Another translation question

[Hans Deventer]

Art 120 says:



120. The pastor desiring to resign from a pastoral assignment
shall first consult with the district superintendent.
Following this consultation, the pastor shall provide a written
resignation to the church board at least 30 days prior to
termination of the pastorate, with a copy to the district
superintendent. When the resignation is received by the
church board and approved in writing by the district superintendent,
the termination date shall be finalized within 30
days.

So what does this last sentence mean? Does the termination date have to be fixed within 30 days, or does this date itself has to be within 30 days?

This is a serious issue. My own pastor resigned in November 2009 and his last Sunday will be 30 May 2010. Everybody is happy with that, it allows us a lot more time to find a new pastor without being vacant. But is this procedure against the Manual?

[Jon Twitchell]

I read that the same way you do... that the date has to be fixed (determined) within 30 days of the DS receiving notice.

Otherwise there would be a conflict between "At least 30 days prior to termination" and "termination within 30 days."

In other words, I believe your situation is within the bounds of this paragraph.

[Dave McClung]

Art 120 says:



120. The pastor desiring to resign from a pastoral assignment
shall first consult with the district superintendent.
Following this consultation, the pastor shall provide a written
resignation to the church board at least 30 days prior to
termination of the pastorate, with a copy to the district
superintendent. When the resignation is received by the
church board and approved in writing by the district superintendent,
the termination date shall be finalized within 30
days.

So what does this last sentence mean? Does the termination date have to be fixed within 30 days, or does this date itself has to be within 30 days?

This is a serious issue. My own pastor resigned in November 2009 and his last Sunday will be 30 May 2010. Everybody is happy with that, it allows us a lot more time to find a new pastor without being vacant. But is this procedure against the Manual?

Hans
As you know, the sentence is very poorly constructed. First of all, the whole provision is illegal in the U.S. We don't have slavery so a provision that requires a person to serve until another person agrees to release him or her is simply void. It makes sense that a pastor would notify the ds, but under U.S. law, a pastor may resign whether or not the ds gives permission.

The sentence does not say who will "finalize" the date of termination. I believe the intent of the sentence is that within 30 days of the notice of termination, the board, the pastor and the ds will agree on a date the pastorate will end. I don't understand it to say that the date must be within 30 days. Still, if the pastor the church board and the ds can't agree on a date, the pastor can determine the date (a matter of U.S. law).

I have known of instances when a pastor just packed up and left -- no notice to anyone. Such a resignation would be effective to terminate the pastorate, but would obviously create a problem if the pastor every wanted another assignment.

I also know of a situation where a pastor has given the church notice that he intends to retire "when the mortgage is paid." Noone knows how long it will take to pay the mortgage, but the hope is that it will be paid within a couple of years. I don't understand it to be a violation of the Manual to leave the exact date open. I believe the intent is to avoid a circumstance when a pastor announces resignation but leaves the final date unresolved.

[Hans Deventer]

As you know, the sentence is very poorly constructed.

Dave, will "your" committee also be working on improving the sentences in the Manual? (Presuming you are at liberty to share that answer, of course.)

[Shea Zellweger]

There's another flaw in that paragraph that I don't think the General Assembly really took into consideration- 30 days notice is almost impossible to give in a church setting. In my situation, the church board meets the 2nd Sunday of each month, so we turn in our written reports on the first Sunday. In order to resign in such a manner that you'd be following the 30 day rule, provided that your last day was going to be a Sunday, which seems to be the case in most instances, I'd basically have to call a special board meeting on a Friday, which would leave my board members with 5 days of wondering "what does pastor want to talk about, and why does it have to wait until Friday?" In order to give my full 30 days, I ended up having to resign 35 days in advance.

[Hans Deventer]

Working through all the Manual changes, you sometimes wonder about the logic. Read this one. The part in italics has been added by the 2009 GA.



160.5. In times of pastoral transition, the stability, unity,
and ongoing ministry of the local church is crucial. Consequently,
upon resignation or termination of the pastor, any
associates shall also submit their resignations effective concurrently
with the pastor. A local church board may request
that the district superintendent approve the continued service
of any or all associates. This approval, if granted, could
continue until 90 days after the new pastor’s assumption of
duties or until the incoming pastor nominates his or her
paid associates for the coming year in harmony with Manual
paragraph 160. Directors of childcare/schools (birth
through secondary) shall submit their resignations effective
at the end of the school year in which the new pastor as-
sumes the duties of the office. The chief executive officer of
any subsidiary and/or affiliated corporation shall submit his
or her resignation at the end of that contractual period in
which the new pastor assumes the duties of the office. The
incoming pastor may have the privilege of recommending
the employment of staff members previously employed.

Is it just me or has the entire logic of the first 3 sentences been destroyed?


Ongoing ministry is crucial, consequently, "any associates shall also submit their resignations effective concurrently with the pastor".
Yeah right .............

[Shea Zellweger]

Working through all the Manual changes, you sometimes wonder about the logic. Read this one. The part in italics has been added by the 2009 GA.



