Dear congregation,
It’s that time of year again when churches and pastors have to make decisions about pastoral appointments. The appointive system has been part of the foundation of Methodism from the very beginning.
The Rev. John Wesley began his career as a clergyman in the Church of England. He had some pastoral experience helping his father in a small local church, but his most significant years in the beginning included being a college teacher.
It was while he was at Oxford that he began doing things methodically. People called him and his followers, “Methodists,” as a kind of joke. They had a method for doing everything in their daily lives, especially when it came to prayer and Bible study.
Eventually, John and his brother, Charles, decided to go to America as chaplains to Gen. Oglethorpe’s colony in Georgia. He thought of himself as a missionary; but as a missionary, he was less than effective. Upon his return to America, he is reputed to have said something like, “I came to America to save the Indians, but who is going to save me?”
After his return to England, he begrudgingly attended a Bible study on Romans at the invitation Of his brother. At that Bible study, John came to the realization that we are saved by Grace and not our good works. His life was transformed. He began preaching that in earnest.
As John Wesley’s following increased, there was the need to get others to help him. As the Methodist societies grew, he began to send his preachers to pastor those societies. At first, John Wesley changed their appointments every quarter. Eventually, appointments were made for longer periods of time. Today, each appointment is made for a year. Each year, those appointments are continued or changed; and this has continued to the present.
I want all of to know that I have just asked the District Superintendent to send me back to Kedron and Lock’s for another year, if at all possible. We now have to wait and see what the Bishop and cabinet of District Superintendents decide. I just wanted to keep you up to date.
Michael O’Bannon, Pastor