Vision-driven, not Anxiety-Ridden

I will speak plainly: in the next 60 days, New ACT must make some of the most difficult decisions it has faced. We've committed to begin sharing the essence of our "plan of union" with you for review and discussion by March. Over the next 60 days we will be finalizing recommendations on:

• a 2010 new conference budget (including program ministry funding levels)
  
• Health and Property/Liability Insurance
• Pension recommendations
  
• Clergy Minimum Salaries
• 2011 apportionment figures

Again, let me speak plainly: we have some challenging choices to make. With Troy's Vermont churches uniting with the New England Conference and Wyoming's Pennsylvania churches uniting with the new Susquehanna Conference, Upper New York will have fewer churches supporting ministries in the second half of 2010 (when we are a new conference). Health care costs would have risen for Upper New York churches regardless of whether we were uniting or not, but that still means we will all see increased costs. Differences in way we have packaged clergy benefits across the region have made balancing fairness for clergy with financial manageability for local churches a significant dilemma.

The situation is complex and (at times!) anxiety producing.

One thing about anxiety I've learned through the years is that it thrives in a "vision vacuum." If you lack a sense of direction and destination, anxiety will move right in and gum up the works quicker than you can say "worry and fret."

That's why in the face of these significant challenges New ACT spent a good chunk of its last meeting getting clear again about the principles and values that guide our work. We did so because we have committed ourselves to be vision-driven, not anxiety-ridden.

I'm going to lay these out for you below, hoping you'll ponder them and offer some feedback (you can do that by clicking the link below. Please...!)

So here they are:

• The Upper New York State Annual conference exists primarily to help persons “live the gospel of Jesus Christ and be God’s love to [their] neighbors."

• The local church is the primary setting where the purpose and vision of the annual conference is enacted; therefore, the first priority of the annual conference is to engage, equip, and empower local churches to be in ministry with and to our Global Neighborhood.
• Vital and principled leadership is essential for effective local church ministry; therefore, encouraging and developing leadership within the laity and clergy that is diverse and engaged with the vision of Christ is the primary work of the annual conference.
• “To be church” means “to be in mission;” therefore, the quality and quantity of relationships established with our neighbors, particularly those who have been disenfranchised by mainstream society is the primary measure of success for the annual conference, its congregations and its members.
• The people of the Upper New York Area are linked by covenant with United Methodists around the world in shared ministry and mission; therefore, the Four Areas of Focus of The United Methodist Church are a primary resource to guide congregations and conferences in doing the work of ministry today.

These five principles (based on our "Vision and Purpose Statement" and the mission statement of The United Methodist Church) provide the framework by which New ACT will seek to make the challenging decisions we face.

Let me know what you think.