More than a Catch Phrase

One of the catch phrases that we heard several times at Annual Conference was “vital congregations.” This is certainly not a new concept, but it is one that is receiving renewed attention at this time in the life of The United Methodist Church.
Bishop Scott J. Jones, Bishop of the Kansas Area, and Jill Foss, Conference Lay Leader, highlighted the
characteristics of vital congregations in their “State of the Conference” presentation this year, naming them as:

• Inviting and inspiring worship
• Engaged disciples in mission and outreach
• Gifted, equipped, and empowered lay leadership
• Effective, equipped and inspired clergy leadership
• Small groups
• Strong children’s programs and youth ministry

Bishop Jones has also shared his ideas in a blog post about “vital congregations,” concluding his comments by writing,
“The main challenge facing our denomination today is to increase the number of vital churches.”
There has been a major emphasis at the level of the general church to assess the situation for The United
Methodist Church in North America, with the results published as a “Call to Action.”The goal of this process
is nothing less than “Reordering the Life of the Church.”
The General Council on Finance and Administration has developed an online data reporting system
known as “VitalSigns.” This includes a weekly online report of a congregation’s worship attendance, professions of faith, small group involvement, local outreach, missional support, and local church giving.  For the time being, participation in this reporting system is voluntary, although it sounds like momentum is gathering for it to be an expectation.

The General Board of Discipleship has published “Pathways to Congregational Vitality.” The Missouri Conference has developed a program called the “Healthy Church Initiative.”
So, what does all this hoopla and hyperbole mean for First United Methodist Church in downtown Hutchinson, Kansas? Perhaps nothing, but perhaps everything.

I want to spend some time together during the Sundays in July looking at “vital signs” for our congregation—
both in our life together as a community and in our lives individually as believers. I invite us to be in
study and prayer about this matter, as we move forward together into God’s future.
Grace and Peace,
Mark Conard

Another Annual Conference

Another session of the Kansas West Annual Conference has come and gone. This time, it was held at the Kansas State Fairgrounds here in Hutchinson. The last time that conference was held here, we received seven inches of rain, so there was some apprehension about conference meeting here again! As it turned out, there was rain and thunderstorms the first evening but otherwise the weather turned out well.

The theme of this year’s conference session was “Worth It! Risk-Taking Mission.” This was the last in a series of three themes that have guided our sessions of Annual Conference the last three years. We focused in 2009 on “At Your Service,” emphasizing radical hospitality.  In 2010, our theme was “Go Light Your World,” calling us to intentional faith sharing.

With an emphasis on “risk-taking mission” this year, we were especially blessed to hear from Cynthia Harvey, who is in charge of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief)–which is our denominational agency in charge of relief and rehabilitation efforts.

We talked about the change in 2012 for episcopal leadership for Nebraska and Kansas, and we learned from Gil Rendle, church consultant,  about what it means to be the church in the 21st century. We celebrated the commissioning of ten provisional members and welcomed a new associate member, and ten newly ordained elders (and another pastor whose orders in another denomination were recognized). We shared in a service honoring the retirement of fifteen pastors and in memorializing those who had passed away in the last year, including Lois Lyons, Linda O’Dell Toms, and Maxine Brooks.

On a personal note, I was privileged to be elected as one of the two clergy delegates from the Kansas West Annual Conference to next year’s General Conference in Tampa, Florida. I was also honored with the presentation of a “Certificate of Merit” from the Kansas Area United Methodist Rural Fellowship. I also participated in the annual “Fun Run/Walk” on Friday morning, finishing last among the runners but (barely) ahead of the walkers! In addition, I was appointed again to serve as pastor of First United Methodist Church.

I look forward to a good year together! May God bless us in our commitment to “risk-taking mission!”
Grace and Peace,

Mark Conard

Our Shona Names

My wife and I were richly blessed by the recent opportunity to go on a Volunteers in Mission trip to Zimbabwe. We left on Thursday morning, February 25, and we returned on Monday, March 14. It was quite a trip! It was an opportunity to be a blessing—and to be blessed. We are grateful for the prayers, support, and encouragement of the people of First United Methodist Church.

