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Report Explores Changing Role of District Superintendents

The Rev. Dorothy Waston Tatem looks over the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry display during the ministry fair that is a held during each the training event for new district superintendents and directors of connectional ministries each year. The ministry fair allows them to learn about ministries of the UM general agencies. Photo by Vicki Brown.

The job of a district superintendent in The United Methodist Church has changed dramatically—changes dictated by social, cultural, and economic shifts. While the work is multifaceted and often tiring, most DSes say it’s a worthwhile appointment.

That’s one of the findings in a study of district superintendents released by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and based on 2010 interviews with 159 of the 456 district superintendents then serving across the denomination, plus two former DSes.

The Rev. Myron Wingfield, GBHEM’s assistant general secretary for Clergy Life, said the findings from the study were used in revising the training offered at an annual event for new district superintendents and directors of connectional ministries at Lake Junaluska, N.C.

“The study identified a high degree of ambiguity about the role of a DS, and then General Conference 2012 made changes in the specific responsibilities of DSes in the Book of Discipline,” Wingfield said. “So the August DS/DCM orientation and training event will focus on the question, ‘What does it mean to be ‘the chief missional strategist of the district?’”

He said the changes made by General Conference suggest that “chief missional strategist” is now the most important role, taking priority over supervision and all the other duties.

The vast majority of DSes said they and their annual conference viewed their primary role as supervising clergy. The study found that the number of clergy supervised by a DS ranged from 32 to 210, but the average was 69 clergy at 75 churches in 47 charges.

Other highlights:

• DSes said they were viewed as having a variety of roles in addition to supervision. About 60 percent also said they were seen as someone “representing the clergy in your district to the bishop.” Just 39.4 percent felt their annual conference greatly perceived the DS as a “supporter of local congregations”—although 52.5 percent believed this was true to a “moderate extent.” In general, the expectations they held for themselves were consistent with the role expectations they cited for their conferences.
• DSes spent an average of 15.35 days per month traveling their district (though time on the road varied from two days to 28 days). Many described heavier workloads than in the past, especially those responsible for more than one district. They report adapting by setting priorities and delegating, and creating opportunities for group meetings instead of one-on-one time.
• Many said the focus of their job had shifted from bureaucracy toward mission, vision, and strategic planning on the congregational level. Overwhelmingly, they saw the job of a DS as “hands-on,” relational, and teamwork-oriented; a coach and mentor to clergy versus the distant, authoritarian model of the past.

The 2008 Book of Discipline (which was used for this study) lists five task areas for a DS—spiritual and pastoral leadership; supervision; personnel management; administration; and programmatic oversight—and outlines those over five pages.  By contrast, the 2012 Book of Discipline states that “the district superintendent shall oversee the total ministry of the clergy and of the churches in the communities of the district.” It further states that this oversight “requires the superintendent to use his or her gifts and skills related to spiritual and pastoral leadership, personnel leadership, administration, and program. .  . .” A two-page outline of the specifics emphasizes the role of “chief missional strategist.”

The DSes surveyed said the biggest part of their time—an average of 26 percent—was spent on supervising clergy, which they also identified as their primary role expectation.  Some, though, reported spending as little as 10 percent in this area. “Supervision may be a priority,” the researchers state, “but there may not be enough time available for supervision.”

The study concluded that district superintendents are pulled in multiple directions and appear to have more work to do than time allows. “Coming to consensus on the role expectations for the DS would enhance the DSes’ ability to meet expectations and will allow them to focus their energies. Ensuring that DSes have time for spiritual growth and renewal leave is important to the health of the DS and the health of the office,” the study found.  

Ironically, although they “experience exhaustion on average once to several times per month,” most of the DSes indicated feeling clarity about their role and a sense of being effective and satisfied in their appointments.

That’s encouraging and shows DSes aren’t focusing on the overwhelming volume of work, said Michelle Pederson, a religion sociologist who led the study when she served as GBHEM’s director of research.

“If you consider the nature of that work—they are interceding in situations of crisis, providing resources or support for whatever is needed. . . . So the value of their work is so important, and gives them a sense of making a difference in the church,” she said.

Wingfield served as a district superintendent in the California-Pacific Annual Conference from 2006 through 2012, during a time when the conference’s eight districts were merged into five larger districts.

He helped subdivide Cal-Pac’s new South District into 12 “mission areas” where local churches work together closely on outreach in their community—their shared “mission area.”  Instead of spreading his ministry among 90 churches, he could then hold group meetings with the pastors in each mission area “and get a sense of what they were doing in individual churches, but more important . . . what they were doing together, and how they were supporting one another.”

That’s part of what makes the job of a DS a good one despite its challenges, Wingfield said.

“I found that the opportunities for churches to grow and to be more effective were many. And that some of the most rewarding times were often in little ways of just making connections or putting two clergy in conversation with one another, to share resources or insights and inspirations. . . . You start to see direct benefits of your ministry, not for your own sake, but the sake of what you are called to do, to serve the churches and help them be more fruitful.”

Read the full study at: http://bit.ly/12pnRNK