How are pastors placed in United Methodist congregations?
Since its inception, the United Methodist Church has operated on a system of itinerancy as determined by an Episcopal leader. Pastors are appointed by a bishop to serve in U.M. congregations, and each appointment is reviewed annually. In other words, pastors are assigned to serve a particular church for one year. While the congregation and the pastor are invited to share their opinions and insights into the nature and effectiveness of the pastor-congregation relationship, it is the Episcopal leader alone who has the power to remove a minister from a congregation and relocate him and her to another church. In other words, if a pastor serves a congregation for a period of five years, one may say that he or she was appointed to serve five consecutive one-year appointments in the same church.