For much of our time in Zimbabwe, we hosted in the home of Kennedy and Vimbai Masunda. They are active members of the King David United Methodist Church, located in downtown Mutare. I had stayed with their family two years earlier, and it was good to renew acquaintances.

The first night we were there, the Masunda family announced that, since this was my second time there, I was no longer a visitor but instead family. This was a surprise and an honor. Since that was the case, I asked them what my Shona name would be. Many people in Zimbabwe have both an English name and a Shona name. They said that they would have to think about that in order to make a proper decision.

After a couple of days, they announced that they had come up with a name for me. I wasn’t at all sure what they might have decided. “Tall, clumsy one” seemed like a viable possibility! However, they said that my Shona name would be “Mutendi,” which means “believer.” They had no way of knowing, of course, that one of my favorite verses is found in Mark 9:24, “ ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” They could not have picked a much more appropriate name.

Then, with just a couple of minutes to consider the possibility, they came up—quickly and easily, it seemed to me—with a name for Joyce. They said that her Shona name would be “Zvikomborero,” which means “blessings.” That, too, was an appropriate and thoughtful choice.

We probably won’t use our Shona names very often—at least not in ordinary conversation. But these names—”Believer” and “Blessings”—will be a rich reminder of our experience in Africa.

In looking forward to Easter, I trust that each of us will experience the joy of being a believer in the reality of the risen Christ and that we will know the blessings of being part of a worldwide fellowship of faith!

Grace and Peace,

Mark “Mutendi” Conard

Remarks at the 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Service (Hutchinson, KS)

I usually have an eye examination every year or so. I have become quite familiar with the various procedures over the years. Generally, everything goes along fairly well. However, there is one test that often leaves me feeling a little queasy.

The optometrist has me look into an apparatus, where my eyes focus on a single circle with cross-hatched lines. He then manipulates that circle so that it divides into two images. He can make the images go farther apart, or he can make one go up and the other go down. It makes my eyes ache, and it puts my stomach on edge.

Much to my relief, he eventually brings the two images back into one, and I can focus again on a single circle. When that happens, I immediately feel better.

The annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is one of those times in which the focus in my life comes back to where it is supposed to be. As it says in today’s program,

“On this day we commemorate Dr. King’s great dream of a vibrant, multiracial nation united in justice, peace and reconciliation; a nation that has a place at the table for children of every race and room at the inn for every need child. We are called on this holiday, not merely to honor, but to celebrate the values of equality, tolerance and interracial sister and brotherhood he so compellingly expressed in his great dream for America.”

Our King Day celebration in Hutchinson, KS—and elsewhere–is a way of bringing back into focus the great purposes of life, when the pressures around us and within us threaten to overwhelm us and overcome us.

In the last several months, we have felt like a divided nation, with political accusations spewing forth without regard for others. Our attention is pulled way and another. Charges and counter-charges are tossed about. There has been a rampant rise in rhetoric.  And then shots rang out at a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, leaving six people dead and many others wounded—including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

These shootings could have divided us even further, but something remarkable has happened. In the aftermath of this horrific event, things in this country began to come back into focus. A piece on the internet put this way:

“This week we saw a white, Catholic, Republican federal judge murdered on his way to greet a Democratic woman member of Congress (his friend) who is Jewish. Her life was saved, initially, by a 20 year old Mexican-American college student…and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon….then it was all eulogized and explained by our African-American president. In such a tragic event that’s a remarkable statement about our country.” – Mark Shields

One of the things that President Obama reported during his speech in Tucson was that, shortly after his visit to her hospital room, Representative Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting. And other reports tell us that she then reached out to her husband, who was there in the room with her.

She “opened her eyes,” and she “reached out to others.” It was a powerful moment and a compelling image. It is also an invitation and an opportunity.

I believe that we are called, as the people of this great country, to “open our eyes” and to “reach out to others!”  We are called to focus again—as one people–on the great dream that was shared with us so eloquently by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And together, we will be able to say, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

“Get On Board, Little Children”–A Thought for the New Year

Every so often, God gives me a song early in the morning. It typically is running through my mind just as I wake up. Sometimes the origin is pretty obvious. It may be something that I have heard or sung recently. During this season of the year, it is not surprising for me to awake with a Christmas carol (or even an Advent hymn!) echoing in my thoughts!

