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Methodist
Council
The Methodist Council usually meets four times
between annual meetings of the Methodist Conference. The Council exercises some
delegated powers on behalf of the Conference. It has just under 70 members
representing the Methodist districts, youth executive, racial justice committee
and other groups within the church.
16 April, 2008
The
April meeting of the Methodist Council
The Methodist Council met on 15-16
April at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire. As this was the
Council’s last meeting before the Methodist Conference in July, it had a busy
agenda.
It is a number of years since the Methodist
Conference addressed issues relating to early human life, and in that time
medical advances have opened up many new possibilities but also raised new
ethical questions. The Council considered a major report on early human life
that will now go to the Conference. The Revd Ken Howcroft, Coordinating
Secretary for Conference and Communication, said: “This is a complex area that
many people have strong feelings about. This report offers a detailed look at
the medical issues and the theological responses to them.” Although the report
does not reach a conclusion about the legal time limit for abortion, it will
recommend to the Conference that this area needs further work.
The Council passed a resolution deploring the
situation in
Darfur
, and asked
Methodists to keep this situation and those seeking peace in their prayers.
Council also gave its approval to the large-scale pilot scheme for the Youth
Participation Strategy. This will see the Church spend about £4 million over
the next five years, encouraging and enabling young people aged 16-23 to take a
full part in the governance and leadership of the Church. Ken Howcroft said
“this is an innovative piece of work that places the
Methodist
Church
at the
cutting edge, involving young people at the heart of church life.”
The papers for the Conference are available online at: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=2115
7 February, 2008
February meeting of the Methodist
Council
The Methodist Council met at High Leigh
Conference Centre on 6-7 February. Although the Council had a full agenda, it
had fewer papers to consider compared with recent meetings, and so had more time
to spend on each.
A major piece of work currently underway is
looking at Equalities and Diversity. A working group has been exploring this
issue and developing an equal opportunities policy for the Church. A parallel
paper looking at diversity and Methodist identity pointed out that widely
varying national and cultural backgrounds are found in the Church today, from
long-established Chinese Methodist congregations in Epsom, London and Birmingham
to Urdu-, Punjabi- and Parsee-language Methodist groups elsewhere. The reports
call for equality and diversity to be seen as core Methodist identities, and
more than just the concern of special-interest groups.
The Fresh Expressions joint initiative between
the Church of England and the Methodist Church will come to the end of its
initial five-year period in 2009, and proposals are being formed for its second
phase. The Council heard plans for the next phase, which will include the aim of
integrating Fresh Expressions into the ongoing life of the churches.
The Revd Ken Howcroft, Coordinating Secretary for
Conference and Communication, says “Fresh Expressions has been a great success
and we are pleased with the plans for its next phase. It represents a great
challenge to the churches, but also wonderful opportunities to meet people in
different ways, and to share our faith with them.”
The Council also approved spending plans for new
ways of meeting the training needs of the Church. A new training framework,
called Extending Discipleship and Exploring Vocation (EDEV), aims to support the
training and development needs of all Methodists, including lay staff and
volunteers. Also, the new Regional Training Forums will be supported in their
early years by the release of funds originally raised by circuits and districts
to support ministerial training. Due to an under spend of those funds in recent
years, Council heard that there is now the money available to thoroughly set up
the new training schemes and to cover the transitional costs from the current
schemes.
The Council will meet again in April, which will
be its final meeting before the annual Methodist Conference meets in Scarborough
on 5-10 July.
16 October 2007
The October meeting of the
Methodist Council
·
Major topics included Team Focus, human sexuality and new
church growth
The October meeting of the Methodist Council was
held on October 15 and 16 at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire. The
first of three meetings planned for the current Connexional Year, it addressed a
wide range of topics.
As part of the Team Focus process, the Council
considered the appointments of the next General Secretary and the three new
posts of Team Secretaries, who will jointly form the senior leadership of the
Team from 1 September. The Council nominated the Revd Dr Martyn Atkins as
General Secretary and Secretary of the Conference, and his name will go to the
annual meeting of the Methodist Conference in July for confirmation. Mr John
Ellis has been appointed to the post of Secretary for Team Operations; the Revd
Dr Mark Wakelin to Secretary for Internal Relationships; and Ms Christine
Elliott to Secretary for External Relationships. All will take up their
appointments on 1 September, but will where possible start doing some work under
the direction of the current leadership.
