Methodist Churches Form “Tree of Life Parish”

The days of the circuit riding preacher may be returning to the 21st century. Noted Methodist clergyman Peter Cartwright, who once served as a minister at Wesley United Methodist Church in Macomb, would be amazed at how the process has evolved for three area United Methodist Churches.

For the last several months, Bushnell United Methodist and Walnut Grove United Methodist have been without pastoral leadership. Former pastors Randy and Crystal Burwell were reassigned to the Industry and Rushville UMCs. This prompted District Superintendent James Fielder of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference UMC to explore the creation of a parish system.

It’s no secret that religious denominations are struggling with supplying ministers for all of their congregations.

After all, a church is more than a building; it’s a group of people who freely gather for spiritual communion.

Having a pastor in each pulpit is at the heart of that worship.

“Superintendent Fielder had already begun to create parish models down in the Jacksonville area,” said Wesley United Methodist pastor Don Long. “They were all functioning by the time this situation took place.”

When asked to explain the parish concept, Long replied, “It’s really going back to our Wesleyan roots when we had circuit riding preachers who traveled within an assigned area.” A parish is a designated territory under the pastoral care of a head minister who may be assisted by an associated pastor(s).

There is a slight difference between a parish and a multi-point charge, a system that is in place in many UMC communities. A charge is essentially a church congregation meeting in one location. That is how the Bushnell, Walnut Grove, and Rushville UMC churches had been operating — as separate charges.

A parish is a collection of charges under the umbrella of a pastoral system. “It’s simply taking three independent churches and yoking them to the same pastor but having them still function as their own independent church charge,” explained Long. “I currently serve the single charge of Wesley United Methodist. With a parish, they take multiple churches and see them as a single charge. So my church is now Tree of Life Charge.

My primary focus is here at Wesley, but I’m now also the pastor at Bushnell and Walnut Grove.”

Because Wesley also has an associate pastor, technically the three churches now have a pastoral team.

Senior Pastor Don Long and new associate Pastor Marcus McKinney will serve all three churches as part of the parish, but 90 percent of McKinney’s responsibilities will be at Bushnell and Walnut Grove. He and Long will occasionally exchange pulpits, usually every six weeks. McKinney will begin his service as associate pastor July 1.

“Most things will remain independent at each church,” said Long. “Trustees at each will be responsible for their properties. We won’t expect Bushnell or Walnut Grove to provide any financial support for Wesley.” Likewise, Wesley will not be providing financial support for the other two churches, “Unless on an outreach basis,” Long added.

The reaction from Bushnell’s congregation has been “optimistic,” said Board Chairman Bonnie Bartlett who is a member of the committee overseeing the parish process. “It’s given us a breath of fresh hope,” in keeping with the spirit that God breathed into his creation. “Both our church and Walnut Grove’s have never had a Sunday service without a preacher or a guest speaker.”

Of the three churches, Walnut Grove has the smallest congregation and footprint. However, it is a vibrant, rural-community church with well-maintained facilities. It is reminiscent of the days when small rural churches were at the heart of a community, legacy churches made up of multi-generational families.

“We were ready for a new direction,” said Steve Sargeant of the Walnut Grove Church.”Most everyone was on board realizing that a small church understands the difficulty of getting a pastor.” With the arrival of Pastor McKinney as part of the Tree of Life parish, both Walnut Grove and Bushnell will now have a sense of completeness.

So, how does this system work out when it comes to salaries? Long said that the three congregations will share the salary structure on a percentage basis. “We’ve taken the sizes of the three congregations and their budgets on a 70 percent/15 percent/15 percent basis.

Bushnell and Walnut Grove will remit their share of the salaries to Wesley’s financial manager Lauren Merritt, who will then issue salary checks to the two pastors.”

Regular meetings of leadership personnel from the three churches will be held.

“There will be a separate subcommittee set up called Tree of Life with representations from each church,” said Long. They have been meeting to work through all the details.

The name “Tree of Life” came from the district superintendent. “The imagery was vibrant enough that we stuck with it,” said Long. “However, each of the congregations will retain its own identity and name. Here, we are the Wesley United Methodist Church, a part of the Tree of Life parish. When we combine to do things together, such as service at some mission, we’ll go under the name Tree of Life Parish.

Some church members have expressed interest in combined activities and possibly special services. While the Wesley building might be able to accommodate such a gathering, that church doesn’t want to presume to be the primary site. Certainly, the Bushnell church might be able to host a parish event, but Walnut Grove would be less likely to do so. There has been some interest in forming a women’s Tree of Life retreat, but trying to find a suitable date is difficult since all church calendars have been set for the rest of 2026. In addition, finding a neutral site will also take time to establish.

Because new associate pastor McKinney is just beginning his appointment at Wesley, he will be in the process of familiarizing himself with the congregations of three diverse churches, their families, and their histories.

Housing has been provided for him at the Bushnell UMC parsonage.

Each church will have an established worship environment with different protocols. The Walnut Grove congregation will hold worship services at 9:00 a.m. while Bushnell’s UMC congregation will have services at 10:30 a.m. Later this fall, Wesley will resume its regular 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. services.

“We need to be intentional to overcome the feeling that Walnut Grove and Bushnell aren’t being swallowed up by the big Wesley church,” warned Long. “This ministry will allow, each church family to maintain their individual identities but also give them the opportunity to grow and strengthen their unique characters within a parish.”

There’s no doubt Bushnell and Walnut Grove felt a void because of an empty pulpit.

“That was one of the blessings for the new ministry in that, yeah, we not only have a pastor, but now we have pastors (plural). It’s nice to know that Pastor Marcus will be able to handle some of the shared responsibilities when he’ll be able to visit folks when I can’t and vice versa,” said Long.

The reality for Wesley is that the move to a parish system came in part because of the risk of not being assigned an associate pastor after the appointment of Melli Momo to a vacant charge at Beardstown. She had been serving Wesley for eight years as associate.

Restructuring pastoral care has created a financial advantage for Wesley. “We are going to save $65,000 in our annual budget by sharing the salaries with Walnut Grove and Bushnell,’ noted Long.

“I don’t want it to sound like the parish concept (and the retention of an associate pastor) was the only reason we’ve made these kinds of changes, but it’s the reality.”

Pastor Don said that the Tree of Life Parish will be a “fresh expression” of the Methodist spirit and tradition. While it’s likely you won’t see him and Pastor Marcus galloping on horseback between Macomb and eastern McDonough County, certainly they will feel a kinship with the journeys of Peter Cartwright in his mission here in west central Illinois.