The below text is from the Evangelical Methodist Church Web site (emchurch.org) under a section titled "Cabinet of Superintendents," as it appeared online Oct. 27, 2006. It is the report of the superintendents of each district prior to the EMC's quadrennial conference in 2006.
MISSION CHURCH STATUS
Discipline ¶ 391. When a local church declines to eight (8) or less active church members and/or the average attendance is under ten (10), the local church enters a mission church status for a two (2) year period. A local church may also request this status at any time, which may be granted by the District Board of Evangelism and the District Superintendent. A mission [church] status consists of:
o The District Board of Evangelism and the District Superintendent shall assist the local church pastor and leadership with all administrative functions of the local church.
o A redevelopment ministry path will be developed and implemented by the district.
After the two (2) year period there will be an evaluation and recommendation by the District Board of Evangelism and District Superintendent. The local church will vote at that time to return to full church status or be closed in accordance with ¶211.
FOCUS ON HEALTHY CHURCHES
* The General Board of Evangelism is recommending the use of the Natural Church Development resources by Christian Schwarz, specifically their Church Profile tools. www.churchsmart.com
Christian Schwarz surveyed one thousand churches in 32 countries and six continents. He discovered some consistencies among these churches that seemed to suggest there are some “natural” qualities at work in churches that succeed which seem to be missing in ones that do not. If these qualities are at work in a local congregation, growth will naturally take place. We will assist the local church in identifying these qualities.
* Our emphasis will be on ‘church health’, not ‘church growth’. The primary concern is about the quality of the ministry, not the quantity.
* Our goals will not be to build bigger mega churches, but to emphasis local congregation multiplication
* The EMC is committed to the small local church and their effective ministry in their community. We believe that a group, no matter their size, experiencing transformed lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ is a ‘church’.
* Healthy plants grow. The district superintendent and the district board of evangelism will seek to identify what is making a church unhealthy and create a two year plan for regaining the health of church. Once healthy, the church can grow again.
* We will assist the local church to focus on the ‘root system’, those characteristics that create a healthy ministry, and leave the growth to God.
* The EMC is not in the business of ‘closing churches’, but we are intentional about assisting a local church back to health.
* If a local church at the end of the two year period decides to ‘close’, the resources from that congregation will be used to plant and grow a new church.
In the months ahead district superintendents and district boards of evangelism will be working together to develop a detailed plans for redeveloping a local church and the implementation of the plan.