Conference Relations is the committee of the Board of Ordained Ministry given the responsibility to care for clergy through changes in their relationship with the annual conference, or through periods of stress in their personal lives and ministry. It is charged by the BOM to interview, give support and make assessments and recommendations to the BOM for appropriate action(s) in particular situations for ordained clergy in accordance with disciplinary requirements and BOM policy.
Care shall be taken to
include in the membership of Conference Relations an elder, a deacon, a lay
person, and be gender and racially inclusive. The district superintendent of a
clergyperson seeking a change of status will be invited on a consultative basis
to share all pertinent information about the change of status with the
Conference Relations Committee. Information
given by a district superintendent to Conference Relations will be shared with
the person seeking the change of status.
The following are situations that will require ordained clergy to inform and meet with Conference Relations:
1. Experiencing difficult life passages and changes that affect them personally and may impact their professional ministry such as separation, divorce, death of spouse or serious long-term illness.
2. Requesting a professional status change:
a. Full-time to less-than-full-time
b. Change to or from less than full-time appointment
c. Leave of Absence, voluntary or involuntary
d. Honorable location
e. Discontinuance
f. Parish ministry to appointment beyond the local church and appointment beyond the local church to parish ministry.
g. Retirement
h. Return to the effective relation from and other status.
i. Readmission from location or discontinuance from probationary membership
j. Sabbatical leave
k. Incapacity leave
l. Termination
3. Requesting transfer into the conference from another polity
4. Requesting recognition of ordination from another denomination or sister Methodist denomination.
(see Appendix A)
Clergy seeking a change in
status may be required by the Board of Ordained Ministry to undergo
psychological testing.
Persons seeking readmission
to the Annual Conference after withdrawal or involuntary retirement or
discontinuance or termination of their membership (¶ 360 and ¶ 362-364) may be
required by the Board of Ordained Ministry to undergo psychological testing at
their own expense for consideration by the board for readmission to an effective
relationship with the conference.
Conference Relations offers interviews to spouses of clergy experiencing separation and divorce, and recognizes its responsibility to enhance the period of adjustment.
Conference Relations receives yearly renewals for leave of absence and interviews those persons; at least annually until any further change in status.
Conference Relations will develop and coordinate programming for the retiring clergy each year, and we may do voluntary exit interviews. This responsibility includes:
1. Planning and implementing or arranging for a yearly retirement seminar
2. Will conduct voluntary exit interviews of each retiree and spouse
Conference Relations takes seriously its many responsibilities and notes its need to intensify and extend its efforts to be a forum for clergy to discuss, with peer professionals, problems and personal concerns regarding current and future ministry.
Conference Relations keeps accurate records and correspondence with any clergy under its care.
Conference Relations makes recommendations to the Board of Ordained Ministry regarding necessary assessments, support and status change.
CHANGES IN CONFERENCE RELATIONSHIP ACCORDING TO THE 2000 DISCIPLINE
(¶ 331 - 358)
¶318.6 Discontinuance from Probationary Membership
· Fair process (¶ 359.2)
· Review by the administrative review committee (¶ 633)
· Permanent record (¶ 632.3d)
Conference Policy Concerning:
Responsibilities Following the Granting of a Sabbatical Leave
(¶ 350)
· You are required to keep the BOM informed about your current mailing address during this year, through the Conference Relations Committee.
·
You need to be in contact with your District Superintendent in
January to be a part of the appointment process from the beginning.
· You need to submit to the BOM in writing a report of your Sabbatical Leave including your areas of study and travel. Such a report should also include your evaluation of this year for your ministry and personal growth. This report is due two months after the termination of the Sabbatical Leave.
· The Conference Relations Committee is always ready to help you with any concerns, questions, or problems you may encounter. Please contact the chairperson.
¶ 351 Provision for change in Conference Relationship
¶ 352.1 Leave of Absence
a)
Voluntary Leave of Absence
b)
Involuntary Leave of Absence
· You shall establish a relationship with a Charge Conference after consulting with and the written approval of the Pastor of the charge and with the approval of the district superintendent and the SPRC of the charge. You will be under the Supervision of, and must report to the Pastor. This charge conference ought to be in the vicinity of your residence except in special situations.
· You shall inform the Conference Relations of your charge conference selection and keep them aware of your mailing address.
· Your ministry is limited to the charge in which your membership is held. All activities which reflect or are supported by your ordination and credentials, including preaching, counseling, marrying, officiating at funerals, serving Communion and baptisms, etc., are prohibited except in the charge in which your membership is located, and under the supervision of the pastor in charge, to whom these activities are reported. A written report of all such activities shall be made annually to the pastor, the charge conference, and the BOM. Failure to report to the BOM may lead to location or termination without further process.
· The Conference Relations is interested in your situation and decisions concerning future Conference Membership. We will set up at least one meeting per year with you in person and any exceptions must be approved by the full BOM. Where this is impossible, we require a written statement of your situation no later than January 31 as we begin to sort out relationships for the coming year. Voluntary leaves are granted for one year at a time, and continuation on leave will require a written request to Conference Relations.
· Termination of a leave requires the recommendation of the BOM. Termination of your leave to return to full-time or part-time active ordained ministry will require at least an interview with Conference Relations, and may include other steps (e.g. counseling, medical examination, etc.) as the Board decides. These steps will be delineated at the time Conference Relations recommends such leave.
· You have the right to appeal the recommendation of the Conference Relations Committee to the full BOM and subsequently to the Clergy Session. (since CR makes recommendations to the full board, appeals of the recommendation that will be made to Clergy Session can be made to the executive committee of BOM.) Please direct any further concerns or questions to the chairperson of the Conference Relations Committee.