The Revd David Deeks, current General Secretary
of the Methodist Church, said “We wish them well as they prepare themselves in
the coming months to carry out their leadership responsibilities. The Church
faces both challenges and exciting opportunities, and both the current and the
designated team will work hard to meet these.”
Another major report is into the appointment of
pioneers to build new congregations. The Fresh Expressions organisation, which
is jointly sponsored by the Methodist Church and the Church of England, has been
successful in developing new forms of church and growing new church groups. But
most of those attending Fresh Expressions-style churches are those who
previously have had some contact with traditional churches. The pioneer scheme
is designed to reach out to those who have never had any significant contact
with any church, and this group includes a growing proportion of young people.
The innovative and exciting scheme aims to fund about 20 pioneers for five years
to build new young congregations across Great Britain and to support up to 60
more local initiatives. Council agreed the plan in principle.
The 2006 Methodist Conference directed the
Council to conduct a consultation on the 1993 resolutions on human sexuality. In
particular, the consultation should see if there is a wish to revise the 1993
resolutions. Following a lengthy and thorough process, the working party
conducting the consultation judged that there is no wish to revise them. A
little over half of the greater than 1,000 responses said that they were happy
with the resolutions as they stand. Of the half who felt that there should be
change, there was a wide range of opinions as to whether they should be relaxed
or made stricter. As a result, the Council will recommend to the Conference that
there be no revision.
All of the non-confidential Council papers
are available on the Methodist website at <http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=1714>.
The Council next meets on 6-7 February.
3 April, 2007
The March meeting of the Methodist
Council
The Methodist Council met on 30-31 March, for its last
meeting before the annual Methodist Conference in July. As it always the case
for the last Council meeting before Conference, it addressed a wide range and a
large number of topics. The Council papers are online at <http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=information.content&cmid=1355>.
The main topic was the Team Focus process, which is
reconfiguring the Connexional Team in order to better serve the circuits and
districts and to release resources to churches for innovative new mission. This
subject has created a lot of discussion within the Council and the wider church,
and the Council addressed it in three separate sessions in order to be confident
in the proposals it sends on to the Conference.
The Revd Ken Howcroft, Coordinating Secretary for
Conference and Communication, said “thanks to the hard work of the Council and
everyone else who has contributed to the process, the Team Focus proposals are
now ready to be prepared for presentation to the Conference. Some of the
decisions have been difficult to make. The details of others still need to be
worked out and tested before they are finalised, but we are now confident that
we have the right structure for the Team in order to encourage and liberate
exciting work in churches, circuits and districts.”
Other topics discussed include the future shape of the
Youth Conference, the best way to structure adult training and the leadership of
the Church.
30 - 31 January 2007
The Methodist Council met on 30-31 January at High Leigh
Conference Centre in Hertfordshire. The Council, which serves to carry forward
the work of the annual Conference, addressed a wide range of topics, which were
mostly looking at internal matters.
The biggest items of business related to the Team Focus
process. This is the process to produce a Connexional Team - the officers and
servants of the Church - that is more responsive to the needs of the local
churches, and to give more flexibility and resources to local church bodies.
Some of the work currently undertaken centrally by the Connexional Team will in
future be done by circuits and districts, allowing them to act in ways that take
into account local conditions and needs. The Team is required by Conference to
cut 30% of its budget between 2005 and 2008.
Council endorsed the general direction of the proposals,
although it raised some areas of concern that will be addressed at the March
council. All the Team Focus proposals will be decided by the Methodist
Conference in July.
The Revd. Ken Howcroft, Coordinating Secretary for
Conference and Communication said "although the Team Focus will sadly lead
to job cuts, at its heart is a move to liberate the energy and imagination of
individual Methodists in carrying forward the Church's mission in their
communities. We do not want our structures to get in the way of new ideas, and
we are moving to a vision where the Team supports local churches in ways that
suit them."
