| Mark Conard |
 | Mark ConardHutchinson KS45 friends | 6 groupshttp://www.umcommunities.org/markconardLast Login: 10/24/2009view full profile |  RSS |
Thursday, June 26, 2008 3:57 pm | 3 comments | 371 views
The Appointive Odometer
by Mark Conard
The appointive odometer for United Methodists is about to roll over to a new another year. I remember the excitement as a child when it was time to roll over the odometer to mileage with multiple zeroes! Going from 9 to 10 wasn't a big deal. Going from 99 to 100 was at least a little deal. Turning over from 999 to 1000 was worth going home and picking up other members of the family so we could all watch it together. Moving the car's odometer from 9,999 to 10,000 or from 99,999 to 100,000 was an occasion almost worthy of including in the annual Christmas newsletter!
I don't know about anybody else's appointive odometer, but mine is about ready to turn over from 36 to 37. I was ordained deacon and received as a probationary member in 1971. (That was how things were done in those days. It already sounds remarkably old fashioned.) That means my career will roll over to 40 years under appointment in a fairly short time!
In the Kansas West Conference, the new appointive year begins July 1. For most of my career, the appointive year began June 1. However, it shifted first to June 15 and then to July 1.
When I was growing up, the appointive year began in October. That never made sense to me as a child. We moved twice while I was in grade school, from Sylvia to Coats in my first grade year and from Coats to Arlington in my fourth grade year. I never understood why the books in my new school were different than the books in the school I had just left. After all, I was in the same grade, so it was hard to comprehend why the books were all different!
In my current appointment, July 1 will mark the beginning of my eighth year as the appointed pastor. To tell the truth, I thought things would be much different (by implication, better) by now than they are. The common wisdom is that leadership (or lack of it) is the fundamental reason why any congregation is experiencing difficulty, despair, or decline, so it is not hard to identify the location of the problem. And yet leadership in any congregation is an issue involving more people than just the pastor or the staff.
As this year's appointive odometer rolls over, I pray that this coming year will be the year in which, by God's grace and guidance, we begin to experience renewed hope, vitality, and effectiveness--as pastors, people, congregations, and connection!
| Comments |
| Shalom! I don't think I've ever heard the time of transition called the "appointive odometer"! But I like it! Indeed, at this time each year I made every effort to lift up in prayer during worship all the pastors, pastors' families, and congregations going through the transition in the Conferences of our Church. It seems so easy to pay no attention to it when it isn't happening in your life, but at some point(s), it does! Thanks for the reminder to offer our support to all those going through this time of uncertainty about now! Shalom! daveby dave werner | |
| Mark, my odometer is running about 10 years behind yours [first full-time appointment, 1981 - a 4 point charge, no less!] As the saying goes, it's not the years, its the mileage: I'm in my 6th appointment, covering 13 churches and about to get my 7th bishop. I suppose the ones that weighs the most: A. I stopped counting funerals after 150. B. Just when I think there is a great leader coming to the fore in a church, either that leader or I move!by Rick Johnson | |
| Appointive Odometer - Great stuff. Thanks for sharing and for your faithful leadership through the years :)by Andrew Conard |