Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Where are we as a church?- Pastor's edition


On Monday, October 10th, we held our annual charge conference.  Below is the full text of my pastor's report for that day:


Mission Statement-  The Independence United Methodist Church, along with other Methodist churches, holds our purpose to be that of making and being disciples of Jesus Christ, in service to God and to the World.  At the Independence United Methodist Church we are committed to growing in the faith through worship, study and service.
This last year has continued our transition from a congregation at rest into a congregation that is excited about actively taking steps to carry out the work that God has entrusted in us.  While the ultimate goal and the specifics of the work to which we are called remain hazy, we have been putting into place the necessary foundations for launching forth into even more radical life changing ministry.
We continue to grow into our understanding of what it means to be a radically hospitable church and people.  The baseline here was great-  many members of our congregation actively welcomed new comers .  Many of the faith stories of those who have joined or those who have recently began attending include the warm welcome they received when they first arrived here.  We have begun the work of sending hand written notes to first time visitors and are continuing to look at ways we can overhaul the way we welcome people.  We also are actively seeking out ways to welcome and show love to our community.  One simple example was opening up the church during home days so people could use the restrooms and serving water to those who sat on the church lawn to watch the parade.
Our worship service continues to evolve in a direction that is interactive and relevant.  The congregation has gotten used to the fact that worship will look different from Sunday to Sunday and they now come to expect that I will ask questions and ask them to take active steps to discuss or act out liturgically the message of the day during the service.  We have also hired a dynamic new choir director who is helping to continue to build upon our strong music program while expanding our styles and offerings.  We also reformed a monthly worship committee so that worship planning can be done more collaboratively and we can begin to dream about ways our worship can be enhanced.
I am especially proud of the direction the congregation has taken in intentional faith development.  In this past year we have launched a new weekly prayer group, a newly reformed youth group and enhanced and realigned our Sunday School classes to better match with the scripture and themes of worship.  All of these have been lay lead.  In addition, we started a new social issue forums group this summer that allowed nearly 20 individuals to come together to discuss and pray about our Social Principals and its connection to our faith.  Furthermore, I have had several members approach me with ideas of new groups that they want to help launch.  When we come together in ministry, we truly are stronger.
The highlight of our missions program this year is the agreement to partner with Pearl Rd. UMC on community meals every other month.  Though this program is in its infancy, I have already seen lives transformed in our congregation by interacting with and serving some of our or economically challenged neighbors in Cleveland.  We will continue to seek out hands on opportunities to engage in mission that changes lives- both our own and those we serve.
I am ecstatic about the progress the congregation has made in reigniting our sense of stewardship.  In 2009, we paid 18% of our district and conference apportionments.  By 2010, we had boosted this to 55%.  Through the end of August this year, we had already paid 49% off our apportionments and I conservatively project we will pay at least 80% by year end.  Furthermore, the finance committee has covenanted that 2012 will be the year we finally pay all of our apportionments.  The fact that we have done this without significantly cutting back on our ministry and while increasing our other missional giving is a testament to the hard work of the committee, the generosity of the congregation and is a sign of the movement of the Holy Spirit here in our midst.
Let us praise God for the good work that is being done amongst us!
Goals for continuing formation for 2012:
Radical Hospitality_____Work to gather feedback from those who are relatively new to the congregation as to how they were welcomed and how we can improve.  We will also reorient an existing committee or create a new group whose exclusive focus is on hospitality.  
Passionate Worship____I will work to help us identify the specific gifts contained within this congregation to create a unique worship experience.  I will work with the newly reformed worship committee to identify how we can vary our worship offerings to appeal to a broader range of people.  We will also explore adding multimedia equipment so we can communicate the gospel in different ways.
Intentional Faith Development__I will work to determine who would be willing to lead new small groups and how to identify those who might partake in new or existing small groups.  I also covenant to clarify what are the minimum characteristics needed to call something a faithful small group while still allowing flexibility in style and preference.

Risk-Taking Mission and Service___I will work to help the congregation determine how they can tell their faith stories.  We also need to continue to explore the needs of both Independence and the surrounding communities (especially the west side of Cleveland).  We will also work on a way to allow members to express and include their individual mission work not organized by the church as part of our faith story.
Extravagant Generosity___I will work with the stewardship chair and the finance committee to better communicate the state of our giving and of our spending.  I will also work with the finance committee to live up to our commitment to fully pay apportionments in 2012.  

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