Good Morning everyone,
I want to post some info related to a topic that came up on Wednesday night. How does it make sense for me, a UMC local church pastor, to serve Church in the Cliff with its baptist roots and affiliations? The short answer is that my identity and the congregation's identity can remain separate. For example, many Alliance of Baptist congregations have ministers of other traditions who serve as their pastor. We need to ask some questions regarding the American Baptist Affiliation-- I know that UMC and UCC ministers serve in each other's churches and that the denominations have an agreement. I think that that is true for American Baptists as well. But perhaps others more in the know on that front could answer the question for us.
From my side, the North Texas Conference has appointed me already to serve as an extension minister to an ecumenical/emergent local church (i.e. church in the cliff). What this means is that the UMC hierarchy understands that CITC is not a UMC congregation but rather an ecumenical congregation with baptist origens and emergent tendencies. The UMC is excited about me serving and learning here-- and if I were to shift from being a community/associate pastor to the lead pastor they would continue to feel the same way about this appointment. Also, because I am a licenced local church pastor, but not yet commissioned on the elder track (so much 'church-ese' I know), this means that the bishop does not have the power to appoint me somewhere else. So I could continue to serve CITC as pastor for as long as mutually beneficial, even though I am part of the Methodist system.
Hope this clears up a few of the polity questions. My direct supervisor in the UMC is Milton Gutierrez who lives and works in Oak Cliff. He is the District Superintendent of the Dallas South District and would be happy to answer any questions.
221 W. Colorado Blvd. #444
Dallas TX 75208
Office Phone
(214) 941-7712
Fax
(214) 941-7702
Email
ntcumc03@airmail.net
http://www.ntcumc.org/district_detail.asp?PKVALUE=17
Lastly, I think that this conversation about denominational affiliation is a healthy one for us to have. How can we honor the unique roots and contributions of several members who come from the Baptist tradition while also acknowledging that some members do not identify as Baptist? I have seen some other emergent congregations which sit at intersections with denominational bodies talk about their affiliations in terms of "tribes" which may help us too. As in we come from many different tribes and identify with them to varying degrees but also see ourselves as creating a new thing.
Look forward to your feedback and talking more tomm.
peace to you all,
Courtney
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Thank you for your post, Courtney! I have not and will not ever identify as Baptist. ~Tiana
ReplyDeleteI think I can answer a couple of questions about the ABC-USA and local pastor relationship. I e-mailed Courtney with this and she thought I might want to share it on the blog.
ReplyDeleteBasically, Baptists of all strips have no criteria or overseeing body for selection of local church pastors; churches can choose whomever they wish. The Alliance of Baptists has no mechanism to vet pastors in any way. ABC-USA does have a process called 'Recognition of Ordination. Some Regions (ABC-USA regional bodies) do ask that churches covenant to only employ 'Recognized' pastors. The region we are in, American Baptist Churches of the South (ABCOTS) does not. So, from the Baptist set of CITC's affiliations, there is no technical denominational hindrance to CITC from hiring you as pastor.
That being said, I would hope that if CITC does wishes to have/keep an ABC-USA affiliation that CITC would have a pastor who would have or seek ABC-USA Recognition of Ordination and more importantly would agree to and abide by the ABC-USA's Ministers Council Covenant and Code of Ethics. (http://www.ministerscouncil.com/CodeofEthics/EngEthics.aspx)