February 20, 2025
Colleagues and Friends,
Currently the cabinet, pastors, staff-parish committees, and churches are working on the upcoming appointment year: July 2025 to June 2026. I have found that cabinet transparency is vital in building trust. To inform you of our process, but most importantly to ask for your prayers, I want to share the following:
The cabinet, consisting of the nine district superintendents, Rev. Melinda Britt, Rev. Dr. Vona Wilson, and myself will be working to make many appointments between now and annual conference, scheduled for June 1-4, 2025.
There are many factors that go into this process which include retirements; churches open by the death of a pastor; pastors leaving our annual conference; local church needs and concerns; pastors’ needs and concerns; and family considerations, to name a few. Some of our local churches have also reduced clergy salaries due to fewer incoming resources. The combination of these circumstances leads to many emotions during the appointment season. Our United Methodist appointment process is like no other mainline denomination.
With our recent focus on discipleship priorities, the cabinet will give significant time and effort to prioritize appointments that help us live into these priorities. For example, when we make appointments that involve new experiences, such as cross-cultural appointments, or perhaps when a female clergyperson is appointed to a church that has not previously had a female clergyperson as its senior/lead pastor, we will provide resources to assist both the church and congregation in doing these transitions well. Recently the cabinet identified a “filtering question” to consider when projecting an appointment:
“How does this projected appointment help this church, pastor, and community live faithfully into the discipleship priorities that God has revealed through the people of the TWK?” Click here to view discipleship priorities.
Questions like this guide us into new insights and hold us accountable to keep moving forward in the way God is inviting. Our focus on living deeper into these discipleships disciplines is very clear. It impacts everything, including the appointment season.
What I have come to learn and have experienced is that the Holy Spirit is in this process. As unusual as it may seem, I have been so blessed by my appointment-making time. It is sacred work, and the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference has a faithful cabinet that truly seeks to honor God and follow where the Spirit leads. This makes our work deep and rich. Please pray for us!
To help guide your time of prayer, let me share the following timeline with you:
Jan-Feb: As consultations take place, the district superintendent marked each pastor as remain, must move, should move, could move, or retiring. As we begin to make some appointment projections, we may or may not communicate them out of the cabinet.
Feb – Mar: The cabinet will project most of the full time appointments during these sessions.
Mar: Those pastors moving will receive a phone call from their district superintendent to set a meeting to go over their projected appointment and pastor-parish chairs will be called and told of the projected appointment. The full SPRC will be informed and instructed to keep the appointment confidential.
Apr: The cabinet meets to review all projections and to make any adjustments.
Apr 6: Pastors and churches are free to publicly communicate the new appointment unless otherwise directed by the district superintendent.
Apr-Jun: The cabinet will continue to work at filling part-time appointments and other situations that might arise as pastoral introductions are made.
Jun 19-21: First-time appointments will attend Pastor School
Pastor School is designed to bridge the gap between the knowledge received at Licensing School and the realities of everyday ministry that individuals will encounter in their appointments.
As you can see, the appointment process is some of the most important work we do, and I want to live into God’s will. I feel it is important to be transparent to all our clergy and congregations.
If there are changes in the timeline, we will communicate that to you.
We need and appreciate your prayers.
In Christ,
Bishop David Graves
Resident Bishop
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