Charge (pastoral)

A pastoral charge in the United Methodist Church in the United States and the United Church of Canada consists of one or more congregations under the spiritual leadership of a minister or ministry team. In the United Methodist Church a charge is organized under and subject to the Book of Discipline, with a single governing body called a charge conference, to which a minister is appointed as pastor in charge.[1] Charges are different from churches or congregations as they may encompass more than one church or congregation. This stems from the early days of Methodism in the United States and Canada, when multiple congregations were served by single ministers acting as circuit riders, riding on horseback between the sometimes far-flung congregations in their charge. A similar multi-congregation structure in the British Methodist Church is still referred to as a circuit.

References

  1. ↑ United Methodist Church, General Commission on Archives and History. "United Methodist Glossary". Archives and History. General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
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