God Outwitted Me by Maxie D. Dunnam

Author:Maxie D. Dunnam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seedbed Publishing
Published: 2017-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

A Questionable Move

I believe the most glaring limitation to the Methodist way of deploying preachers is the pattern of making appointments. The purpose of our system of itinerancy is to be able to place pastors in places where they are most desperately needed, and where their gifts are best suited. And that ideal is sometimes operative. But more often than not, from my observation, appointments are made according to salary and time served in a particular place. The outworking is that company men who are faithful and steady are moved every four or five years to a congregation a bit larger than the one they are in, with an increase in salary.

From my perspective, in retrospect, I should not have been moved from the new church we had planted in San Clemente, to a thriving, much larger suburban church in Anaheim. Five years was simply not adequate. I was young and not confident enough in the system to raise questions, nor mature enough to think clearly about what was best for the ministry of the whole church I’m sure the pride which is at the core of our original sin was also a factor. We had been very successful. The congregation had grown rapidly; we had built a wonderful building; I was being recognized not only in the conference but beyond. The church to which I was being appointed was three times larger, with a beautiful sanctuary, a pipe organ and outstanding choir, a large staff, including an associate minister and youth director, and as senior minister I would have a full-time secretary. Though I had a fruitful and meaningful ministry in West Anaheim Methodist Church, I believe the kingdom would have been best served if I had spent ten years, rather than five, in St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea in San Clemente. I know that Bishop Kennedy, and my dear friend, Ken Miller (my district superintendent), were affirming me and my leadership, and for that I was grateful.

Our son, Kevin, was born in San Clemente and occasionally claims to be a Californian. Those California years came at a special time in our family. Our move from San Clemente to Anaheim put us within a few miles of Disneyland. This was before Disney World in Orlando. We could see fireworks from our backyard, and visits to Disneyland were not once-in-a-lifetime for our children; we were there regularly, primarily because out-of-town visitors who came to see us also wanted to visit.

In those years, under the dynamic of Bishop Kennedy, Methodism was growing. West Anaheim Methodist Church, to which I was appointed, was a stellar example of church growth. It was less than twenty years old when I arrived, but had more than one thousand members. Two ministers had preceded me, so I was now serving a church that had some history. I had helped birth my previous three churches. Though relatively young in the context of all the churches of the conference, this church was established, and I had to fit into a history and an operational style.

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