Superintendents hold UM connection together like glue, dean says

District superintendents hold the United Methodist connection together like glue, the dean of the Southwest Texas Conference cabinet said June 4 in Corpus Christi.
“The members of your cabinet count it as an honor to be placed in the position of being the glue that aids the church in staying together,” said the Rev. Fred Martin, Kerrville District superintendent.
Martin, the 2003-04 coordinator of the cabinet agenda, delivered the yearly District Superintendents Report to the 146th Southwest Texas Annual Conference session.
He spoke on behalf of all seven superintendents. He described them as a “hard working, praying and caring cabinet.”
“In many instances glue does its job very effectively,” Martin said. “There are occasions when glue fails—maybe due to the fault of the glue, perhaps to the defects of the objects bonded.”
At those times, when the hard working superintendents have tried their best and still failed, Martin said, their prayer life grows and matures significantly.
Holding up containers of various bonding compounds, Martin called superintendents the glue of the United Methodist connection when they:
> Recommend pastoral appointments to Bishop Joel N. Martinez.
> Preside over regular and special charge conferences.
> Listen to pastors’ struggles.
> Hear church members’ concerns.
> Organize programs.
> Sit in meeting after meeting.
Some bonds are meant to be temporary, Martin said. Others are intended to be more lasting.
For more permanent pairings, he said, surfaces must match and fit snugly together.
“Sometimes as we on the cabinet find ourselves trying to match unmatched surfaces, they just don’t fit together,” Martin said. “We find multiple-church charges with different needs and congregational expectations that vary greatly. We find local churches expecting us to fix their problems in ways where we don’t have and shouldn’t have the authority.”
Glue bonds, he said. It doesn’t repair crevices left by abuse and power struggles that have gone on for years.
Sometimes glue doesn’t stick, Martin noted. When a pastoral situation isn’t working, the superintendent must recommend a correction to Martinez.
“Sometimes glue bonds two items together so tightly that it may be impossible to separate the pieces without the pieces splintering and breaking,” Martin said. “When a situation comes to light that exposes human frailty and sinfulness in God’s church, there is usually breakage and a splintering of trust and relationships.”
In those situations, Martin said, district superintendents are called to negotiate, be the middleman between congregations and pastors, limit the damage to God’s church, and seek a fair and just resolution to the situation.
“Some bonds can be re-established,” Martin said. “Others require new matches. In either case the DS is the glue that has the purpose of rebonding or creating a new bond.”