| Conferencewide survey seeks answers to clergy questions BY MARCIA BONDS KOONSUMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT When elders and deacons arrived home to stacks of mail following annual conference, they found a questionnaire needing to be answered by July 11. The questionnaire, sponsored by the Baltimore-Washington Conference Commission on the Status and Role of Women and the Board of Ordained Ministry, is the first attempt since 1987 to discover how clergywomen are faring today compared to clergymen. The survey will enable us to assess the re al facts and address the real issues of remuneration, mobility and retention of the clergy of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, said the Rev. Terry Rae Chattin, pastor at Reisterstown UMC, who heads the task force that developed the survey. The project has been several years in formation. It was approved at last years annual conference.  The task force grew from a few clergywomen and men, to an 18-member multiethnic group including laity representing conference programs. The group critiqued the draft survey before it was sent. Bishop Felton Edwin May also met with the survey leaders and offered his suggestions as well as approval. It is important to participate in the survey because it gives us a demographic picture of the clergy in our annual conference, said the Rev. Donald Stewart, director of connectional ministries and a member of the reading group. The series of questions are designed to obtain a snapshot of both clergy women and men as they relate within the conference. Areas addressed include call to ministry, appointment history, family life and clergy support. The last section is open-ended and offers the opportunity to give suggestions for strengthening ministry and supporting clergy. The survey offers an opportunity for the people of God to show the church what it means to be the Church of God, said the Rev. Mamie Williams, Annapolis District superintendent and an advisor to the group. Were an older conference with a number of clergywomen and were not afraid to look at ourselves, she added. Westat, a research organization located in Rockville, is administering the survey and responses. The Westat researchers had the final say in the wording of the questions, and their professional involvement assures confidentiality and anonymity. We are anxiously anticipating the results of the survey, said the Rev. Laura Easto, pastor of University UMC and chairwoman of the Board of Ordained Ministry. We have a strong concern about clergy satisfaction in the life of our conference (and) we would like to invest our energy into addressing the concerns and issues raised in the survey responses, she said. The acceptance of women pastors or clergy of color as leaders in larger congregations as well as smaller churches is addressed in several questions. Questions were raised during pre-conference and other meetings after annual conference about the lack of inclusiveness of the questionnaire. Some student pastors and local pastors have expressed interest in the survey as an opportunity to express their concerns, but the commission has limited it to only probationary and full member elders and deacons. Theres no standard by which to validate the data from local pastors or student pastors, many of whom are part-time, said Linda Worthington, chairwoman of the commission. Though the survey is of prime interest to clergy, the results may speak to laity as well. The laity accept the clergy appointed to their churches and it is they who have a great deal to do with whether the clergy person stays for years or is soon asked to leave, said Worthington, a lay person, when she addressed the annual conference. Remind your pastors to return the survey on time, she said. UMConnection staff contributed to this story. | 
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