Some time ago, it was a song that I hadn’t called to mind for quite a while. It was the traditional African-American spiritual, “Get On Board, Little Children.” This song about “The Gospel Train” was first published in 1872 as one of the songs of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The first verse and the chorus of this African-American Spiritual goes:

The gospel train is coming,
I hear it just at hand,
I hear the car wheels moving,
And rumbling thro’ the land.

Get on board, children,
Get on board, children,
Get on board, children,
For there’s room for many a more.

One of the things about trains is that, while they may wait at the stations or on the siding for a length of time, there comes a point when they begin to move—not quickly at first but almost imperceptibly. But when the train reaches a certain speed, you better already be on board!

I think that God may be getting ready for us to move as a congregation. Perhaps it has already begun—not quickly but almost imperceptibly. Who’s on board? There’s “room for many a more!”

As we begin 2011 together, may we be “on board” with what God has in mind. May we build on the momentum God has already given us. And may we make sure to invite and involve others in the journey!

Grace and Peace,
Mark Conard

 

Learning Two Things…or Even Three (2010 Church Conference Report)

I learned two things this past year as pastor of First United Methodist Church. There perhaps should have been more, but I am pleased with the two that I learned.

The first is that the tenth year of ministry in one place is actually the starting point for what can be genuinely accomplished. This is something that I learned from a church consultant named Israel Galindo, who wrote an article for the Alban Institute entitled “Staying Put: A Look at the First Ten Years of Ministry.” The article concludes:

If you have lasted up to the tenth year and have invested well in your tenure of ministry, you and your congregation share a mutual relationship of trust, a shared corporate identity, and a common vision of ministry. Your relationship with the congregation can provide the resources to begin working on whom you can become. Because your pastoral leadership function will take on new directions, now is the time to quit recycling sermons. More important, now is the time to begin thinking about the life of this congregation two or three generations into the future.

Now is the time for my ministry in this place really to begin! I had never thought of it this way. I had always measured how long I had been here as the primary means of assessing how I was doing (or how we were doing). And there have always been areas of shortcoming, disappointment, or a lack of significant measurable results.

Generally speaking, I  feel that we have developed “a mutual relationship of trust, a shared corporate identity, and a common vision for ministry.” These are not always articulated as clearly as they might be, but I believe that they are there.

There are those, of course, who contend vigorously that I cannot be trusted, that I do not understand the congregation or its needs, and that I have failed to provide adequate leadership. Certainly people are entitled to their opinions, and several have not been afraid to express themselves—usually in connection with their departure from active participation in the life of this church.

Still, in my tenth year as pastor of First United Methodist Church, there seem to be some genuine stirrings of the spirit, and I look forward to seeing what God has yet in store for us here on the corner of First and Walnut!

The second thing I have learned this year is my realization this fall that every pastor in the United Methodist system is an interim pastor, unless we happen to be the founding pastor or the pastor in place when a congregation comes to the end of its organizational life.

I had implicitly expected myself to be the “turn-around pastor” or the “come back pastor.” I envisioned myself as the one whose pastoral tenure would be the time in which long years (even decades) of decline would be reversed. I had an internal timeline for when that would take place, and I became increasingly frustrated when things didn’t turn out as I had expected.

I no longer have the self-imposed pressure of being the “turn-around pastor” or the “come back pastor” or whatever other terminology might be used. I am just an interim pastor, seeking to build on what has been done by so many before my arrival and striving to leave things hopefully in better condition to my eventual successor.

As an interim pastor, I have intentionally tried more this year to “come alongside people.” My visual image for this is a two-person porch swing. One of the realities of a porch swing is that, generally speaking, both people tend to see the same things at more or less the same time. It is an opportunity to visit without getting in each other’s face. You find a mutual rhythm and pattern in your time together. You don’t want to speed things up too dramatically, nor do you just want to sit as if you were in adjacent chairs!

