/dev/zero

From this week’s “United Methodist News in brief” news letter:

The commission charged with clarifying the ordering of ministry within The United Methodist Church will carry a resolution to the 2008 General Conference calling for four more years of study. Created by the 2004 General Conference, the 25-member Ministry Study Commission sought to address the “continued ambiguity in the denomination’s understanding of lay, licensed, and ordained ministry” and is to bring conclusions to the April 23-May 2, 2008, gathering in Fort Worth, Texas.

So, they’ve been studying the subject of confusion of the roles of different people within the church for four years, and they’re conclusion is to ask for four more years to study it?
Sounds to me that if even the church conference itself can’t figure this out after four years, studying it for four more isn’t going to yield any clearer answers. It is instead, time to re-define these roles entirely such that there isn’t this confusion.