The Global Methodist Church, made up mostly of churches that disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church, has steered away from some United Methodist practices such as its annual clergy appointment system.

United Methodists “fix” appointments annually after reviewing, renewing or realigning assignments, and newly appointed ministers start in their new positions on a certain day.

The Global Methodist Church in its provisional North Alabama Conference, meeting on Thursday and Friday at ClearBranch Church in Trussville, explained a different process.

“We make appointments fluidly,” said the Rev. Alan Beasley, president pro-tem of the Global Methodist provisional North Alabama Conference. “We make them as they come.”

The appointment system is a year-round process, said the Rev. Terry Bentley, one of the presiding elders for the Global Methodists.

One of the hardest parts of starting the new denomination is making sure all the churches have pastors, Bentley said.

“It’s really a difficult thing to start a new denomination,” he said.

About 90 percent of the 200 congregations that left the United Methodist Church and joined the Global Methodist provisional North Alabama Conference brought their pastors with them.

“The others, that was a problem,” Bentley said. “We were not prepared for 100 churches to leave at one time.”

The conference and churches have been working together to fill every pulpit.

Bentley said the Global Methodist Church places value on long-term appointments, as opposed to re-evaluating clergy appointments every year and moving clergy around.

The Global Methodists use an interview system, with churches looking for a pastor interviewing three candidates. If none of those meets the needs of that church, they may look to other conferences for a candidate who must still be approved by the conference cabinet and the bishop.

To help meet the need for new pastors, the Global Methodist Foundation of North Alabama has been established to help finance the education of potential ministerial students seeking master’s of divinity degrees at approved seminaries, which include Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Alabama.

The Rev. Lyle Holland, pastor of Christ Church in Florence, and the Rev. Matt O’Reilly, pastor of Christ Church in Birmingham, asked churches to donate to that fund.

The conference on Friday adopted a budget of $600,000 for 2025, based on asking member churches for a contribution of three percent of their budget – one percent to support the Global denomination and two percent to support the regional conference.

“We have a very lean administrative structure,” Beasley said.

The conference concludes on Saturday after an ordination service. Bishop Scott Jones, one of only two bishops supervising the worldwide Global Methodist Church, will ordain 16 clergy: eight deacons and eight elders.

“There’s very little business,” Beasley said. “We have to approve a budget. We have to fund the operation of the conference. We have to approve our ordinands. That’s really the business we have to do. Our main goal is to come and celebrate and be refreshed and worship.”