With church appointments in full swing right now, I was asked a very serious hypothetical question recently (by someone whose pastor is staying put): Do UM churches have a right of refusal to a pastoral appointment which the bishop has made?
In other words, if the DS calls and says, “This is your new pastor,” and we decide we don’t want him or her, can we say ‘No’? Do we have that right as laity? Or do we have to accept the appointment no matter what?
It’s a good question. And how we answer it, in my opinion, says an awful lot about the kind of church we are.
I’ll be honest. I didn’t really know quite how to answer the question. My initial response is, based on what I know of the Book of Discipline and from personal observation, yes, one probably could, but I wouldn’t highly suggest it unless you really, really need to.
In other words, this is an option of last resort in the UM world. Bishops tend not to like being told ‘No.’ So, it’s best to do so as seldom as possible, lest they find a truly undesirable pastor to inflict upon you. After all, if the Bishop says, “This is it!”, what can you really do?
That’s my best guess anyway. Clearly, it wasn’t the answer my questioner was hoping for. Disappointment was obvious.
As I continue to ponder that question, I can’t help but wonder: Why don’t UM churches have a right of refusal? In fact, why aren’t local churches far more heavily involved in the appointment process?
We talk a lot these days about wanting strong, involved laity in our churches. How invested can laity really be if they have no say over who their leader is?
I know, there are good reasons for not letting them have more input. Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, sin is at the heart of their discontent. Less than pure motives guide their choices.
But, at the same time, sometimes they know their church better than we as clergy do. Sometimes their input is well-intended and worth taking into account. Perhaps worth more than the paltry forms we often hand them. (Forms that they wonder if we even read.) Sometimes their objections come from the wisdom of previous experience.
I simply wonder, if we truly expect laity to invest more fully in our local churches, why not give them more say? What are we afraid of?
Porter's Progress 
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:30 pm
[…] out clergy is still our style April 23, 2010 by John Meunier Lauren Porter asks whether local congregations should have the right to refuse elders appointed by the bishop. As I […]
April 29th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Good question. Except for the BIG churches in our conference, I’m not aware of congregations having much say beyond their profile (“Young, outgoing pastor who will solve all our problems and make us perfect.” Or something like that). But they also, I think, don’t have the means to know much about the pastors that are out there. They can go by the immediately obvious, and decide purely on the matter of race or gender (usually the wrong criteria), but I’d guess they usually don’t have much to go on.
April 30th, 2010 at 10:39 am
As a pastor, I was told (by my then-DS) that I could refuse an appointment. And that if I did so, I would be blackballed by the cabinet and that I would get the appointment from Hell.
April 30th, 2010 at 11:56 am
I’ve heard that too, Brian. I DO know that it’s not true for everyone. I also know that someone has to pastor the congregation from hell.
We still have a hierarchical, top-down, command and control model, so we need to come down hard on people who seek to thwart that control.
September 15th, 2022 at 5:14 pm
I’m a Christian Methodist Episcopal Church pastor who was recently moved/appointed to another church. The church appointed by my Bishop was a church I had been pastor for 5 months or so. The people there they knew me very well, they said they loved me. Let start at the beginning, the church I was pastoring only met 1st. and 4th. Sunday. The church I was appointed to meet every Sunday. The pastor that pastor the 5 Sunday church died, so my Presiding Elder sent me there to preach 2nd. & 3rd. Sunday. But when the Bishop appointed me as their full time pastor, just two questions was/I asked and the people decided they didn’t want me. First question, “can my name be on your bank signature cards and can I get a key to their church. Well, I’m not their pastor and I’m baffled to my mistake be, our Discipline says the pastor is the “Chief Administrator. Can you give me some advice please?