Robert Schnase
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193. Qualities and Skills for Bishops

193. Qualities and Skills for Bishops

I’m frequently asked my opinion about what natural gifts or acquired skills are important for effective service as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church.  I usually refrain from saying much about this so that no one will take my words as expressing a preference for one particular person or another, but since endorsements have not yet been formed in most of our conferences, I decided to share a few observations.

First, Bishops should have a strong record of effective congregational leadership.   Bishops have primary responsibility for leading conferences to recruit pastors, train pastors, credential pastors, deploy pastors, start congregations, mobilize mission, transform congregations, and lead congregations to lead people to active faith in Jesus Christ, and these require a profound understanding and extensive experience of congregational dynamics.  Mediocre, mistaken, simplistic, or unclear notions about how congregations work, what causes churches to grow, or how to mobilize people toward an objective will not suffice.   Skills honed through years of successfully leading fruitful, growing congregations, such as preaching, teaching, partnering with laity, supervising staff, working with groups, pastoral care, and administration are helpful in the role of Bishop.  And congregations are the primary means by which the church fulfills its mission, and so Bishops should love the local church and understand how God uses faith communities to impact the world.

Second, Bishops must be unceasingly focused on the mission of the church. The office requires people who passionately and unrelentingly push, provoke, remind, stimulate, and inspire pastors and laity to excellence, fruitfulness, and effectiveness in ministry.  They must be capable of mobilizing people in a large, complex organization toward purposeful work and common values, and must cultivate clarity of purpose, confidence in our mission, and hope for the future.  Bishops serve the mission of Christ and not merely the pastors of the conference, the desires of the congregations, or the preferences of the members, and so they repeatedly refocus the attention of the organization toward the mission field, toward the people God has placed in our congregations here to reach through our witness and service.  Bishops cannot become inordinately distracted by lesser good things, tertiary priorities, unnecessary meetings, useless organizational churning, fruitless conflict, or archaic structures meant only to preserve insider prerogatives.  Their life is the mission of Christ.

Third, serving effectively requires an all-embracing vision of ministry and an ability to be Bishop to all United Methodists, not just some.  Bishops should demonstrate a history of encouraging diverse theological, cultural, and generational faith expressions. They should easily support worship styles different from their own personal faith experience and willingly open the door to the faith expressions of the young.  The most important distinction in our church today is not between liberal or conservative, contemporary or traditional, young or old, black or white, but between the missionally-driven and those who are complacent, blaming, ignoring, or denying our mission, and so we need Bishops who are not merely one-issue leaders, bureaucrats, or CEO’s but who embrace an expansive view of ministry, engaging the world with missional energy.  We need outward-focused Bishops for whom serving Christ is an adventure rather than a job, a journey to which they are willing to say Yes, and Yes again.  I pray for Bishops who are thrilled at the prospect, anxious to get started, ready in a moment’s notice, alive with Wesley’s “the world is my parish” spirit, unlimited in vision, undimmed by failure, exuberant in spirit.

Fourth, Bishops must have a high pain threshold. Bishops see much grief, loss, anger, hurt, conflict, and despair, and they necessarily work with victims of misconduct, churches in distress, people in poverty, victims of natural disasters, broken homes, congregations in decline, and pastors facing loss and transition.  Many feelings are directed toward the Bishop as the representative of the church, and Bishops cannot afford to take criticism personally, hold grudges, or obsessively overwork negative experiences.

Fifth, serving as Bishop requires patience and resilience. The work requires the ability to live comfortably with ambiguity, tension, paradox, unfinished projects, imperfect planning, and problems that cannot be resolved, and Bishops must do so without trying to fix everything too quickly or imposing their own will too strongly.   They must make friends with creative chaos and lead with resilience, agility, patience, restraint, and flexibility while remaining persistent in purpose.  They must be life-long learners because nothing that they have experienced before totally prepares them for this work.

