frustrations with the bom

note: as i go through this post, the "bom" stands for board of ordained ministry. this is the group of people who decide your fate as an ordained pastor within the united methodist church.

andrew has brought to the methoblog questions about peoples experiences with the bom. not being a candidate for the process of ordained ministry (though i have thought about it and been encouraged to do it many times over). i can't give testament to my own personal experiences, but i can give testament to my personal experiences with friends who are taking on the call to ordained ministry.

to put it flatly. the bom has been incredibly poor in dealing with the younger people who are seeking to enter the ministry. matt isn't an isolated case, but he has talked about his bom experiences in his blog, so i will reference him so as not to "out" a friend.

here is a young person. i knew matt when he got out of high school. he was under my leadership at our short term mission camp. he has gone on to lead his own camps, has done well at school, finished divinity school in an appropriate time, has a stable relationship, kept active in the leadership of the church (working as a youth minister and then a worship leader for his congregation at that time), and all the while seeking ordination through the proper channels. though, this year instead of being ordained as an elder with the church he was not only passed over, he had a slap in the face (in my opinion) by being appointed to another church where he would need to change residence.

think about it. "we don't think you are up to our snuff kid".. "but, we are going to send you here to this little church." which appointments are not just for elders (local pastors and deacons can be appointed to new places if needed) but i don't know how he manages to put up with it. the only thing i see different from this case is that it is a young person who does some challenging things within ministry, worship practices/experiences & theology (but what else would you expect from a vandy div school grad).

after that i come to two close to heart stories. one of my closest friends (many of you can guess who that is) who has been passed over a number of times for new reasons every time. paperwork has been lost for months at a time. communication has been less than professional. i know how much this person is gifted and wanted by the church they are at, but the run around keeps happening.

a third is more the tragic story. this is a girl who i knew as a youth. she felt a calling to ministry years ago and went into college with divinity school and ministry in mind. somewhere in her schooling (i believe it was while in div school) she was sexually assaulted. since then she has gotten proper counseling and psychiatric care to help deal with that part of her now life. she accepts that. what is harmful is the way in which she has been treated by the bom. they don't need to pass her just because of her being a victim of crime, but they can show grace and understanding. instead she has been held back and pushed away because she was a victim. she is dealing with the depression that comes with an experience like that and she continues to be victimized by the way in which she is treated by the bom.

it is sad.. and every annual conference (when ordinations happen) i get bummed that more of my contemporaries who are dedicated and willing to put their passion out there in ministry are held up by people who can't see past their own homeostasis and trust that younger people, though tenderfoot and less experienced as they may, have innovative ideas and passion to bring to the church. they can't see past a persons cracks and breaks of perfection to trust that God uses them to help healing those broken people in and out of the church (which percentage wise is much larger than the perfect people) because they themselves know brokenness.

plus, it makes me want to stay as far away from the system as much as possible.

Comments

[Mary Beth Bernheisel]

And to add insult to injury, you can turn around without hearing the UMC as a whole lamenting the fact that we "don't have enough young people entering the ministry." Either the BOM needs to be serious about mentoring young people so that they are prepared for local church leadership or they need to stop giving lip service to the "we need more young people" stuff.

[gavin]

oh.. don't get me started again mary beth. that is the worst lip service. not to mention it has continued for as long as i have been in ministry, which has been going on 13 years. you would think people would figure out an answer by now... obviously it's lip service by the gatekeepers

you know, i could probably get myself in some trouble if a bom member actually read this

[David]

you wouldn't be the only one making the statements publicly, though I will say mine are not entirely in print...just a few references here and there...

[DogBlogger]

I'm seeing a TON of energy around this issue, y'all, and some of it's coming from people on the appropriate General Conference legislative committee. This may turn out to be a spot where we actually see progress at GC08.

[JaWS]

I echo your sentiments. I haven't yet taken the plunge into the whole process and at least some of that is because of watching good, talented, spiritually mature people get disrespected and dishonored, all the while hearing that we need to reach more young people. That echo is really hollow to someone like me now. Especially knowing that there are some majorly dysfunctional people who are already pastors that we can't seem to do anything for or about. (Anyone else ever been punched by a senior pastor? I was 8 years ago...)

[gavin]

no way! that is insane jason!

i guess temper management isn't regulated before or after orders are given

[SteveHeyduck]

While it is hard to believe I finished the ordination process 16 years ago, I want to encourage those of you whoa re younger not to give up.

I see the ineptitude, lack of professionalism, and the way the system has set itself up to blame it all on the individual seeking admittance. I see it from the other side, though; I can barely imagine how frustrating it must be.

Please don't give up! There is hope in the future of The United Methodist Church, and quite a bit of that hope is in the young people whose connection with God and the people of God has happened within the UMC.

[DogBlogger]

My day-job persona has just linked to you here, Gavin.

[LK]

hi
in my case (UMC not in the USA) the BOM was not the real problem - it was the new pastor (from outside UMC) who threw a huge spanner in the works.

I am no longer a lay speaker or a candidate - and it hurts like hell.

Trusting God to open a door - but I really identify with Joseph right now.

Thanks for opening up this discussion. The situation is dire here - and yeah makes me wonder about the UMC as a whole.

We need not only pastors but good Godly leaders - spiritually strong but with healthy leadership skills too. Please pray for our conference.