160.5. In times of pastoral transition, the stability, unity,
and ongoing ministry of the local church is crucial. Consequently,
upon resignation or termination of the pastor, any
associates shall also submit their resignations effective concurrently
with the pastor. A local church board may request
that the district superintendent approve the continued service
of any or all associates. This approval, if granted, could
continue until 90 days after the new pastor’s assumption of
duties or until the incoming pastor nominates his or her
paid associates for the coming year in harmony with Manual
paragraph 160. Directors of childcare/schools (birth
through secondary) shall submit their resignations effective
at the end of the school year in which the new pastor as-
sumes the duties of the office. The chief executive officer of
any subsidiary and/or affiliated corporation shall submit his
or her resignation at the end of that contractual period in
which the new pastor assumes the duties of the office. The
incoming pastor may have the privilege of recommending
the employment of staff members previously employed.

Is it just me or has the entire logic of the first 3 sentences been destroyed?


Ongoing ministry is crucial, consequently, "any associates shall also submit their resignations effective concurrently with the pastor".
Yeah right .............

I think the key here is the "unity, stability" part. The idea is that the new pastor will be different from the old pastor, so he or she may wish to seek out different associates in order to maintain unity. Of course, in practice any time the incoming pastor does decide to "clean house," it comes as a pretty big shock to the church, and the new pastor effectively puts a rift between him or herself and the congregation before he or she preaches the first sermon...

[Hans Deventer]

I think the key here is the "unity, stability" part. The idea is that the new pastor will be different from the old pastor, so he or she may wish to seek out different associates in order to maintain unity. Of course, in practice any time the incoming pastor does decide to "clean house," it comes as a pretty big shock to the church, and the new pastor effectively puts a rift between him or herself and the congregation before he or she preaches the first sermon...

Shea, the article read as follows before the 2009 GA:

"160.5. In times of pastoral transition, the stability, unity, and ongoing ministry of the local church is crucial. Consequently, upon resignation or termination of the pastor, a local church board may request that the district superintendent approve the continued service of any or all associates."

You're telling me they didn't think this logical and hence had to change it? For either this makes sense, or the new article does. My money is on the former.

[Shea Zellweger]

Shea, the article read as follows before the 2009 GA:

"160.5. In times of pastoral transition, the stability, unity, and ongoing ministry of the local church is crucial. Consequently, upon resignation or termination of the pastor, a local church board may request that the district superintendent approve the continued service of any or all associates."

You're telling me they didn't think this logical and hence had to change it? For either this makes sense, or the new article does. My money is on the former.
I don't think the old one makes sense. Why would the church board need to request the DS' approval if the associates are not required to resign? If I had an associate here when I resigned, that doesn't automatically mean that associate also resigned- his or her position in the church is not contingent on my own. So they added the part about associates resigning in order to explain why a board would need DS approval in the first place.
Taken in the Context of the previous paragraphs, which speak about an associate's employment being for a maximum of one year, it might be understood that DS approval would be necessary if the outgoing pastor's resignation and the incoming pastor's start time encompassed the conclusion of that one year of employment. So, the addition was made to this paragraph in order to essentially make associates' employment contingent upon either the continued employment of the pastor, or the approval of the church board/DS.

[Hans Deventer]

I don't think the old one makes sense. Why would the church board need to request the DS' approval if the associates are not required to resign?

Because up to 2001, they were always required to resign. The article changed in 2001 and offered the opportunity to maintain staff, exactly because of the continuity of the ministry.

In the 1997-2001 Manual, this article read as follows:



161.5. Upon the resignation or termination of the pastor, the staff members of a local church, or the chief executive officer of any subsidiary and/or affiliated corporations of the local congregation, paid and unpaid, such as assistant pastors, directors of Christian education, directors of youth work, and directors of music, shall submit their resignations effective concurrently with the resignation or termination of the pastor. However, one or more of these associates may remain longer with the written approval of the district superintendent and the local church board, but no longer than the date of the new pastor’s assumption of duties. Directors of day schools shall submit their resignations effective at the end of the school year in which the new pastor assumes the duties of the office. The chief executive officer of any subsidiary and/or affiliated corporation shall submit his or her resignation at the end of that contractual period in which the new pastor assumes the duties of the office. The incoming pastor may have the privilege of recommending the employment of staff members previously employed.

[Jon Twitchell]

There's another flaw in that paragraph that I don't think the General Assembly really took into consideration- 30 days notice is almost impossible to give in a church setting. In my situation, the church board meets the 2nd Sunday of each month, so we turn in our written reports on the first Sunday. In order to resign in such a manner that you'd be following the 30 day rule, provided that your last day was going to be a Sunday, which seems to be the case in most instances, I'd basically have to call a special board meeting on a Friday, which would leave my board members with 5 days of wondering "what does pastor want to talk about, and why does it have to wait until Friday?" In order to give my full 30 days, I ended up having to resign 35 days in advance.

Why would you want your last day to be a Sunday? I'd prefer a Thursday or Friday, myself. That gives you a few days to pack the office up and tie up remaining loose ends, without having another Sunday hanging over your head.

[Ryan Scott]

I always got the impression this was to ensure a minimum amount of time for the pastor to have continued income. I suppose it would be easier to simply say that, but my impression was that the 30 days was to be a minimum and let the parties involved figure out another solution if more time is desired.