Bishop Thomas Bickerton opens a session of the commission’s meeting. (Photo: UMNS / Mike DuBose
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Beginning in next spring, all United Methodist pastors will be eligible to receive a lifelong home – at least in the virtual world.
Last week, the board members of the United Methodist Commission on Communication approved a tentative plan to provide “e-mail addresses for life,” during their meeting in Nashville, Tenn.
"In this technological age that we're in, it just seems to me that it's absolutely critical, as we talk about United Methodist Communications, to have a convergence of resources together," said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, president of the Commission on Communication and leader of the denomination's Pittsburgh Area, according to the United Methodist News Service.
"And for us to be able to converge, the whole idea of having standard e-mails across the church is a really powerful tool," he said.
"That gives annual conferences and the general church a consistency so that we don't have to spend more people power inputting a different address every time a pastor moves."
The United Methodist Church is the second largest denomination in the United States with some 44 thousand pastors serving more than eight million members nationwide.
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These pastors will be able to register for a permanent e-mail address that will be forwarded to a personal e-mail address, according to the UMNS. When a pastor moves, he can forward that email address to the provider, and maintain the same permanent UMC address.
The Communications board plans to launch the initiative across the United States by next spring. They are also making plans to make the service available globally.
