Methodist ministers must be ready to move - sometimes quickly

Rev. Donald Smith talks about joining the staff at Red Bank United Methodist Church two days before his July 1, start date.
Rev. Donald Smith talks about joining the staff at Red Bank United Methodist Church two days before his July 1, start date.
photo Rev. Donald Smith says he may not fill the rest of his book shelves in his new office at Red Bank United Methodist Church.

For two years, Tony Collins served as pastor at Spring City and Reed's Chapel United Methodist churches, both in Spring City, Tenn.

But last month, he was given his marching orders: Relocate to Burks United Methodist Church in Hixson to serve as pastor there. He moved here on June 15 and preaches at his new church for the first time Sunday.

"Moving always has it challenges, and they all seem to be a bit different," he says. "There are good things and bad things about it. You get to know new and wonderful people, [but] you have to say goodbye to some old friends, and those are probably the hardest parts of it."

But it's one of the rules you must accept when you become a preacher in the United Methodist Church. Kind of like serving in the military where you can be moved from base to base, serving in the UMC means you'll be told that you're being transferred to a new church - sometimes far away. And, like Collins, sometimes those moves come pretty quickly.

"Every United Methodist pastor enters this system with the understanding that they serve at the behest of the bishop, so that doesn't mean that you are forced to move. That means, at the beginning of your career, you covenant that, should the bishop [say], 'For the greater good, we need you to move from where you are to another place,' that you are open to do that," says Brenda Carroll, superintendent for the UMC Holston Conference's Chattanooga District.

The Holston Conference comprises 12 districts that start in North Georgia then cut a diagonal swath up through Tennessee and into southern Virginia.

While Carroll says thorough attempts at finding the best matches are made, pastors face the prospect of uprooting their entire lives and families and relocating to a completely new environment. Because of the stipulation that you must be willing to move when the conference's bishop says so, many of the younger pastors in the UMC anxiously await the June announcements of who goes where.

In the UMC, the months of December and January are spent conducting one-on-one meetings with every pastor, delving into their feelings about their current assignments. To keep it as objective as possible, Carroll says, personnel committees in each local church can fill out a form discussing their relationship with their current pastor; they're also invited to discuss with their pastor whether they stay or move.

"The way that our process works is very different from, for example, where a board of deacons on any given day could bring up issues and ask the minister to leave," says Carroll. "We have a very orderly time of year where that happens."

Not all pastors move - some can become solidly entrenched in their churches for many years - but even with them there is a chance they eventually could be transferred.

Doug Fairbanks is First-Centenary's senior minister and the former superintendent of Holston's Knoxville District. A United Methodist pastor for 47 years, Fairbanks served in Holston and the Western North Carolina Conference and was moved 10 times before settling at First-Centenary.

"I've been on both sides of that table," he says. "I and my wife have always enjoyed that process, and it has worked out beautifully for us. It is, for some people, a very difficult process, but my personal experience of moving over these years to different churches has been wonderful and refreshing. It's an opportunity to meet new people and work in new areas."

Burks' Collins says that, during his 31 years as a United Methodist pastor, he's served 10 churches for as little as two years and as long as six.

"Forming new relationships is one of the advantages in the long run because I met some wonderful people that way," he says.

Donald Smith is the newly appointed pastor at Red Bank United Methodist Church, coming from Rural Retreat UMC in Virginia. During his career, which began in 1989, he has been appointed to seven churches.

"I think you're really excited and, of course, the reality sets in that you have a new job and new expectations," says Smith. "You're moving your entire household; you're moving your family; there's a fair amount of anxiety that goes with it."

Given that Smith is new to the area, Red Bank's congregation has stepped up by connecting him and his family with doctors and vets and bringing food to their home.

"That just helps immensely," says Smith.

"Everybody wants everything to work and succeed," he continues. "It takes some of the pressure off and some of the tension off. You all realize you're working for the same thing."

But the process does not always work out perfectly.

Jacqueline Davis-Gines is the newest associate pastor St. John's UMC, in charge of youth and young adults. She moved to Chattanooga from Prospect United Methodist in Lawrenceville, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. Her new role at St. John's is her first move to another church.

"The biggest issue [is] we were very settled in Lawrenceville," says Davis-Gines. "It was close to my family, great church family, and I have two children, one of which had just finished her freshman year at the school of her dreams, and then we had to move."

One problem is the difference between Georgia's and Tennessee's education systems. Because Tennessee grades differently than Georgia, her daughter had to retake several classes at her new school, Central High.

But you roll with the punches when you're a UMC pastor.

"The Lord pointed us and said St. John was where we were going to serve, and that was fine," says Davis-Gines.

Contact Hayden Seay at Life@timesfreepress.com.

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