There is actually a third thing that I have learned this year—the words [and the “moves!”] to the praise and worship song entitled “Days of Elijah.” The first verse is:

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the Word of the Lord
And these are the days of his servant, Moses
Righteousness being restored

And these are the days of great trial
Of famine and darkness and sword
So we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord

Robin Marks, the writer, says about this song, that it is intended to “express the sense that these might be days, not of failure and submission, but of the sort of resilient, declaring, even arrogant trust and hope that Elijah had in his God.” Perhaps that is just the sort of confident hope in God that is needed at this time and this place here at First United Methodist Church!

And there are “moves” that go along at least with the chorus of “Days of Elijah!” I have my own distinctive style, which may be unlike exactly what is intended, but I enjoy the opportunity to celebrate in motion the words:

Behold he comes
Riding on a cloud
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet’s call
Lift your voice
It’s the year of jubilee
Out of Zion’s hill salvation comes

All in all, it’s been a good year—to have learned two things . . . and even a third! I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to serve as pastor of First United Methodist Church.

Grace and Peace,
Mark Conard

Thoughts at Thanksgiving

As I was growing up, it was a typical practice at Thanksgiving to make a list of “things I am thankful for.” The usual guideline was to write out ten things, and it couldn’t just be the names of the food on the table for Thanksgiving dinner!

I decided to reclaim that tradition this year, sharing “Thanksgiving blessing” papers for that purpose with the children on the morning of Thanksgiving Sunday, November 21. I had started my own list at the time, but it took me a while to finish it.

I did complete it prior to Thanksgiving Day itself, although I don’t think I would have been kept from enjoying the meal if I had not done so. Here’s the list, which I think is still valid for Advent and Christmas as well as for Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for:

• People who care about me and people to care about.
• Food to eat and food to share.
• Children and the invitation to be like them.
• A place to live and a place to go.
• Memories of the past and hope for the future.
• Mistakes to make and mistakes to fix.
• Moments to soak up and moments to savor.
• Prayers to prayer and a difference to make.
• Family, friends, and faith blended and seasoned to serve.
• A church that cares, a church that shares, and a church that dares.

What does your list look like? What would you add? What would you take away? How would you phrase things? Would you try to get two or three items into just one entry? I know that I did.

I hope that we recognize at least a measure of the blessings God has given us–not only at Thanksgiving but throughout the year. We are blessed in so many ways—sometimes in ways that we don’t often recognize or always appreciate.

May God’s blessings continue to be ours in the season of Advent and Christmas!

Grace and Peace,

Mark Conard

“Falling with Style” Still a Goal

“Buzz Lightyear”–-the Space Ranger “action figure”–has been one of my heroes since the appearance of the original “Toy Story” movie in 1995. Buzz comes on the scene as a birthday gift for a boy named Andy. His arrival in Andy’s household disrupts and discombobulates “Sheriff Woody”– the cowboy toy who had been Andy’s favorite up until then.

Buzz truly believes that he actually is the renowned Space Ranger. Among other things, he believes he can fly. Early in the movie, he seeks to prove his capabilities and gives the illusion of flying through a remarkable series of coincidences that keep him air-borne until landing on his feet in front of Woody. “That’s not flying,” Woody asserts derisively. “It’s falling with style.”

It is a painful thing for Buzz to discover that he is not who (or what) he thought he was. Despite the fervency of his belief, he cannot really fly. He can’t help anybody, or so he thinks. It is a painful thing to become aware of our own shortcomings and to realize that we are not going to salvage every situation or save every person in distress.

Near the end of the movie, however, Buzz’s capacity to “fall with style” winds up saving not only his life but that of Woody, his onetime nemesis and newfound friend.

That phrase–”Falling with Style”–has stuck with me through all these years. It is one of the images I used during my tenure as Salina District Superintendent (1995-2001). It is an image that came with me into my current appointment at First United Methodist Church, where I have served since 2001. Also staying with me over the years is  a bobble head version of “Buzz Lightyear” that I still keep, even though one of its wings has been lost along the way and its primary purpose is that of a paperweight.