Sixth, Bishops should be utterly offended by the decline of the church, willing to take responsibility for it, open to innovation, and yet be unafraid of failure. To reverse decline requires high-risk initiatives, transformation of systems, and support of emerging patterns.  Bishops must be capable of handling the stress of disappointing people in order to lead through change.  Bishops preside over immensely large, complex organizations that involve hundreds of churches, thousands of people, and millions of dollars and this requires extraordinary organizational competence and experience.

Seventh, serving well requires that Bishops find satisfaction in the accomplishments of others.  They exercise a ministry of encouragement.  They are not on the front lines—reaching new people, leading mission teams, teaching bible studies, preaching funerals, inviting people into the body of Christ.  When such ministries come to fruition, Bishops naturally and appropriately direct the credit to pastors and congregational leaders. Bishops are background people for congregational ministry; they are part of the unseen support team that helps people help people, and so they should never pine for attention, seek to take credit, or feel the need to take center stage.

Eighth, serving well requires unending good humor, and those Bishops do best who demonstrate humility, graciousness, and winsomeness while also being able to capture the imagination, hold the respect, engage the attention, and mobilize the response of large gatherings of people.  Bishops dare not take themselves too seriously.

Ninth, since United Methodism has a global mission, Bishops should have a well-worn passport, or at least significant inter-cultural experience. Whether through VIM projects, international service, significant language learning, or other inter-cultural work, Bishops should reveal an active curiosity and love for people from diverse backgrounds.

Tenth, this work requires unusual physical stamina. I average 140 nights in hotels, 30,000 miles of driving, 80 flights, 60 days of meetings, and 180 prepared presentations per year, while also performing all the ordinary office work, answering thousands of letters and emails, supervising hundreds of pastors, monitoring legal issues, reading 50 books, and writing 40 blogs and a book each year.  The physical challenges of the office are remarkable beyond what most people realize.  While I can’t tell you exactly what a Bishop does, I can tell you that it takes all day every day!

Eleventh, Bishops should not need to be Bishops for their happiness, sense of worth, identity, or to meet their own personal needs.  God calls people to ministry; the church calls people to the Episcopacy.  The office is best served by those who can take it or leave it, who are willing to serve but who are not desperate to achieve; who are willing to pour out their life in this form of service, but who do not need to promote themselves to make it happen.

Twelfth, and most importantly, anyone considered for the Episcopacy must have an absolute and undying love for Christ, and for the body of Christ made visible in the United Methodist Church. I pray for Bishops with a well-developed interior life, deep-spirited, and attentive to the wild, raw beauty of the spiritual life, fully in love with God and desiring God with eagerness, humility, and passion.  Those who do this work most effectively take an unfathomable delight and infinite joy in serving the United Methodist Church.  They love Mr. Wesley’s connection, and the United Methodist way of shaping lives for Jesus Christ!

Yours in Christ,

rs

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Copyright © 2015 Robert Schnase

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First Lever: Starting New Churches

Pre-Launch Strategies and Benchmarks
This form is used by the planting pastor and supervisor of new church development to establish clear expectations, benchmarks, and milestone events before a new church is launched. Regular supervisory reviews are held to assure that the expectations are met. Sometimes benchmarks are adjusted because of context or unexpected changes. However, if a new church start fails repeatedly to reach benchmarks and milestones, conference funding ends.

  • Pre-Launch Strategies (pdf)

Strategy Review Report for New Church Starts
This instruments guides the conversation between church planter, superintendent, support team, and new church start supervisor regarding progress with strategies and benchmarks.

  • Strategy Review Report (pdf)

2014 New Church Start Related Events
A large network of new church planters, supervisors for new churches, and senior pastors of churches planting churches thrives and offers resources to churches and conferences. This is a list of 2014 events to serve as an example of the variety of connections for those who want to know more.

  • New Church Start Events (pdf)

National Network of UM Congregational Developers

This flyer for a May, 2014, event in Kansas City illustrates another example of the networks and resources that support new church starts.

