Episcopal Authorities and Responsibilities in the UMC

There is a difference between responsibility and authority. The United Methodist Book of Discipline assigns bishops responsibilities in many areas. It provides them with direct authority in very few.

Paragraphs 401-416 of the Book of Discipline pertain to the episcopacy per se. Paragraphs 404-413 contain 5289 words of administrative minutiae. Paragraphs 401-403 and 414-416 are the most relevant for this review of episcopal authorities and responsibilities.

Among the major authorities granted to bishops in ¶ 414-416 are:

  • To preside in the General, jurisdictional, central, and annual conferences. 
  • To consecrate bishops, ordain elders and deacons, commission deaconesses, home missioners, and missionaries properly approved for such actions. 
  • To  form districts.
  • To divide or unite circuits.
  • To make appointments. 
  • To direct the conference staff, insuring compliance with church policies and state laws, and insuring financial accounability.  
  • To transfer clergy to other annual conferences at the request of the receiving bishop and with the consent of the clergy member. 
  • To ensure fair process under ¶ 2701.
  • To maintain accurate supervisory records. 

In exercising these responsibilities, the bishops have command authority to issue directions which must be obeyed. Like Jean-Luc Picard at the command of the Enterprise, they can say, “Make it so.” 

There are other authorities sprinkled as afterthoughts throughout the Discipline. For example, the bishop must consent to a declaration of exigent circumstances by the annual conference board of trustees, allowing them to close a local church at their sole discretion (¶ 2549). The consent of the a majority of the district superintendents and the district board of church location is also required. Bishops can initiate involuntary leave of absence (¶ 354) and administrative location (¶ 2549) procedures against members of the clergy, but these actions must be ratified by the Board of Ordained Ministry and the members of the annual conference. 

For the most part, however, bishops lead, they don’t direct or command. The Army defines leadership as “influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization,” and that definition works well in this context. 

Paragraph 414 says that bishops should:

  • Lead the church in its mission of witness and service
  • Strengthen the local church
  • Guard the apostolic faith
  • Uphold the theological traditions of the United Methodist Church
  • Promote the evangelistic witness of the church
  • Promote Christian giving

Paragraph 401 gives bishops assigns similar tasks to the bishops:

  • Equip the church for its disciple-making ministry
  • Enable the gathered church to worship and evangelize faithfully
  • Lead the church to develop structures and strategies to equip Christians for service in the church and the world
  • Incorporate the insights of contemporary management theory while remaining faithful to the direction of the church. 

Finally, paragraph 403 requires bishops to:

  • Guard the faith, order, liturgy, doctrine, and discipline of the church. 
  • Support the church in its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ.

How do bishops fulfill these responsiblities? Paragraph 403 provides an answer.

  • Inspire the church by modeling spiritual disciplines and leading public worship, celebrating the sacraments, and commending the faith.
  • Teach the church how to make disciples and lead fruitful congregations using the scripture, spiritual disciplines, Wesleyan heritage, and the doctrines of the church.
  • Inculcate a vision of the church’s future and lead the church in implementing a transformation strategy.
  • Speak out as a prophetic voice for justice.
  • Exhibit a passion for the unity of the church.
  • Uphold the discipline through the administrative authorities granted to bishops.  

Except for the last point, these are means of influence, not direction. In principal, bishops needs to convince people to follow their leadership through their words and example. They lead, they don’t command. 

So, for instance, while bishops are charged with guarding the apostolic faith of the church they have no authority to direct clergy to preach or not preach certain things. The bishop can, like any other church member, charge a pastor with “dissemination of doctrines contrary to the established standards of doctrine of The United Methodist Church” (¶ 2702.1.e), which would then put the matter into the judicial processes of the church. Or the bishop could initiate administrative location procedures, which would then need to be ratified by the Board of Ordained Ministry and the clergy members of the annual conference. But the bishops, themselves, have no direct authority to force compliance on their own. 

Of course, bishops can use their administrative authorities to influence the direction of the church. 

The authority to appoint has always been the bishop’s most powerful tool in shaping the church’s future and keeping the clergy in line. The threat of a punishing appointment or the promise of a rewarding one is a powerful motivation. 

The authority to direct the conference’s administrative apparatus also enables them to put the people they want in the places they want in order to achieve the outcomes they want. 

To achieve their goals, however, bishops should lean more on the types of motivational leadership envisioned in ¶ 403 than on the heavy handed and manipulative use of their administrative authorities. Autocratic leadership will not create the right kind of future for the United Methodist Church 

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