“Falling with Style” is still a work in progress for me. It is what I seek to do in new situations–acting like I know what I’m doing until I actually figure it out. And there continue to be new situations, even after all the years of ministry–and life!  There are even times when “Falling with Style” is, for me, a modern version of Moravian Peter Bohler’s one time advice once to a disillusioned John Wesley, “preach faith until you have it, then because you have it you will preach it.”

Like Buzz Lightyear, we may not be who we thought we were. We may not to destined to go “to infinity and beyond,” saving the universe–or even the church–by virtue of our remarkable exploits. But, by God’s grace, we can be who we are, and we can aspire to “falling with style” whatever challenges come our way. By so doing, we may even bring life where there is death, light where there is darkness, and hope where there is despair.

An In Between Time

2009 Church Conference Pastor’s Report (December 1, 2009)

There are currently enough encouraging things happening at First United Methodist Church to make me believe that we are on the edge of a breakthrough and that a long hoped-for turn around is just around the corner. There are enough discouraging things occurring at First United Methodist Church to make me believe that the congregation would best be served by a change in pastoral appointments.

The encouraging things include:

• Work of the Re-Vision Team. This group of fifteen persons met regularly over a six month period to work through the book, You Only Have to Die: Leading Your Congregation to New Life, written by Jim Harnish. I wrote a chapter-by-chapter assessment of our situation in “Re-Vision News and Notes.” We had good participation, but this work did not result in any specific or far-reaching changes. The primary accomplishment was renewal of our commitment to “You Are Welcome Here” as a signpost for our life as a congregation.
• Strategic Planning Session. One of the outcomes of the work of the Re-Vision Team was a “Strategic Planning Session,” led in August by Barry Dundas, pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Salina. Out of that work came these goals for 2010:

Sponsor at least one DISCIPLE Bible Study group.

Establish a task force to organize a Moms’ Day Out, Preschool, or Day Care.

Double the average worship attendance at 3rd service.

• E2 Seminar. Another outcome of the work of the Re-Vision Team is our planned participation in a program called “Equipping Leaders,” sponsored by Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, MO. This is a ministry designed to help church leaders develop “an equipping culture that unleashes the exponential power of every believer.” The goal is to “help someone move from being a first-time guest to a fully engaged volunteer reaching his or her God-given potential…”
• Transition in Music Leadership. We were blessed for seventeen years with the  leadership of  Joyce Phillips as Chancel Choir Director, With her resignation  in August, it was critical for us to hire a competent and committed successor. I believe that we have done so with the employment of James Pope, who became our Director of Music Ministries in September. This transition was handled well by everyone.
• Murray Fund Projects. The gift of $50,000 “in memory and honor of Ida Jane White Murray” has been utilized to help upgrade our church facilities and make them more inviting and welcoming. The projects completed to date are: Illuminated Exterior Signs ($6,357.44), Return Steam Pipe ($9,426.00), Video Projector and Screen ($12,197.00), Narthex and Hallway Carpet ($7,423.00), and Third Service Worship ($5,000.00). The last project is an upgrade of the sanctuary sound system.
• Community Involvement. One of the things for which this congregation is known is involvement with the community. We host the Alternative Christmas Market annually, and we have sponsored a “Potato Drop” for several years. We support the Reno County Food Bank, First Call for Help, the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center, and New Beginnings. We also assist with the Children’s Emergency Shelter Home and the Christian Soup Kitchen.  We have a supportive relationship with area schools, our various vendors, and the HCC Volleyball Team. The Josephus Fund helps many persons in the community.
• Support for Streamview. Support for our partner congregation–the Streamview United Methodist Church in Mutare, Zimbabwe–has been heartwarming and generous! I was able to take with me more than $1,000 for the church there on my trip last summer. We currently have $1,600 that is ready to be sent. The congregation has also been generous in supporting other projects relating to Africa.
• Committed Laity. This congregation continues to be blessed by the number of lay persons who “show up, pitch in, and help out.” I am especially grateful for those who “go the distance” in what they are doing rather than give in, give out, and give up!
• Capable Staff. I believe that this congregation is thoroughly blessed with the staff that is in place. We work well together and focus on the interests of the church. The staff is conscientious about living within budgetary constraints and saving money as possible without sacrificing the integrity of ministry.