  • National Network of UM Congregational Developers (pdf)

Boot Camp—Preparation for Church Planters

The Missouri Conference collaborates with other conferences in the jurisdiction on a variety of new church start training events annually.   Boot Camp is the training for those people identified and appointed to new church starts.  We use resources from Jim Griffith, a long-time leader and trainer in the field of church planting.  Here is a link to his site:

  • www.griffithcoaching.com

Mission Insite—Demographics

The Missouri Conference relies on demographics supplied through Mission Insite for helping identify potential areas for new church starts.  We also use these demographics in our conversations and evaluations with congregations, in our Right Start events for pastors moving to a different appointment, and in our Healthy Church Initiative consultations.    The following link takes you to Mission Insite for more information.

  • www.missioninsite.com

Path One—General Church Initiative

Path One is the general church initiative for new church starts, coordinated through the General Board of Discipleship.  Path One offers a variety of resources for conferences related to church planting.    Here is the link:

  • http://www.path1.org/

Examples of Missouri New Church Starts

The following links are to several new church starts in Missouri.  As you review the websites, think about how different the approach and mission field are for new churches as compared to existing congregations.   New churches focus more on the unchurched, on younger generations, and on segments of the population that established churches have difficulty reaching.

  • The Gathering, St. Louis http://gatheringnow.org/
  • Elevation Church, St. Louis http://www.elevationstl.com/
  • Renaissance UMC, Kansas City http://www.renaissancechurchkc.org/
  • Resurrection Downtown, Kansas City http://www.resurrectiondowntown.org/

Morningstar New Church Start Send-Off Video
Morningstar UMC started fifteen years ago and enjoys over 2,000 in average worship. The congregation has now begun to start new congregations at the rate of about one every two or three years. Here is the good-humored send-off video they prepared as their associate pastor, Jimmy Cooper, prepared to launch the newest church. The group near the end of the video is the launch team from Morningstar

  • New Church Start Send-off Video on Facebook

Second Lever: Clergy Peer Learning

Pastor Leadership Development Groups–PLD Session 1
This provides an example of the sessions from the manual used by pastors who participate in Pastor Leadership Development groups. This is from Session I of our first iteration of PLD.

  • PLD Session (pdf)

Pastor Leadership Development Groups—PLD NEXT Facilitator Guide Session 1
As PLD matured and more people participated, we decided to offer a second year course called PDL NEXT. This is a sample session from the Facilitator Guide.

  • PLD NEXT Facilitator Guide (pdf)

Third Lever: Congregational Intervention

Small Church Initiative—SCI Overview
We developed a Healthy Church Initiative model for smaller churches, with sixty or fewer in attendance, that uses the same ideas and readings as HCI but which meets with several churches together. Here is an overview of the Small Church Initiative.

  • SCI Overview (pdf)

HCI Consultation Reports
The Consultation Weekend of the Healthy Church initiative culminates with a formal report presented by the consultants to the congregation. The report names areas of strength and concerns, and then presents five specific prescriptions. The congregation has a few weeks to discuss and consider the prescriptions, and then they are asked to vote up or down on the entire list at a called session of the church conference. If they accept the prescriptions, the congregation receives a coach and the pastor enters a peer mentoring group as support in following the prescriptions. Below are Consultation Reports from two congregations.

  • Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Consultation Report (pdf)
  • First UMC, Sikeston, MO, Consultation Report (pdf)

Mystery Visitors Reports
Each congregation that participates in the Healthy Church Initiative will receive a Mystery Visitors report. Like mystery shoppers in the world of retail, the mystery visitors are multiple trained people who engage the congregation numerous times over a series of weeks as visitors, callers, etc, at worship, in small groups, and other ministries. No one at the church knows who or when visitors may appear, and the final report is presented at the consultation weekend. Below is a sample Mystery Visitors Report from Good Shepherd UMC, Kansas City.

  • Mystery Guest Report, Good Shepherd UMC (pdf)

Healthy Church Initiative Preparation Checklist
This checklist is used by the consultant and pastor to prepare for an HCI Consultation Weekend. It lists the preparation a congregation must undergo to accept an consultation.

