Key points:
- While attending the British Methodist annual conference, Bishop Sally Dyck noted similarities as well as distinct differences with The United Methodist Church’s processes.
- The British Methodist annual conference is comparable in key ways to the United Methodist General Conference, but without Robert’s Rules of Order.
- This is a critical time, as the Methodist Church in Britain confronts a rapid decline in membership.
Photo courtesy of the Council of Bishops.
Commentaries
Attending another family’s reunion is always interesting, as one reflects on what is universal about families and what is particular – if not also peculiar.
The Methodist Church in Britain’s recent annual conference yielded several insights, while also prompting me to reflect in a new way on our own processes in The United Methodist Church.
The Methodist Church in Britain is one of four concordat relationships that The United Methodist Church has, along with the Methodist Church of Mexico, the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and Americas, and the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline defines such a relationship as having “purpose of manifesting the common Methodist heritage, affirming the equal status of the two churches and expressing mutal acceptance and respect, and creating opportunities for closer fellowship between the two churches, especially on the leadership level.” This also means that clergy can be shared.
This year’s annual conference session was held June 29-July 3 in Leeds. It’s important to note that the Methodist Church in Britain’s annual conference is much more akin to our General Conference. Not every clergy or lay representative from a church attends, but they are elected for the occasion.
Prior to the annual conference session, the clergy gather in what’s called Presbyteral for two days. Mostly it’s a matter of reading and approving the perfunctory changes in status and acting on those who are being ordained later in the weekend at several local churches in the area.
But this year, several clergy were asked to share about how they balance “doing things right and doing the right thing.” Some of them are in very remote areas with 18 churches on one circuit.
“Doing the right thing” is usually understood to privilege governance matters over pastoral care, closing churches with just a handful of members over maintaining a small cell of the body of Christ in tiny villages, or insisting on enforcing nearly impossible government and church regulations while employing practicality and common sense.
Who among us in ministry hasn’t struggled at some point determining what are the “right things to do” and what is the right thing to do in a particular context?
The reality of rapid decline in the Methodist Church in Britain is openly discussed. The denomination has a vision statement that brings together the themes of “growing, inclusive, evangelistic and justice-seeking.”
The Rev. Trey Hall, a United Methodist pastor on loan to the British church, heads up “God for All: The Connectional Strategy for Evangelism and Growth (2025-2032),” which encourages and supports congregations in finding new ways of reaching out to people in their communities. It emphasizes that “everyone is an evangelist” — a concept that I imagine most Brits are uncomfortable with, as well as United Methodists.
Echoes of our own United Methodist language resound in the emphasis on “new places for new people” with new generations. The Methodist Church in Britain has about 140,000 members, and it’s a critical time for them. What ecumenical options might they have going forward into the future at their rate of decline?
The work of the conference went through quickly and without much comment, except for a few key areas. One was the audit of the complaint process and a task force that has been reimagining that process. Evidently, filing complaints against leadership in local churches (laity and clergy) and the annual conference is a British pastime! Perhaps I exaggerate a bit, but it appears to be the means by which people use to be in conflict. I don’t suggest it.
But listening to the British Methodists’ concerns about their current process — deemed better than other religious organizations in Britain per the auditors — it occurred to me that it might serve The United Methodist Church to “audit” its own complaint process. What might we have to learn from our ecumenical partners in terms of their processes and how might we better engage in restorative justice in its use?
“Contradictory convictions” continues to be in the air that the Methodist Church in Britain breathes. The 2021 annual conference voted to allow same-sex marriages in churches — it’s legal in Britain. A breakaway Methodist church has emerged over the last few years, but by and large, since laity and clergy are not bound by the decision to have or not to have same-sex marriages, the tensions are present but seemingly not in a disruptive way.
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The most obvious difference in conferencing between our churches is their method, which isn’t consensus and definitely not Robert’s Rules of Order.
Reports are presented to the body, having been provided weeks in advance, with actions related to them. They begin with the reception of the report and move on to other actions related to it. Members of the conference may not agree with the content of the report or parts of it, and so the process allows such persons to come forward and sit in the first row until called upon to go to the microphone on the stage, ask questions, and raise concerns or even opposition to the report.
No amendments are made, but then substantive reports rarely go through in one year. The comments are taken back by those responsible for the content of the report and in the following year(s) changes are made or explanations given as to why no change is made on a particular point. It’s not a debate and frankly makes one realize how much our United Methodist process of speaking for and against a resolution or report is debate — “battle” is the root word for debate.
The theme for the British Methodists’ coming year is “praise and protest.” The new president and vice president chose these words. (The officers, clergy and laity respectively, change every year.) I personally like them as they are “two sides of one coin.”
The British Methodists can sing! They obviously take seriously John Wesley’s admonition to “sing lustily.” However, I also suspect that most Methodists have been in some youth choir along the way, since the way they use their mouths and breathe throughout the songs is visually different from most United Methodists.
In other contexts of the meeting, they question whether “enthusiasm” is permissible or appropriate, but their singing is definitely enthusiastic. And they do a lot of singing! After every act of worship. Throughout the business meetings. And many, many verses!
We sang many Charles Wesley hymns, but I think the only one we sang that we share the same tune is “And Can It Be?” They also sing it a cappella in four-part harmony! Beautiful!
Dyck, who retired from the episcopacy in 2020, currently serves as the ecumenical officer of the Council of Bishops.
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