I agree with Andrew. I am convinced that it’s time to do away with guaranteed appointments, a system that has perpetuated ineffective leadership, that allows protected pastors to tread water, and that keeps our denomination at status quo.

I hear the concern you raise, that ending guaranteed appointments might discourage prophetic witness if we pastors are worried about job security. (That’s the rationale for the tenure system in higher education as well.) I think that is a very real risk in denominations that employ the call system — they are hired by local churches, and when they ruffle the wrong feathers, they can get the boot pretty easily. However, our appointment system itself protects our freedom of the pulpit: we are not “hired” by local churches; neither can we be fired by them because of the sermons we preach or the stands we take.

I don’t hear a strong call to do away with the appointment system — only the guaranteed appointment system. Perhaps I’m naive, but I feel confident that those whose ministries are bearing fruit — even those with the strongest prophetic witness — will be secure in their appointments. Ending guaranteed appointments, however, will raise the expectations and require ongoing evidence of effectiveness in ministry.