  • Preparation Checklist (pdf)

Healthy Church Initiative Pre-Consultation Overview
A Pre-Consultation meeting is held six weeks before an HCI Consultation Weekend to prepare a congregation for a successful experience. People are reminded of their tasks, and information is given about the process, and basic information about church systems and processes are introduced. Attached is an outline and purpose statement for the event.

  • Pre-Consultation Overview (pdf)

Healthy Church Initiative–Day of Prayer and Repentance
An important aspect of HCI is the spiritual preparation of the congregation. A outside consultant, preacher, or teacher leads the Day of Prayer for the congregation. Attached is an overview of the purpose and content of the Day of Prayer and Repentance.

  • Day of Prayer and Repentance (pdf)

Fourth Lever: Cultivating Clergy Excellence

Overview of Clergy Systems- Video Introducing Clergy Systems
This brief video includes Robert Schnase describing the fourth lever, a strategy for reforming clergy systems.

 

Overview of Clergy Systems- PowerPoint
This brief series of powerpoint slides can be used for those who want to introduce the various components of the clergy systems as they begin discussion of this lever.

  • Introduction PowerPoint (ppt)

Overview of Clergy Systems- Clergy Deployment Study
Clergy Deployment Study—in May, 2012, the Missouri Conference contracted with the Lewis Center for Church Leadership to provide an analysis and recommendations related to the patterns of clergy deployment for the future, entitled Changes in Congregations, Clergy, and Deployment 2002-2012, and the attached charts. All conferences in the South Central Jurisdiction had such a completed, and the results help in evaluating and planning for how to reform clergy systems.

  • SCJ Report Missouri Conference (pdf)
  • SCJ Report Chart (pdf)

Overview of Clergy Systems- Ecosystem as a New Paradigm of Clergy Systems
Bishop Janice Huie, in this essay entitled "A New Paradigm for Clergy Leadership: Cultivating an Ecosystem of Excellence," invites us to think in fundamentally different ways about how we cultivate clergy, leaving behind the old "clergy pipeline" metaphor for a fresh understanding of ecosystems.

  • A New Paradigm for Clergy Leadership: Cultivating an Ecosystem of Excellence (pdf)

Recruitment- The Hannah Project
The Hannah Project invites congregations to participate in identifying gifted people for ministry and to stimulate consideration of a call to Christian service. This brochure serves to introduce the program to congregations in the Missouri Conference.

  • The Hannah Project Brochure (pdf)

Recruitment- Conference Website on The Call to Ministry
The Missouri Conference designed this website for those in the early stages of discerning a call to ministry who are looking for resources or ideas. We've used video of clergy to help people explore their call.

  • The Call to Ministry.org

Recruitment- Exploration Events
The Missouri Conference encourages young people to attend the biennial Exploration event sponsored by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. We also launched our own conference-wide Exploration events for people of all ages contemplating the call to ministry. Attached is a brochure and outline of the event, which is held in years when a national event is not offered.

  • MO Explo Brochure and Agenda 2012 (pdf)
  • MO Explo Flyer 2013 (pdf)

The Candidacy Process- The Candidacy Summit
Because the responsibility for candidacy rests with District Committees, we have struggled to bring consistency to the process across twelve districts. We now offer a Candidacy Summit that brings all candidates together in one place to receive common information and complete required forms and psychological profiles in one retreat, supported by clergy and with excellent music and worship.

  • Candidacy Summit Intro 2014 (pdf)
  • Application 2014 (pdf)
  • Reading List 2014 (pdf)
  • Agenda 2014 (pdf)

The Candidacy Process- Path for Candidacy
Here's our checklist, similar to that of many other conferences, which we provide to help candidates understand and navigate the complexities of the ordination processes.

  • Inquiring Candidate Checklist 2014 (pdf)
  • District Checklist 2014 (pdf)

Seminary Education- Frederick Schmidt Article
The website, www.patheos.com, includes a number of excellent articles about the future of seminary education. While I disagree about a few of Dr. Schmidt's recommendations, I find his description of the challenges compelling and helpful.

