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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
January 2005 |
Bishops take steps to place focus on making disciples
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (UMCom) - United Methodist bishops are taking steps to place an extraordinary focus on making disciples of Jesus Christ and transforming the world during the 2005-2008 quadrennium.
Meeting at Epworth by the Sea, a church-owned retreat center on the southern Georgia coast, bishops from the United States, Africa, Europe and Asia affirmed a one-and-a-half-page strategy document listing steps they will begin taking to assume a larger leadership role across the church.
"We are making it clear that bishops are in alignment with the mission of the church," said Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, of Houston, now president of the Council.
Bishop Michael J. Coyner of Indiana joined with the other 130 active and retired bishops, including 22 newly elected bishops, as they spent the bulk of their November meeting in small and large group discussions on strategy. Daily worship focused on the mission, unity and role of bishops as leaders of the church.
Retired Bishop Kenneth W. Hicks of Little Rock, Ark., stepped to the microphone during the final discussion of the strategy and declared he was "tickled as a pig with two tails" with the approach the council is taking.
The strategy
Each active bishop will prepare a one-page summary of his or her plans for disciple making in his or her annual conference/s. These plans will be shared during the Council's May 1-6, 2005 meeting in Washington, D.C. Summaries are to include methods for measuring results and suggestions on how active and retired bishops can be supportive and accountable to each other.
Other elements of the strategy include:
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Continuing the council's emphasis on Children and Poverty and the funding appeal related to Hope for the Children of Africa throughout the 2005-2008 quadrennium.
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Examining ways to effectively use the teaching plan offered by the Council during the Episcopal Address at the 2004 General Conference in Pittsburgh. Bishops said the plan would support their commitment to making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
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Expanding the use of best practices seminars that was initiated at Epworth by the Sea.
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Developing a multi-media presentation to effectively explain and interpret the Council's leadership effort in annual conferences and across the world. The presentation will be a "biblical and theological vision" reflecting images from worship during the November 2004 meeting, the Council's teaching paper on security, its address to the General Conference, and the Book of Discipline's statements on disciple-making.
Plans for implementing
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"We are making it clear that bishops are in alignment with the mission of the church." -- Bishop Janice Riggle Huie |
The Executive Committee was directed to outline plans for implementing and creating ways the council will be accountable at the spring 2005 meeting. A team is being created to implement the steps outlined in the strategy document.
Bishop Bruce R. Ough of Columbus, Ohio, a member of the team that coordinated development of the strategy, emphasized the document "is not the final word. It expresses the spirit of unity and communicates the essence of where we are headed."
Bishops will share the strategy with district superintendents and local churches. The council's executive committee will share it with general agency secretaries and with the members of the denomination's new Connectional Table before they meet in early 2005. It also will be shared with the denomination's seminaries.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008