Last week, it was announced that effective July 1, 2016 The Rev. John Boley will begin serving as the new Clergy Assistant to the Bishop for the Michigan Area and I will be receiving an appointment to a local church somewhere in Michigan.
John Boley will be a blessing to the Michigan Area. His experience with the West Michigan Conference Board of Ministry and his legal background will be of great benefit to the work of clergy assistant. In addition, while he is a clergy member of the West Michigan Conference, he is also a child of the Detroit Conference, where his father, The Rev. Bob Boley served. He will also help to welcome our new bishop and introduce that person to Michigan when they come next September. He is simply an excellent choice for this important work and I know that The Michigan Area will be in very good hands with his leadership.
I realize that this change in my appointment might be surprising, or even shocking to many of you, especially given my short tenure. It is also yet another change in a time of much change here in The Michigan Area. Please know that this is a change that I requested and a change that I welcome. My request for a change in my appointment is about my own heart and soul. It is about God’s call on my life.
Just as she has been to the Michigan Area, Bishop Deb is and has been a huge blessing in my life and it has been a joy to serve with her.
When I said yes to this appointment, I fully expected to serve for as long as the bishop required my skills. However, this year there has been a marked change in how we, across the United Methodist connection, communicate and dialogue with one another particularly on issues where we disagree. Respectful disagreement often leads to positive changes in the church. We need to find a way to return to and value respectful dialogue and honoring our differences as we help our beloved United Methodist Church make necessary and strategic changes for the 21st century.
Serving in the administrative structures of the church for the past five years has taught me many things. One of the learnings is that the church as an organization has lost credibility with people in our society. Instead of showing people how much they are loved and wanted by Jesus, we have focused instead on theological wars, church rules and complex processes. We are known in the world as people who are at odds with each other, and we project an image that our complex rules are more important than people’s needs. People don’t want to join nor are they attracted to organizations where people are constantly fighting with each another.
I believe we are better than that. I believe that part of what we need to do in the church is to build a better reputation for God and for the church itself. To do this, we must create local churches where our primary focus is on belonging and community, and helping people to know the love of Jesus. I believe we can do this and I want to be a part of building a new church where my young adult children and their friends will want to attend.
In paragraphs 201-202 of the 2012 Book of Discipline we find the following words: “the local church is the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs and the strategic base through which Christians move out to the structures of society” My request to serve again in the local church is, in part, because I believe the best place for me to contribute to the growth of the church is in this significant arena.
God’s realm has always been an upside down kind of place where the last are first, the poor are the richest and the meek inherit the earth. Over time in our organization we have often come to think that, like corporate America, moving “up the ladder of success in ministry” means moving from local church to judicatory or other bureaucratic positions. The truth is that the most important role we can have is in our local churches. This is not to say that judicatory (Bishops, District Superintendents and Conference and National Staff persons) roles are not important, but simply to remind ourselves that all roles in the church are important and significant to our mission.
I have always had a deep sense of call to serve in the local church. I love the United Methodist Church. I love being a pastor. And despite the decline and other challenges we face, I sense that God is doing something new in and through the church. I believe that just as God called me to administrative roles for a season, now God is calling me to again serve in the local church for another season.
And while I don’t yet know where I will be appointed, I trust Bishop Deb and the cabinet will discern the best place for me to serve. When that appointment has been made, as is our process, it will be announced on the website. As my new appointment won’t start until July 1st, in the meantime, I will continue to be about the important work of Clergy Assistant to the Bishop.
Last Updated on October 20, 2023