At the same time, there are discouraging things, including:

• Re-Visioning Process. Despite the efforts of the Re-Vision Team, I do not believe that we adequately “discern[ed], discover[ed], and decide[d] . . . [God’s] purpose and direction for us as a congregation,” and we have not restructured how we are organized. There is pressure simply to organize again as we were before taking a break for the Re-Visioning Process.
• Sunday School and Worship Attendance. The attendance patterns have not been significantly changed. In 2001, our average Sunday School attendance through the end of November was 158.96. At the end of November this year, our Sunday School average attendance was 76.98. Worship attendance also shows a decline though not as steep, going from 254.38 through the end of November 2001 to 221.52 through the end of November 2009.
• Financial Challenges. We continue to experience financial challenges. This is the second year in a row that we have operated with an unbalanced budget. The same thing looks likely for 2010. At the end of October 2009, we had  budget giving shortfall of $9,531.34.  A year ago, it was $8,253.10, and we eventually wound up with a deficit of $12,081.13. This simply cannot happen again.
• Mission and Ministry Shortfall. We last paid our “Mission and Ministry” commitment in full in 2006.  In 2007, we paid 76.6% of our commitment of $54,430. In 2008, we paid 67.7% of our “fair share” of $49,457.00. Through the end of October 2009, we have paid $19,130.96 toward our commitment of $53,400.
• Continued Departures. We continue to be affected by a trickle of persons who disengage from their involvement with the congregation. This is always done for reasons that make sense to them. But it is seldom done without a residue of  pain and  continuing resentment, which takes its toll on everyone.
• Tenure and Timing. This is my ninth year to serve as pastor of First United Methodist Church. I am not sure that I ever expected to serve anywhere for that length of time! It may already have been too long. I have four years left until the usual age for retirement. I am not clear about  what would be the most effective use of my time and talents nor about what would be in the best interests of this congregation.

I trust that God will guide and bless all of us as we make our way forward into God’s future—whatever that may be!

Mid-Sized Miracles

During the month of September, I sought to focus my morning messages on what “mid-sized miracles” might look like here at First United Methodist Church. This was based on a suggestion made by Barry Dundas, senior pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Salina, when he helped guide us through a strategic planning process last August.

From my vantage point, there are four “mid-sized miracles” that we might hope, pray, and work for here at First United Methodist Church. Each of these are based on passages from the early chapters of the Book of Acts.

These “mid-sized miracles” are:

• “More Than Enough…Money”(Acts 3:1-10). Encountering a man lame from birth at one of the Temple Gates, Peter  did not give him the silver or gold for which he hoped. He did give him what he had, saying “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk” (Acts 3:6).In reality, then, the miracle as “More Than…Enough Money!”




• “More Than Enough Boldness”(Acts 4:23-31). The exultation that came when the lame man was healed caught the attention of the authorities, as the one who was healed went “walking and leaping and praising God”(Acts 3:8b).  Peter and John were brought before the Council, which tried to intimidate them into silence with threats. But, when all was said and done, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness”(Acts 4:31).

• “More Than Enough Believers”(Acts 5:12-16). One of the continuing refrains throughout the early chapters of Acts is “…more than ever believers were added to the Lord, [in] great numbers”(Acts 5:14). The earliest explosion came on Pentecost, which began with there being about 120 believers. By the end of the day, some three thousand had been added. And the growth didn’t stop there! There were yet more “signs and wonders” done by the apostles that resulted in more and more believers coming to faith in Christ.

• “More Than Enough Servants”(Acts 6:1-7). The needs of the early church became so significant that some were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. Rather than give up or give in, however, the apostles asked the community to name those in good standing who could be trusted to be faithful servants. Apparently there were at least enough, because the “word of God continued to spread; [and] the number of the disciples increased greatly…”(Acts 6:7).

God clearly provided the early church with more than enough money, more than enough boldness, more than enough believers, and more than enough servants! I believe that God is doing exactly the same thing here at First United Methodist Church!

May we learn to hope expectantly, pray boldly, and work joyfully for these–and other– “mid-sized miracles” to become a reality among us!

