APPOINTMENTS TO VARIOUS MINISTRIES
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4. Associate members, provisional members, or full members may be appointed to attend any school, college, or theological seminary listed by the University Senate, or participate in a program of clinical pastoral education in a setting accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education or another accrediting agency approved by GBHEM. ¶ 339. Definition of a Pastor—A pastor is an ordained elder, provisional deacon, or licensed person approved by vote of the clergy members in full connection and may be appointed by the bishop to be in charge of a station, circuit, cooperative parish, extension ministry, ecumenical shared ministry,23 or to a church of another denomination, or on the staff of one such appointment. ¶ 340. Responsibilities and Duties of Elders and Licensed Pastors— 1. The responsibilities of elders are derived from the authority given in ordination. Elders have a fourfold ministry of Word, Sacrament, Order, and Service and thus serve in the local church and in extension ministries in witness and service of Christ’s love and justice. Elders are authorized to preach and teach the Word, to provide pastoral care and counsel, to administer the sacraments, and to order the life of the church for service in mission and ministry as pastors, superintendents, and bishops. 2. Licensed pastors share with the elders the responsibilities and duties of a pastor for this fourfold ministry, within the context of their appointment. a) Word and ecclesial acts: (1) To preach the Word of God, lead in worship, read and teach the Scriptures, and engage the people in study and witness.24 (a) To ensure faithful transmission of the Christian faith. 23. Ecumenical shared ministries are ecumenical congregations formed by a local United Methodist church and one or more local congregations of other Christian traditions. Forms of ecumenical shared ministries include: (a) a federated congregation, in which one congregation is related to two denominations, with persons holding membership in one or the other of the denominations; (b) a union congregation, in which a congregation with one unified membership roll is related to two denominations; (c) a merged congregation, in which two or more congregations of different denominations form one congregation which relates to only one of the constituent denominations; and (d) a yoked parish, in which a United Methodist congregation is yoked with one or more congregations of other denominations. 24. See Judicial Council Decision 694. 267
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