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Dear Members and friends of the Desert Southwest Conference,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Appointive Cabinet of the Desert Southwest Conference are in prayer and discernment for the 2023/2024 conference appointment year. We invite the clergy and laity into this discernment by reviewing the clear appointment opening announcements and praying for each ministry setting and for God’s wisdom in guiding the appointment process.

This is how the clear opening process works:

    • Listing of Clear Openings:
      • Churches in need of a new pastor through a retirement, ending of an interim period, or change in appointment status will be listed as a clear opening. Openings in cabinet and conference staff positions will also be listed.
      • The listing includes a brief description of the churches’ ministry settings. Specific statistics about a church and community are available through the Annual Conference Journal and MissionInsite. You may obtain MissionInsite data from your District Superintendent.
      • The appointive cabinet will update the list regularly to reflect appointments already made and new openings that become available.

    • Process of Clergy Inquiry:
      • Clergy are encouraged to spend time in prayerful discernment about their call, service, and the listing of clear openings. If the Spirit gives clear prompting, then proceed with an inquiry.
      • Clergy members who experience the call by God to put their names forward for a specific opening are to contact both their current District Superintendent and the District Superintendent who oversees the clear-opening church. Send to both DSs a statement sharing about their call to the appointment and what experience, gifts, and skills they have that are needed by the church.
      • Because we are already in the appointment season, the Cabinet requests that you do this promptly, especially for the cabinet positions that are coming open this year.
      • Confidentiality is critical. Pastors who are considering putting their names forward as an inquiry must not contact people in their own local churches, nor the pastors or laity of the churches in which they have interest, as this has the potential to harm current church appointments. The Cabinet will hold all inquiries in confidence.
      • The Bishop and Cabinet will deeply discern the gifts and graces of the clergy members putting their names forward, and the needs of the mission fields and the local churches. A clergy inquiry may not lead to that specific appointment.

    • Expectations:
      • The Cabinet will be in prayer to deeply discern the match between the mission field, the local church and the gifts and graces of the pastor asked to serve.
      • Bishop, Cabinet, Pastors, and SPRCs are all committed to seeking appointments based on the match between:
        • the local communities and churches,
        • the gifts and skillsets of the potential pastors alongside their personal needs, and
        • the larger ministry context of the Desert Southwest Conference.
      • The District Superintendent will share with a pastor and SPRC the considerations leading to the discerned appointment.
      • There is also an expectation of an open itinerancy, and if a clergy person cannot move because of significant family issues, we will enter a “Covenant of Limited Itineration,” whereby full-time appointment may not be possible, as we discern what is available in any given local area.

Click here to view the list of clear openings.

We hope and pray that this way of appointment making will continue to be both liberating and helpful to our annual conference and God’s Kin-dom that we actively pray would come here on earth, through us. We covet your prayers as we engage in this deep, holy work.

Addaan namnama ken rag-o (With hope and joy),

The Appointive Cabinet

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Author: Bishop Carlo A. Rapanut

Elected Bishop on November 4, 2022.

The Desert Southwest Conference is a diverse and loving organization with open doors to a variety of people and partners in ministry. Celebrating our connection and diversity, we offer various resources. Content on this site includes information from other organizations that may not reflect the official policies or Social Principles of The United Methodist Church or the Desert Southwest Conference.

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