ORGANISATION OF THE METHODIST CHURCH: PART 3
Presbyters
A presbyter (commonly known as a minister) is a person who has felt the call by God to preach the gospel and to undertake pastoral care for a community of christians. That call has been acknowledged by the Methodist Church and suitable training has been provided. Once that has been completed successfully, the minster is ordained. This means that the church is commissioning him or her to preach, to administer sacraments (see below) within the church, and to take pastoral charge of one or more churches. Ordinations take place within special services which are held at the time and place of the Methodist Conference.
Ministers are appointed by the circuit and not by individual churches. Normally each minster is assigned pastoral responsibility for one church or a small number of churches within the circuit. In particular, this means that a minister is often asked to conduct Sunday services of worship at those churches, but he or she may also be asked, by the circuit, to conduct worship at other churches within the circuit. The circuit creates a preaching plan to indicate where ministers are preaching each Sunday. Of course, the role of minsters is much wider than what they do on Sundays, but that is perhaps what is most visible to most people in the congregation.
For historical reasons, a minster is appointed to a circuit for a fixed period which currently is normally five year. After this time, a minister is expected to move elsewhere and take responsibility for other churches, often in a different circuit. While this can be unsettling for a minister and his or her family, it does means that new ideas of worship and witness are introduced to churches, and ideas which have proved successful in one place can be applied in new locations. In some circumstances, a minister’s appointment within a circuit may be extended by a small number of years. This might happen, for example, if a move could adversely affect the schooling of one of the minister’s children.
When the end of a minister’s appointment is approaching, the circuit consults with the appropriate local churches about what would be desirable in a new minister. And they consult with the current minister about what type of church and location he or she would wish to be assigned to next. The Connexion, working with the circuits, then tries to station
ministers at places where the sets of requirements from both sides match. This is the stationing process
.
Note on Sacraments
A sacrament can be defined as a religious rite regarded as a channel to and from God or as a sign of grace
. However, this definition may raise more questions than it answers. The Methodist Church recognises just two sacraments. These are Baptism and Holy Communion. They are recognised because they are specific things which Jesus told his followers to do. These rites
normally take place within church services of worship.
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