Ethnic clergy from the PNW Conference and Bishop Hagiya discuss security of appointment
at the Annual Ethnic Clergy Gathering earlier this week.
A REFLECTION TO ALL PNW AND ALASKA CLERGY | By Bishop Grant J. Hagiya
Certainly one of the most controversial actions coming out of our 2012 General Conference was the altering of security of appointment. It has created a general buzz around the connection, and there is a great deal of anxiety about it.
I have stated this before General Conference and I want to reiterate to all of our clergy to reassure them. I believe that this action will have little effect on the vast majority of all of our clergy. Keep in mind that nationally, there is an estimated excess of only 784 Elders across the whole connection! When you couple this with the huge retirement wave that will hit us with our Baby Boomer generation, we will actually desperately need clergy within a 15-year radius.
Some of us have argued all along that altering security of appointment has to do with missional appointment-making. What this means is that if we have a specific language pastor who is desperately needed in a changing community context, and we have a monolingual pastor who must be given an appointment, we must forego the pastor with the gifts because we have to appoint the one who has a guarantee. This is an example of a very small percentage of our appointments, so it will not affect the majority of clergy. However, when it does happen, it will allow us to make the best possible appointment to strengthen the local church.
Although we have had some very tight appointment years in which our audit did not allow for too many local church openings, we have always been able to place all of our clergy. As I see the statistical trends, our retirements will soar in the near future, and I truly believe that we will have the opposite problem of not enough clergy.
Does this mean that any of us clergy can relax and coast in our ministry? Absolutely not! Because of the huge cultural shifts in American organized religion this means that all of us need to step up our game several notches in order just to stay competitive. We are all going to have to work twice as hard to keep our churches viable.
As to the general church’s changes in appointment making, please do not worry unnecessarily about this issue. If you have any specific questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact your District Superintendent, or myself.
Finally, trust in God that the church will continue to grow and thrive, and that we will have the security through Jesus Christ alone.
Be the Hope,
Bishop Grant
Photos by Jesse N. Love/PNWUMC
