I will be attending the next session of the Strategic Planning Commission. We have been discussing "prospective" (thank you Prof. Dickens)legislation, as well as mapping out an action plan for the connectional church. In your opinion, as we approach the General Conference, what is the pressing issue facing the "Church of Allen?" What solutions would you offer to better position the church to serve this present age?

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2003

Answers

We need a more positive way of holding all of us accountable for the souls in our churches, this is not only for clergy but also for laity. Spiritual and financial accountablity on all levels of our church needs to be spelled out more in our Discipline and then followed through.

All clergy who have had a history of problems in a church should not be moved from one church to another only to cause more problems. If a clergy person needs help for a sickness, than that clergy person should be put on a sabatical so as they may obtain the help required. All active clergy, including Bishops, should undergo a Psych Eval at least every four to eight years.

If a Presiding Elder has not held a quarter in a local church for the entire conference year (not because of illness or an act of nature), that Presiding Elder should give an account at the Annual Conference either during a regular business seesion or a meeting with the Ministerial Effeciency Committee, Pastor and members of that church who are in attendnace at that Annual Conference.

The Conference Lay President should be given written reports on their stewardship at the Annual Conference instead of just answering roll call. Annual Conferences need to be more effecient in the business sessions and committees should be more inclusive in their reports. It should be required that each committee member should know what committee that have been assigned to by the third quarter in that conference year, which will enable them to discuss such matters as teh state of the church, community, christian education, so forth, at their local churches and then forward the responses to the chairperson of the committee. All committee reports that can be taken care of prior to the Annual COnference should be typed and in the delegates packets before the Annual conference.

This means that the laity also must be fully aware of their role at the annual conference.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2003

Bro. Allen Do you (or anyone else) know the status of the AME Membership Survey? Are the results in, have they been made available to the membership? This might be helpful information to have when thinking about the future needs of the church, be they legislative or otherwise.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2003