Letter to Bay View District Pastors

Old Martinez United Methodist Church
PO Box 2025, Martinez CA 94553

July 18, 2009

Dear Bay View District Pastor:

With great regret, we must inform you that the nearly 50-year life of the congregation of the Martinez United Methodist Church has effectively ended. The officers and committee members have nearly unanimously resigned. Most members have chosen to discontinue their attendance. This occurred after our church was hijacked by the District Superintendent and the Bishop and turned over to a new congregation which had previously had no members in our congregation. The building remains, but the people of the congregation, the real church, are gone.

We, the former officers of the Martinez United Methodist Church, are providing you with this information and referenced web site in the belief that your church situation after this 2009 round of pastoral appointments can be no worse than ours. We hope that our bad experience with the Bay View District Superintendent’s and the California-Nevada Conference Bishop’s unwillingness to communicate openly with our Pastor Parish Relations Committee during the 2009 appointment process will open your eyes, allow you to look carefully at your own church situation, and foresee the plan the Conference may have developed for your church without your input.

The Conference violated the Discipline of the United Methodist Church (paragraphs 431 and 432) by reassignment of our pastor and assignment of a new pastor without consultation or assessment of the impact on our pastor and his family and the congregation of Martinez UMC. We made repeated efforts to provide our consultation about pastoral assignment and its impact. We even tried to get an explanation from the District Superintendent and Bishop. We were told, however, that they were not required to listen to our consultation and we received evasive and disingenuous reasons for their actions. Clearly, the best interests of our decades old congregation were not a primary consideration. The impact of their unilateral acts has decimated our congregation to such a degree that we are no longer viable.

Briefly, our pastor was removed and replaced by a Tongan pastor whose career experience is in leading Tongan language worship. He was to serve both as our pastor and as pastor of the Tongan Fellowship that had used our facilities. Further, we were expected to fund 75-80% of a substantially increased salary and benefit cost, an impossible burden on a decimated congregation. Rather than explain at greater length here, we have established a web site with copies of the relevant correspondence between our PPRC, the congregation as a whole, and the Conference Bishop and Superintendent.

The plan for the hijacking of our church became clear when Sunday, July 5, 2009, 10:30 AM worship was led by the new pastor, Rev, Afuhia Akolo, assisted by Rev. Renae Extrum-Fernandez, the Superintendent of the Bay View District. For the first time, this service was attended by a large number of Tongans (estimate over 40). They were sworn in as members of Martinez United Methodist Church. A Charge Conference was announced for July 18, 2009 to “set pastoral compensation and elect officers”. We conclude that this take over action was the “Greater Plan,” which the District Superintendent would not share with us. Quite frankly, with no discussion, no honest information, this was a hostile takeover.

The bureaucratic organization of the United Methodist Church, like many large organizations, provides authority, status and power to selected individuals. When they fail to follow the Christian spirit of the written Discipline about appointments by failing to consider local church and pastoral needs, the result is harmful to the local churches and pastors affected. While the Bishop has the authority to make appointments, he also has the responsibility to consider local church and pastoral needs and the welfare of the pastors and their families.

The pastoral evaluation process includes development of a “de minimis” church profile by the PPRC and a pastoral profile including needs and concerns by the pastor to be provided to the district superintendent. To be meaningful, these profiles need to be read and seriously considered as part of “consultation”, and consultation must be two-way communication engaged in with the parties before appointments are proposed and finalized. If our experience is typical of the preparation and consultation with local churches and pastors about those needs, previously written descriptions of both were not read and no attempt was made to consult about those needs prior to making “irreversible” decisions to reassign pastors.

In discussion of our situation with other California United Methodist Churches, we found that churches and pastors have become afraid to voice their concerns and complaints about their treatment during the appointment process because they rightfully fear retribution by the authorities within the bureaucracy of the United Methodist Church for their challenge to that authority. It is apparent to us that while Jesus challenged the authority of his time, similar questions and challenges are not welcomed within the United Methodist Church. While it is often difficult to manage a large organization by considering and applying the “golden rule”, every effort should be made to do so in a Christian organization. Jesus has called us to follow his example in our deeds as well as our words. The United Methodist Church’s organizational leaders should, but don’t always, do so as well. After all, the reason for our existence as a religious organization is the worship of God when two or more are gathered in Jesus’ name, not the empowerment of a centralized group of officials.

We urge you to keep your eyes open; do not assume that every individual will follow Jesus’ path. Protect yourselves by initiating and documenting all your needs and your consultation efforts so that you avoid being blind-sided by actions of authorities that are not in your best interests.

To access the web site containing the correspondence mentioned above, go to http://deadMtzUMC.blogspot.com. If you have questions, you may address emails to us at deadMtzUMC@aol.com. If you have no access to the internet, you can reach us at the PO Box above. A few of us from the old congregation will continue to be accessible at that address.

Again, we regret to inform you of this situation. We had a good run since the church was established in 1959, but it has now come to an end. We can only hope that this information helps you to obtain open communications from the Bishop and District Superintendent so you can protect your own church.

Sincerely,


The Former Leaders of the Martinez United Methodist Church on behalf of the large majority of the congregation and all but one officer and one committee member.

s /Sue Beadle, Former Lay leader
s /Jim Trusler, Former Trustees Chair
s /Lucille Bennett, Former Admin Board Chair
s /Maria Sartin, Former Treasurer
s /Bob Sartin, Former Pastor-Parish Committee & Finance Committee Chairs