An Exemplary TCAT Meeting

My account of why I'm allowing myself to be hopeful about the Global Methodist Church

The bulk of my energy in highlighting the differences between The United Methodist Church and the Global Methodist Church are spent on touchstone culture war issues. At this point I have produced over 100 videos pertaining in some way to the division in the UMC. The content that deals with authoritarian behaviors on the part of bishops and conference staff, as well as examples of looney woke behavior, garner the most attention. If I were trying to get as many clicks and as much outrage attention as possible, that would be all that I do.

I report on those topics, not just because they get me clicks, but also because they are real phenomena that should figure into a church’s decision about if it wants to affiliate with such a body. Even so, there are other issues at play. Those dealing with race and sexual orientation are key to these conversations. Even so, that content gets a lot less engagement. I’m going to continue to interview people representing other racial/cultural/ethnic groups, and I’m going to continue to interview people who can help me think through critical gender theory, because that is what integrity demands. I will get a lot more flack for this stuff, and a lot more indifference, but whatever.

The other area of interest I have is church finance. As I became a pastor in my early-20s, I was given a book on faith and money called “Ministry and Money: A Practical Guide for Pastors” by Janet T. Jamieson and Philip D. Jamieson. It was an excellent introduction to a host of issues involving money in ministry. After that, the Oklahoma Annual Conference hosted a workshop with J. Clif Christopher of Horizons Stewardship Company that helped me to think more about my theology around money in the church. His books, “Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate” and “Rich Church/Poor Church” benefited me greatly.

I could write something approximating a book about all I have learned about church finance. There is still plenty that I don’t know, but I have been given a solid foundation in some basic truths. Namely 1) What we do with our money matters greatly to God, 2) Mammon/Stuff/Money competes effectively with our affections for God, 3) Evil festers in darkness, 4) Faith seeks understanding/Knowledge is always good. These convictions have led me to be an informed pastor about money. For that reason, despite many other struggles to weather various challenges in the world, my churches have been equipped and blessed financially.

The United Methodist Church practices financial obscurantism on almost every level. The only exception of which I am aware was the brief blip of Jeff Pospicil in The Dakotas Annual Conference. If you haven’t seen that interview, you should really check it out:

The General Council on Finance and Administration collects all of the financial information that anyone could ever want pertaining to the UMC’s component annual conferences, as well as each individual church. Even so, its reporting on finances on the UMData.org website is not at all clear or helpful. The majority of annual conferences do not submit to their people, even members of their councils of finance & administration, line item balance reports. Reporting on reserves, designated or otherwise, is very rarely done. As was recently brought to my attention, even Wespath’s reporting is quite opaque in contrast to other investment firms. To my mind, one can safely come to the conclusion that United Methodist leadership does not trust the membership of the body to be responsible with financial information. It is intentionally obscured from vision. When one questions this setup, they are met with either silence, confusion, or anger. It isn’t good.

This ethos operates in tandem with what has been termed ‘mainline’ culture. If you don’t know, the term came from a part of its originating city in which the upper-middle class folks lived. Mainline churches are churches that appeal to people with upper-middle class or upper-class sensibilities. Mainline churches like to pay their clergy a lot of money so that 1) they don’t so feel so guilty about hoarding it when others have so little, and 2) pastors desiring filthy lucre can do ministry like it is a career. United Methodist bishops each cost the denomination about $200K annually, when considering their salary and benefits. They are upper class elites. This, also, isn’t good. This stands in stark contrast to the ministries of John Wesley and Francis Asbury, as well as that of the first generations of believers after Christ himself, who was an itinerant peasant. It is prosperity gospel, self-justification, eisegesis.

I serve on the TCAT (Transitional Conference Advisory Team) for the Heartland Area of the Global Methodist Church. That means I’m part of a team of a little over 20 people who have been tasked with organizing this geographic area (Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, & Missouri) into a proper annual conference. I glad to help in what ways that I can. I would like to think I am useful to the group at times.

At our last meeting, we were asked to elect a new president pro tempore, and to approve a budget for our future conference. I was very uncomfortable with this prospect for many reasons. One of them was the salary of the president pro tempore: $95K salary + $30K housing allowance + health insurance, pension, etc. This, though it isn’t as high as United Methodist bishop salaries, is still upper class. We keep saying we aren’t leaving the UMC to become UMC 2.0. It has seemed to me at some points like we are directly mimicking the UMC culture around money. We should elevate people in ministry who are not trying to get rich off of Jesus. We should elevate people who are happy to do it for less, who aren’t slaves to creature comforts or status. In the times I have shared this sentiment around Methodist leadership in the past, I haven’t been received well. I knew personal integrity required for me to bring this concern to the TCAT.

As we gathered (on Zoom) to complete the tasks before us, I was surprised to find that the chair himself was uncomfortable forcing a decision through. It seemed to him, and we all agreed, that we were putting the cart before the horse. While it was clear that the structure above required us to move at a certain pace, we needed more time to get to know the candidates, to understand the position and what it requires. Our chair said he would like to take more time with it.

The group was instantly put at ease. I realized that another part of the culture of the UMC was just checking off boxes. I remember the anxiety of nominations every year, having to have so many on each committee, each position meeting different stipulations, having to compel the organic structure of the local church into a prefabricated box spelled out in the Book of Discipline. It’s one of the things I have actively not missed since having disaffiliated. I realized I was feeling a similar stress. I was so refreshed by our chair’s ability to sense that things weren’t quite right and to pump the brakes.

I then asked if it would be alright for me to speak about the problematic financial implications of the proposed budget. Though we had been told that other conferences were actually paying higher salaries to people in that position, I still have my concerns expressed above. In under two minutes, I gave a synopsis of the history of Methodist class and leadership and why I was very uncomfortable with automatically adopting the mainline mindset.

…And then to my surprise, the group also received me well. I’m not going to say every person agreed with me, but several visibly showed signs of agreement and support. This was a first for me. I was happy to shut up so as not to ruin it.

My thoughts were followed by another member of the group voicing her support of my sentiments, also saying that it isn’t really appropriate to ask us to make financial decisions without giving us a comprehensive financial report on the front end to let us know what we are working with. This is something else I had noticed in the past that concerned me. I am not used to being in groups where the others are all saying good things so I feel like I can shut up. This is a new experience. I don’t mind it.

This is not to say that this one meeting represents the overall trajectory of the GMC. It is entirely possible that GM leadership will choose to utilize a similar financial reporting approach to the UMC, and that they will continue the norm of higher level clergy being rewarded with higher level salaries. Yet I am hopeful that this renewed conversation around holiness in our sex lives can spread out to holiness with our wallets. There is a real possibility that the GMC will not just be a reclaiming of a robust theology around sexuality, but also a reclaiming of Methodist doctrine around money. I’m really hoping and praying for that. I would invite you to do the same.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
-Matthew 6:19-21