  • Is It Time to Write the Eulogy?: The Future of Seminary Education

Seminary Education- Dr. Daniel Aleshire Article
This document provides one of the keenest and most concise statements of the challenge and future of seminary education.

  • Some Observations about Theological Schools and the Future (pdf)

Education and Preparation- Seminary Internships
In cooperation with the Missouri United Methodist Foundation, the conference sponsors seminary internships during the summer to give students greater field experience.

  • Student Application 2014 Cole Summer Seminary Ministerial Internship (pdf)

Residents in Ministry
We've adjusted our Residents in Ministry program to focus more on developing the practical leadership skills that may not have been addressed in seminary or previous experience. We now configure our sessions to align with our Pastoral Leadership Development groups.

  • Residency in Ministry Information (pdf)
  • Residents in Ministry Agenda 2013 (pdf)
  • Residency in Ministry Purpose and Overview (pdf)

Younger Clergy- Articles on Why Young Clergy Matter
The following links include articles from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership regarding Why Young Clergy Matter, Suggestions for Churches with Young Pastors, and Ways Established Church Leaders Can Work with Younger Clergy.

  • Why Young Clergy Matter (pdf)
  • Suggestions for Churches with a Young Pastor (pdf)
  • Ways Established Church Leaders Can Work with Young Clergy (pdf)

Order of Elders, Deacons, Local Pastors- Converge
We have done away with an older style Ministers School and replaced it with high quality events that bring together clergy of all statuses for worship, music, learning, and fun. Converge has been well attended and deeply appreciated. Here are a couple brochures from recent events.

  • Converge Flyer 2013 (pdf)
  • Converge Registration Form 2013 (pdf)

The Appointment System- Appointment Guidelines and Criteria
These pages are reviewed and revised each year as the cabinet begins the appointment process. These values and expectations drive the process. We refine the language a little each year, and we review these processes and criteria at the end of the appointment season to evaluate how faithful we've been to these guidelines.

  • Appointment Guidelines (pdf)

The Appointment System- The Selection of District Superintendents
The bishop consults with the cabinet on the appointment of District Superintendents and invites nominations in writing. At the outset, these criteria for selection are reviewed and discussed. This page also is reviewed and discussed with any prospective new cabinet member at the meeting in which the bishop invites the person to serve as superintendent.

  • DS Criteria for Selection (pdf)

The Appointment System- Lay Persons Serving Local Churches

  • Lay Person Serving Local Churches policy (pdf)

The Appointment System- 2014 Video Describing Appointment System
During annual conference in 2014, the bishop walked through the entire appointment process from beginning to end, describing the values and processes at work in determining appointments. The bishop has done similar presentations for clergy and other select groups. The attempt is to be as transparent as possible about what are sometimes perceived as mysterious or hidden processes.

 

The Appointment System- Protocols for Superintendents During Changes of Appointment
Each year during the appointment process, the cabinet reviews in detail the significant steps and ordering in the process of offering an appointment to a pastor, engaging the Staff Parish Relations Committee, announcing that a pastor is leaving, and introducing a new pastor. We believe that these are critical moments in a pastor's life and critical times of transition for a congregation, and that careful attention by the DS during these weeks can make a fundamental difference in improving the probability of success of the new appointments. Included here are the informal notes taken by one District Superintendent during one of these discussions.

  • Notes on Appointment Process Protocols (pdf)

The Appointment Processes- Clergy Transition in Large and Very Large Churches
This outline by Gil Rendle describes some of the key characteristics that make clergy transition in large churches particularly important.

  • Clergy Transition in Large and Very Large Churches (pdf)

The Appointment System- Right Start Seminars
All pastors under full-time appointment who are moving to a new appointment attend the Right Start workshop, hosted by the cabinet. They receive practical information about salaries, insurance, and moving expenses, as well as presentations on starting well in the new appointment. They also receive demographic reports related to their new areas, and instructions on how to use them. This is done in an environment of worship and conversation. Here's the brochure and agenda of one such event.