The Council also discussed a report on the consultation on
What Sort of Bishops? This
follows a report received by the 2005 Methodist Conference, which opened a
discussion on whether or not the Methodist Church should adopt bishops, and if
so in what form. That called for a widespread consultation, the results of which
are now available. The consultation report says that there is at this point no
call to take further steps towards creating Methodist bishops of any kind. As a
result, there is no need for a major debate on this at the 2007 Methodist
Conference. However, given the Methodist Church's Covenant relationship with the
Church of England, it is not possible to say that the issue will not arise again
at some point in the future.
Notes:
The papers considered by Council are available online at: http://www.methodistchurch.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=information.content&cmid=1325
The minutes of the Council meeting will also be online in the same part of the
website in a few weeks.
________________________
31
October-1 November
2006
- Major
papers discussed include senior leadership structures, grant making and
urban mission
The Methodist Council met yesterday and today at High Leigh Conference
Centre in Hertfordshire. For the first time ever, the reports and papers
to be discussed were made publicly available before the meeting on the Methodist
web site.
The Methodist Church is currently
reviewing many of its decision-making bodies and processes, and is also looking
at the future structure and role of the Connexional Team, the staff who provide
services and support to the Church. As a result, much of the Council's business
focussed on these areas.
Nonetheless, Council also gave a lot of
time to other matters. These included the response to the Church of England's
Commission for Urban Life and Faith (CULF). Although CULF's report Faithful
Cities was produced to address issues affecting Anglican churches, it was
chaired by Revd. Kathleen Richardson, former President of the Methodist
Conference and many its recommendations also apply to the Methodist Church.
The differences between Methodist and Anglican structures and traditions mean
that some further work is needed to implement the relevant recommendations of
Faithful Cities. Nonetheless, the Council welcomed the report as highlighting
the issues relating to urban mission. The Methodist Church funds, in conjunction
with the Evangelical Coalition for Urban Mission, Erica Dunmow as Urban Mission
Development Advisor. Based in Sheffield, she works to develop networks of people
and groups involved in urban mission both locally and nationally.
Council welcomed and encouraged further work on a proposed provisional pattern
for the future leadership and senior management of the Connexional Team. This
proposed pattern envisages a small
group of senior leaders working under the General Secretary, replacing the
current Coordinating Secretaries Group who currently are responsible for both
strategic leadership and managing the Connexional Team.
All of the work of the Connexional Team is currently being reviewed with a view
to producing a Team that is more flexible and better able to serve the needs of
the whole Church. This new Team will also cost less, in order to leave more
resources in the hands of districts and circuits.
Another major item being reviewed in this process is the allocation of grants.
In the current budget year the Connexional Team alone will give grants totalling
£9.8 million, with decision-making held in several places. The goal of the
review is to put all grant-making into one place, with the exception of
emergencies under a single coordinated range of procedures. This will make for a
simpler, quicker system for grants that will be more flexible and more
accountable. Different types of grants will still need different means of
applying, but because of the coordinated approach it will be easier for churches
and other groups to make the right applications at the right times.
The Revd. David Deeks, General Secretary of the Methodist Church, said "in
2004 we agreed the Priorities for the
Methodist Church, which recognised that we cannot do everything we would
wish to. We are now putting those priorities into practice, and this will lead
to a Church with the flexibility and strength to be part of God's mission to
21st century Britain."
Other issues discussed included a
process to review the 1993 resolutions on human sexuality. The 2006 Conference
repeated its commitment to the earlier resolutions, but also asked for a group
to study whether or not the Church membership wants to revisit them at a future
Conference. Another matter under consultation is the question of what a
Methodist understanding of Bishop. Council heard an update and appointed members
to a group to review the responses received to date and to make recommendations
on taking the process forward
________________________
The
April meeting of the Methodist Council
2006
The Methodist Council met at All Saints Pastoral
Centre, London Colney, on 6 & 7 April, for its last scheduled meeting before
the annual Methodist Conference meets in June.