· Between sessions of the annual conference leaves of absence may be granted or terminated with the approval of the bishop, the district superintendents, and by the executive committee of the BOM.
¶ 353 Family Leave
¶ 354 Maternity
Leave
¶ 355 Incapacity
Leave
¶ 356 Retirement
Conference Policy Concerning:
Conditions for the Retired Relationship
(¶ 356)
· If you are not serving a charge under appointment (full or part-time), you shall designate the charge conference in which your membership will be held. The charge should be in the vicinity of your residence under normal circumstances.
· Your choice of a charge conference should be communicated to the BOM through the Conference Relations Committee or registrar.
· You shall report to the charge conference and to the pastor all marriages performed, Baptisms administered, and other pastoral functions. If you live outside the bounds of the Western New York Conference, you shall forward annually to the conference where membership is held a report of your Christian and ministerial conduct, together with an account of circumstances of your family, signed by the district superintendent or the pastor of the charge within the bounds of which you reside. Without this report, the conference, after having given thirty days’ notice, may locate you without your consent.
· Your Conference Relations Committee is always ready to help with any difficulty you may encounter. We like to hear from you and encourage your continued active role in local churches and our conference.
· If you have any further questions, please contact the chairperson of the Conference Relations Committee.
(¶ 356.3)
If a person is placed on Involuntary Retirement under the provisions of ¶ 356.3, a one-time cash grant in the amount of one-third of the conference average salary plus one-third of the annual cost of the medical insurance in place for that person at the time the change of relationship becomes effective may be made (effective 1/l/89).
¶ 357 Honorable Location
¶ 358 Withdrawal
· Complaints received by bishop or district superintendent (¶ 359.1a)
If a person is placed on administrative location under the provisions of ¶359.3c, a one-time cash grant in the amount of one-third of the conference average salary plus one-third of the annual cost of the medical insurance in place for that person at the time the change of relationship becomes effective may be made (effective 1/l/89).
¶ 360 Readmission to
Probationary Membership
¶ 361 Readmission After Honorable or Administrative Location
¶ 362 Readmission After Leaving the Ministerial Office
¶ 363 Readmission After Termination by Action of the Annual Conference
¶ 364 Readmission After Involuntary Retirement
Section XVI. General Provisions (¶ 365, 366)
POLICY TO BE EMPLOYED WHERE CHANGES IN PERSONAL LIFE SITUATIONS
MAY AFFECT MINISTERIAL FITNESS AND/OR EFFECTIVENESS
I. INTRODUCTION:
a. In the United Methodist Church, ordained ministry functions within a covenant with other ordained ministers.
b. This covenant is not defined within the context of rules and regulations, but stands upon the inner commitment and outer performance of the ordained ministers. Therefore, changes in the personal life of an ordained minister may affect this covenant.
c. The purpose of this conference policy is to enable ordained Ministers involved in such changes to review their relationship with those with whom they are in covenant; and, if the relationship is found to be weakened, to restore it to wholeness when possible. If the covenant of ordained ministry can no longer be maintained within the life of the ordained minister, the policy is designed to provide support for the ordained minister involved in the transition.
II. A POLICY FOR ORDAINED CONFERENCE MEMBERS IN CHANGING SITUATIONS:
a. Primary concern is for the individual as a person of sacred worth, and the individual's fitness for ministry.
1. Persons must be dealt with, with compassion
2. Each case must be considered on its own merits
3. Any adequate review of an individual case will require the participation of peers
b. When a district superintendent deems it necessary to deal with an ordained minister whose effectiveness may be impaired because of personal relationships or life-style, he/she shall request a meeting with the bishop and a representative of the Conference Relations Committee of the BOM. It is to be understood that the ordained minister in question, or the BOM, or the bishop may also initiate such a meeting. This does not preclude the procedures in ¶ 359.
c. All requests for changes of conference relations must be presented to the Conference Relations Committee of the BOM. The Conference Relations Committee will assume the responsibility of personally contacting these persons to review their requests.
d. Each individual within the covenant of the ordained ministry bears the responsibility of facing honestly those elements in his/her personal life, which may affect fitness for, or effectiveness in ministry.
III. A CONFERENCE POLICY IN SITUATIONS WHERE A PASTOR IS A PARTY IN A LEGAL SEPARATION OR A DIVORCE
Ordained and licensed ministers serve as representatives and symbols of the community of faith. Because of this, ordained ministers and local pastors under appointment may find being a party in a legal separation, a divorce, or other situations of personal trauma especially difficult. In light of this, the Western New York Conference of the United Methodist Church adopts the following policy:
a. Each pastor involved in a legal separation or a divorce proceeding shall be required to meet with:
1. His/her district superintendent
2. The BOM through its Conference Relations Committee. The purpose of the meeting shall be to inquire into the continued ministerial effectiveness of the pastor, and to sustain the pastor and spouse and the community of faith.
b. If the pastor, cabinet, and the BOM agree that circumstances warrant a temporary withdrawal from the effective (active) ministry as a pastor, the pastor may be granted a leave of absence in accordance with the provisions of ¶ 352.
c. Until the pastor's situation is resolved, whether by reconciliation or a divorce, the pastor shall maintain regular contact with the BOM through its Conference Relations Committee.
d. If the conduct of the pastor involved in a legal separation or a divorce situation is found to be in conflict with the Discipline, the BOM will forward a formal complaint to the bishop.
e. The pastor's district superintendent shall continue to be in consultation with the Pastor- Parish Relations Committee and shall be a support to the congregation throughout the pastor's separation and divorce.