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Do you want to know what issues will be discussed without spending hours reading all 89 resolutions? Check this spreadsheet to see the summary!
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Proposes to downside, merge, or reconfigure conferences so fewer people are involved. Proposes 3 bishops, one as chair of "quadrennium to be elected by BOA." Does this mean bishop is chair of BOA for 4 years, or is elected chair by BOA, or what?
Analysis: To reach 1% of US attending a FM church (#910), we need more smaller conferences, not fewer mega-regional ones. We can afford low-cost conferences using superintendents and bishops who pastor churches and lead lay church planters to form new churches.
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Proposes just one bishop to cast vision, direction, and development.
Analysis: No current bishop is that much better than the rest (see #910 statistics), but this proposal would save money. How about just a COO with a finance background to run Headquarters, and conferences run by churches through the Superintendents and boards?
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Proposes a Chief Operating Officer to manage headquarters as someone apart from the bishops, and not sitting on the BOA.
Analysis: What about a COO instead of a single bishop? This would be like BT Roberts' General Superintendent title, but updating the title for 2007.
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Proposes a lay person be required to chair BOA, and never a clergy or bishop.
Analysis: Opposite #201. There seems to be a major disagreement between these two resolutions!
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Proposes Great Lakes Provisional General Conference of Michigan conferences, Wabash, Ohio, and West Virginia.
Analysis: West Virginia seems like a "captive" to conferences from another part of the country since it was merged with Wabash. Now if 3 GC's form, it may be stuck in the "wrong" GC outside its region. Southern California is also proposing 3 General Conferences in #208. Shouldn't we fix the problems in the discipline as #910 suggests BEFORE splitting into multiple GCs?
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Criticizes the application process for Superintendents. Proposes chair of nominating committee be allowed to remove a candidate based on his/her knowledge and judgment for suitability.
Analysis: Does the author know of specific cases that would have been good to prevent?
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Proposes addressing younger generation's resistance of top-down authority models by having MEG approving slate of pastors from which churches can consider up to 5 pastors. Local churches can also submit candidates for approval. Local BOA can interview, and hear candidate's preaching skills. A congregation survey shall be taken after each preaching time, forwarded to MEG-MAC via Supt. MAC shall give "serious consideration" to the local church but retain sole authority to appoint pastors.
Analysis: While this is a step forward from the perspective of giving local churches even more input into the selection process, #910 Patterson's self-pastored churches would still be prevented by this proposal, as well as by other rules currently in the Discipline That might end the passivity of local churches. Could this proposal be extended to allow self-pastored churches?
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Proposes establishing Dept of Christian Education to produce materials to train children, youth, and adults. Argues that Free Methodist Communications only markets books, magazine, curriculum, and other literature.
Analysis: Don't other Christian authors and publishing sources provide enough already? What about Rick Warren's materials, Andy Stanley, materials found on Amazon.com, and Christian Book Distributors?
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Proposes FM World Mission should include the US as a mission field also - in addition to the rest of the world.
Analysis: How is the World Missions department going to "reach" the US effectively when 29 conferences and nearly 1000 churches do not? Resolution #910 provides another answer.
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