portfolios.
The plan came from an ad hoc task force originally convened to examine use of space in the United Methodist Conference Center. Later, the group was asked by Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton to look at district and staff realignment, said Franklin DS George Porter, who presented the proposal for the group.
Conference Treasurer Pat Morris, who was part of the ad hoc group, said the anticipated cost savings of the proposed re-alignment plan would be over $100,000.
While acknowledging the need for change to alleviate the financial burden on local churches struggling to pay Mission Share, some members of CCN said more time was needed to examine the proposal and solicit input from various groups and leaders. Others stressed the urgency to take action as quickly as possible in light of dwindling membership and resources.
After questions and lengthy discussion, Greensburg DS William B. Meekins Jr. moved to submit legislation that would authorized CCN to form a team to study the issues and report regularly throughout the year. The intent, he said, was to have a well-thought out plan ready to submit for the 2011 annual conference session. The motion was approved.
Legislation for the 2010 Annual Conference must be submitted to Conference Secretary John Wilson by May 1.
The ad hoc task force was asked to address the issue involved in realignment in part because the “Believe Again!” Plan for Ministry, first approved in 2006, called for a ministry and resource director for each district. The task force specifically was to consider:
- How to re-align our staff and our ministry more closely to the denomination’s Areas of Focus and the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference Mission, Vision and Core Values
- How to best achieve our mission of “providing leadership, connection, and resources” to the local church in an effort to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world;”
- How to share specific resources of personnel & gifts more intimately with the people who live and work in the local churches and communities of Western Pennsylvania;
- How to be better stewards of the sacrificial gifts given through Mission Share.
In other business, the CCN approved submitting a Mission Share budget of $9.58 million for 2011 to the 2010 annual conference. There was disagreement on the formula for disbursing funds if income is less than the budget, so the Rev. Paul Ritchie, chair of the Council on Finance and Administration, said the group will continue to discuss the issue before submitting legislation on disbursal directives to Wilson.
According to Conference Rules (Section 2.3.8), petitions and resolutions submitted by the May 1 deadline are printed in the pre-conference booklet and assigned to a group of Annual Conference members to consider in a Legislative Section before being brought to the floor of the Annual Conference for action. A petition may be considered without legislative section review only with the consent of two-thirds of the Annual Conference members.
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