  • Right Start Brochure 2013 (pdf)

Clergy Evaluation
Attached are samples of evaluation instruments used for pastors, including their Self-Evaluation and Evaluation by the Staff-Parish Relations Committee. Examples are given for full-time and part-time. These samples represent the default forms, and they align with the Five Expectations described in chapter entitled Finding Focus. However, District Superintendents are encouraged to modify the evaluations as they see fit, and this allows us to learn more about what is helpful for the pastors and for the supervisory process. Some churches, especially large, multi-staff churches, use their own instruments for clergy evaluation, and the DS has the discretion to accept those in place of the conference default form.

  • Default Self-Evaluations for Full-Time Pastors (pdf)
  • Default PPR Evaluation for Full-Time Pastors (pdf)
  • District Modification for Self-Evaluation for Full-Time Pastors (pdf)
  • District Modification for PPR Evaluation for Full-Time Pastors (pdf)
  • District Modification for Self-Evaluation for Part-Time Pastors (pdf)
  • District Modification for PPR Evaluation for Part-Time Pastors (pdf)

District Superintendent and Conference Director Evaluations
District Superintendents and Directors undergo an evaluation once every two years that includes their self evaluation and feedback from approximately 30 people in their district selected by the bishop and the assistant to the bishop. The thirty people include laity and clergy in formal leadership positions, members of conference, and several randomly selected pastors and local church leaders. A similar pattern guides the process for Directors, relying on feedback from 30 or 40 pastors and laity across the conference. After all responses are gathered and collated by the assistant to the bishop, the bishop conducts a one-hour face-to-face evaluation that culminates in recommendations for future learning or focus.

  • District Superintendent Self-Evaluation (pdf)
  • District Superintendent Assessment (pdf)
  • Director Self-Evaluation (pdf)
  • Director Assessment (pdf)

Episcopal Evaluation- 2007 Missouri Episcopacy Committee
In 2007, Missouri initiated an evaluation process for the bishop. The Conference Episcopacy Committee developed a form and solicited responses from approximately sixty laity and clergy across the conference, some selected because of their conference leadership position and others selected randomly. This was one of the first and earliest attempts by conferences to develop an evaluation process for bishops, and we borrowed some of the format from other conferences that were experimenting at the same time.

  • Schnase Evaluation Form (pdf)

Episcopal Evaluation- 2011 South Central Jurisdiction Assessment of Bishops
In 2011, the South Central Jurisdictional Episcopacy Committee developed an evaluation process. This included several components, including a survey that invited approximately fifty people to offer evaluative comments using SurveyMonkey. Various elements of the evaluation are found here.

  • Episcopal Evaluation (pdf)

Episcopal Evaluation – Weems Article on Evaluating Bishops
In this essay, "What Next for the Evaluation of Bishops?," Lovett Weems, Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, wrote this essay that delves into the complexity and necessity of evaluation for Episcopal leaders.

  • What Next for Evaluation of Bishops (pdf)

Episcopal Evaluation – Bishop's Semi-Annual Report to Conference Episcopacy Committee
In the absence of a clear agenda for the Conference Episcopacy Committee during my first year as a bishop, I began the practice of outlining and reviewing conference priorities, my time commitments, and challenges ahead. I revise and update the report for each semi-annual meeting and this becomes the focal point for conversation and feedback. I have included three samples here from 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2013 to show the progression in process as priorities became more clear and as strategies became more elaborate.

  • Episcopacy Committee Semi-Annual Reports (pdf)

Clergy Evaluation – The Use of Metrics
Gil Rendle has written several significant essays about the use of metrics for evaluating and assessing churches, progress toward our mission, and clergy effectiveness and fruitfulness. This link takes us to a Texas Methodist Foundation website that allows you to access the following articles by Rendle.

