Rev. Donna Alberts

Donna Alberts, an associate member of the Arkansas Conference who serves as pastor of Dover United Methodist Church, will complete her second and final term next month as president of the National Fellowship of Associate Members and Local Pastors.Officers may serve a maximum of two two-year terms.Alberts previously served as secretary of the Fellowship.

"The National Fellowship represents associate members and local pastors to the General church," Alberts explained.
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We can't vote, but we try to have someone in every legislative committee to answer questions if something comes up related to local pastors and associates in ministry," Alberts said.

In Arkansas, for example, approximately 277 churches are served by associate members, full-time local pastors and part-time local pastors."This amounts to 40 percent of the 691 total churches," Alberts said.

There are close to 7,000 associate members and local pastors serving churches in the United States, she added.

As their representative, the Fellowship is diligent in its "work on justice issues for small membership churches and their pastors," Alberts said.
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With the number of elders decreasing each year and the number of associate members and local pastors increasing, Alberts said she considers it "a justice issue, not just for pastors but for their churches, to not have a voice at General Conference."

The new Ministry Study expected to be considered at the 2008 General Conference has garnered the attention of the Fellowship and of Alberts."We're concerned about the effect it will have on small churches," she said.Alberts details those concerns in an article she wrote that will appear in an upcoming issue of Circuit Rider, a professional journal relating to Christian ministry published by the United Methodist Publishing House.

Education is also important to the Fellowship and its members.A portion of membership dues in past years have gone to Courses of Study to train local pastors in Africa and Russia.Other donations have helped provide salaries for pastors whose congregations were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

"We try to reach out and help out in areas of need, in the church universal and the United Methodist church around the world," Alberts said.

A graduate of the Course of Study School at Saint Paul School of Theology, Alberts is married and has four children and seven grandchildren.She has been an associate member of the Arkansas Conference since her 2001 ordination as a deacon.

"My calling, I feel, is to serve the small membership churches as a pastor and in other ways, like through the Fellowship," she said.

Donna Alberts, Pastor pastordonna@centurytel.net

Pastor Donna Alberts

TEA Chair : Donna Alberts, PastorUnited Methodist ChurchP.O. Box 94Jasper AR 72641PH # 870-446-2691

E-mail : dalberts@eritter.net

Donna Alberts, an associate member of the Arkansas Conference who serves as pastor of Dover United Methodist Church, will complete her second and final term next month as president of the National Fellowship of Associate Members and Local Pastors.

Nov. 5: New Orleans, LA. Sponsered by Dover UMC, Rev. Donna Alberts Nov. 8 Mt Sequoyah.

Rev. Donna Alberts, President of the National Fellowship of Associate Members And Local Pastors