In response to a note from the Stationing Committee, Council and the Stationing
Committee will jointly sponsor a resolution to Conference. This will call on
Conference to appoint a working party to undertake a thorough review of
stationing procedures and principles, reporting back to Conference in 2007. The
Revd David Deeks, General Secretary of the
Methodist
Church
, said
“stationing and the principle of itinerant ministry is at the very heart of
Methodism, but it is also right that we ensure that our practices do not hinder
us in our mission in 21st century
Great Britain
. These are
huge issues that neither the Stationing Committee nor the Council alone can
answer, and so we will together ask the Conference to create this working
party.”
The new London District and two new southeast districts will come into existence
on
1 September
2006
, and Council
heard the final report of the co-ordinating group for the proposed district
arrangements for
London
and the
South East. The new London District will match the boundaries of the Greater
London Authority. To the north the new Bedfordshire,
Essex
and
Hertfordshire District will cover the three eponymous counties, while the new
South East District will cover
Kent
,
Sussex
,
Surrey
and small
parts of other counties.
The Bedfordshire,
Essex
and
Hertfordshire District will be launched on 31 August in Chelmsford Cathedral.
The London District will be launched on 2 September in Westminster Central Hall,
while the South East District will launch on 3 September in the Assembly Hall
Theatre, Tunbridge Wells.
Council heard about the Church’s ongoing work with the Department and Trade
and Industry to produce a statement of good practice of terms and conditions for
work for ministers. In common with other denominations, Methodist ministers are
not employed by the Church. The DTI accepts this position, but is asking all
churches to adopt a version of its statement of good practice. The Methodist
Conference will receive a report detailing both the DTI statement of good
practice and the
Methodist
Church
’s version
of it. Conference will also be asked to approve the principle of a Handbook for
Presbyters and Deacons, setting out clearly the terms and conditions of work.
The Revd David Gamble, Co-ordinating Secretary for Legal and Constitutional
Practice, said “we have been working with the DTI on this since 2002 and we
are very pleased with what has been achieved. It is encouraging that we already
meet many of the DTI’s guidelines, but there are a few matters where we need
to put in writing things that occur in practice. Methodist ministers and deacons
work hard and it is only right that they understand the terms and conditions
under which they do so.”
____________________
Highlights of the
February meeting 2006
The Methodist Council met at All Saints Pastoral Centre near
London
on 16-17 February 2006. With only one more meeting scheduled before the
Methodist Conference meets in June, the Council had a lot of business on a range
of topics from Church organisation and governance to disability justice,
evangelism and ethical investment.
Council enthusiastically discussed the report Evangelism and Speaking
of God and Faith, the first of a series of major reports on the work of the
Church’s Connexional team. After discussion in small groups, the Council
welcomed the report, which calls for: increasing evangelism across the whole
Church; to enable more lay people to speak of their faith while still being
lifelong seekers themselves; to discover gifts and release resources for
evangelism; to encourage churches to become more welcoming; and to identify and
appoint more people for the work of evangelism and apologetics.
The Council received a draft report on the use of funds in relation to
conflict in Israel and Palestine, written in response to a motion passed at the
2005 Conference. The draft report will, after further work, go to the 2006
Methodist Conference.
The Council also received the
first consolidated financial accounts of the Methodist Council, drawing together
several different areas of the Church’s work, including for the first time the
Connexional Advance and Priority Fund. The accounts also adopt and implement
some new accounting guidelines for charities.
The consolidated accounts give total income for the Methodist Council and
the funds it controls of £35.3 million for the year to 31 August 2005. Total
expenditure for the same period was £34.6 million, of which the biggest
component was the grants programme of £18.7 million (£15.1 million from
unrestricted funds). Of this, 64% went to projects in the UK. In addition, £5.1
million went to support Formation in Ministry training, while £4.9 million went
to Direct Mission & Ministry and £614,000 on Advocacy and Education. These
accounts do not cover all of the Church’s income and spending, as much of this
takes place within Districts and Circuits.
The Church is currently undertaking a widespread review of the annual
Methodist Conference. The review group recently launched a consultation document
available to all from the Methodist web site. Its recommendations point towards
a smaller Conference that is better suited to discerning the will of God and
then applying that to the oversight of the Church.
The Conference Review paper is available from http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.content&cmid=1234
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BOLTON
AND ROCHDALE METHODIST
DISTRICT