  • Texas Methodist Foundation
  • "Counting Resources and Measuring Ministry" (February 2013, pdf)
  • "Getting to the Why: Turning Intentions Into Outcomes" (April 2013, pdf)
  • "Phronesis and the Task of Figuring It Out for Ourselves" (August 2013, pdf)
  • "Counts, Measures and Conversations: Using Metrics for Fruitfulness" (September 2013, pdf)
  • "Be Careful What You Measure" (October 2013, pdf)

Clergy Ineffectiveness – Intervention or Exit Policy
This is the policy we've used to guide conversations and set benchmarks for clergy identified as ineffective in the pastoral role. We are currently revising the policy, and this one will be out of date soon. It follows the Discipline, but makes more explicit the signs of ineffectiveness and more clear the steps of the process.

  • Intervention or Exit Policy (pdf)

Clergy Ineffectiveness – Called Anew; Sent with Love
This brochure from the Indiana Conference captures some of the sense of changing directions or rethinking the call that we would like to use in our updated policies.

  • Called Anew (pdf)

Fifth Lever: Creating Missionally Aligned Budgeting

Stewardship Toolkit
The Conference Council on Finance and Administration and the Director of Finance and Administrative Ministries developed a Stewardship Toolkit for congregations seeking basic information and resources related to the financial life of the congregation. Below is the link to the conference website.

  • Stewardship Toolkit

Standing Rules Related to CFA and Apportionment Formula Explanation
Below are the Standing Rules that apply to conference Council of Finance and Administration (CFA) for the budgeting process and financial oversight of the conference. An Explanation of the Apportionment Formula is also presented. Finally, Disciplinary Information related to CFA is given.

  • Standing Rules Related to CFA
  • Discipline Information Related to CFA
  • Formula Explanation

Sixth Lever: Creating Technically Elegant Governance Systems

Special Session of Annual Conference
The most significant directional changes for the Missouri Conference to reshape operations took place by vote of a Called Session of Annual Conference held in March, 2007. The Conference met for two hours, and received the report and recommendations from Pathways, which was the Task Force which spent eighteen months rethinking the purpose and operations of the Missouri Conference. The entire proposal was contained on one page. Prior to the session, the Bishop and other members of Pathways had met with the Conference Council and the Council of Finance and Administration to collaborate and receive their support. They also met in gatherings of clergy and laity across the conference to discuss and explain the proposed changes. The one-page document below was adopted by an overwhelming vote.

  • Special Session Resolution (pdf)

Changing the Nominations Process
The Missouri Conference also began to rethink how nominations worked, with the goal of developing leadership that was committed, gifted, and engaged. The following documents are used to describe the process.

  • Nominations Structure Proposal (pdf)
  • Nominations Flyer (pdf)
  • Article Explaining the Nominations Process (link)
  • Nominations Recommendation Form (link)

Seventh Lever: Reconfiguring Conference Sessions

2011 Annual Conference- Practicing Extravagant Generosity
Below is the 144-page workbook that each annual conference member received in electronic or hard copy for the 2011 Sessions of the Missouri Annual Conference on the theme of Practicing Extravagant Generosity. Every member also received a devotional booklet by the same name. This workbook includes agenda, reports, nominations, and worship resources for the entire conference.

  • 2011 Annual Conference Workbook

Each conference includes an array of workshops related to the conference theme, taught by pastors and laity from our conference with particular expertise or experience or by outside guests. This handout describes our workshops for 2011.

  • 2011 Annual Conference Workshops

2012 Annual Conference- Louder Than Before
Below is the 136-page Workbook that each conference member received for the 2012 Annual Conference on a youth theme with a special focus on reaching next generations, entitled Louder Than Before. Youth helped plan many events, including the Friday night street party, and special speakers included Kenda Cristi Dean and Chuck Bohmar. The second document is the simple agenda for the sessions.

  • 2012 Annual Conference Workbook
  • 2012 Annual Conference Agenda

2013 Annual Conference- Praying Hands and Dirty Fingernails
The theme for 2013 derived from a chapter from Remember the Future, entitled Praying Hands and Dirty Fingernails, and focused on spiritual formation and the life of prayer and how his empowers us for serving others through mission, service, and justice ministries. This conference session also launched the Missouri Conference focus on Imagine No Malaria. A simple agenda is also shown below.

  • 2013 Annual Conference Workbook
  • 2013 Annual Conference Agenda