CLERGY/LAITY
A United Methodist church is
composed of the clergy (pastor and other ordained staff) and the laity
(the members of the congregation). In some cases, especially with
smaller churches, a pastor may serve more than one church.
CONNECTIONALISM
The local
churches are grouped into districts,
which are then grouped into an annual
conference. Houma FUMC is in the Acadiana District of the Louisiana
Conference. United Methodist churches are connectional, not congregational.
That means that a local church is not an entity unto itself. It helps
other churches, which provide assistance in return. This also means
that United Methodist churches do not have to search for a pastor on their
own when a pastoral change occurs. The bishop of each conference
appoints pastors to fill the pulpits.
LOCAL CHURCH ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Although the Administrative
Board has been the administrative body of the local Methodist church
for decades, when the United Methodist Church was formed in 1968, the idea
of the Council of Ministries was added. In the Administrative Board
/ COM model, the Administrative Board still held administrative duties,
but the COM took on the programming activities of the church.
In the General Conference of
1996, significant changes were made to allow the local church more control
of its structure ... recognizing that a single organizational structure
may not be the best for every church, and the local church knows better
how to be in ministry to its members and community. While it seems
that the Church Council (which handles the functions of both the Administrative
Board and COM) has been promoted as the typcial organizational structure,
the Discipline
allows for other models that may work for the local church. Here
at FUMC, Houma, we addressed the issue in 1996 and decided to retain our
Administrative Board / COM structure.
For more information on our
organizational structure, go to:
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