What decisions must be made now if The United Methodist Church is to have a future?

This book examines how deacons within Methodist Church in Britain have understood their ministry and sought to address its challenges.

Langford and Willimon urge readers to critically examine the current structure of the United Methodist Church and pursue radical changes. They assert that "local decision making and contribution must be enhanced; bureaucracy must be reduced; episcopal leadership must be re-established; our organizational form must be fitted to our missional function." Some may judge the authors' analysis as candid and their remedies promising; others may take exception to what they see as intemperate claims and calls for precipitous changes in UM polity. Readers are invited to enter into the conversation and make choices that can reform the United Methodist Church and shape its future.