Going to Church at Home

Sunday, March 29, was an odd experience for me. We had 18″ of snow in Hutchinson from Friday noon to Saturday noon. Combined with the wind, there was drifted snow as much as 4′ or 5′ deep. Even though the snow stopped and the sun came out Saturday afternoon, it wasn’t viable for us to have church on Sunday.

That made Sunday morning different than virtually every other Sunday morning in nearly forty years. My wife  and I thought about going to church “somewhere,” but every other United Methodist congregation in town was also closed. Besides, even though we had  shoveled out our driveway, it didn’t look like we could get very far on the street. Plus, the county authorities were strongly advising people to stay home unless it was an “absolute emergency.” Somehow, church didn’t quite fit that description!

So that left us with the option of “going to church at home.” We could have sat and read our Bibles and perhaps sang a song or two. There was the possibility of watching one or another service on television. However, we opted to watch the “live streaming” broadcast of worship from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS.

The senior pastor, Adam Hamilton, focused on the events the Thursday of Holy Week–both Jesus’ “last supper” with his disciples and also his time of agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam had actually preached from Jerusalem the two previous Sundays, and he had just returned from Israel the previous week.

I always learn a great deal whenever I hear Adam speak, teach, or preach. He has the capacity to invite you on board with what he sees and where he is going, and he helps you feel at ease with where you are in the process.  Sunday’s experience was no exception.

I particularly liked Adam’s reminder that “Maundy Thursday” was actually the time when Jesus gave us “mandates” for how we are to live our lives as followers of Jesus. These mandates include Jesus’ directives–or commandments– for us to:

• eat the bread [and drink of the cup], “in remembrance” of Jesus (Luke 22:19-20);
• love one another,” as Jesus has loved us (John 13:34). This doesn’t  mean having “warm, fuzzy feelings” for one another but to seek what is best for them even when we don’t feel like it and they don’t deserve it; and
• serve one  another, following the teaching and example of Jesus who came among us “as one who serves”(Luke 22:27).

I don’t remember Adam saying it quite this way, but these three mandates are not multiple choice. They are not “pick and choose.”  They are not based on our own feelings. They are to be grounded in faith, which is God’s free and gracious gift. And they are to be done, just like Jesus said!

When the service was concluded, I felt spiritually refreshed and renewed. I don’t know how soon I will again “go to church at home,” but I now know where to go and what to do! In the meantime, I have the needed reminders of what Jesus says I am caled to do.

Easter by the Numbers

Easter Sunday, April 12, was a glorious day at First United Methodist Church in downtown Hutchinson, KS.

Admittedly, the weather was dreary and bleary, with a light rain making itself evident. We didn’t have a “sunrise service” this year for the first time in who knows how many years–not because of the weather but because of declining attendance at this service in recent years. But it was still a great day “by the numbers.”

Our worship attendance for the morning was excellent–at least for us in recent years. The total was 377, which is more than last year’s count of 353 and nearly as good as the prior year’s record of 385. We have a ways to go to reach where we were in 2006 with 440, 2005 with 450, or 2004 with 496. But we are moving in a positive direction for a change.

But it was not just the numbers in worship. It was the 21 participants in “Children’s Church” that morning, the 35 Easter lilies on the chancel rail, the 85 “guests and visitors” included in our worship attendance total.

It was the two anthems sung at each service by the choir. It was the four members of our Men’s Quartet, who outdid themselves with their music. And it was the hundreds (not just dozens) of plastic eggs “hidden” in Fellowship Hall for the Easter Egg Hunt after second service!

Another number was the offering total of $12, 899.96, which is more than twice what was received on Easter Sunday 2008. Perhaps that will alleviate some of the financial anxiety we have been experiencing!

But the best number of all was simply one–one empty tomb, one risen Savior! When all is said and done, that is the number that really matters, and that is the number we encountered on Easter Sunday.

Thanks be to God for a blessed and glorious Easter “by the numbers” this year!

Ending with a Prayer, a Song, and a Gift

It happened the Sunday after Easter this spring. About 10:00 am, I walked by the classroom where the “Wesley Weds” Sunday School class ordinarily meets. At that of the morning, they could usually be found gathered around a table, giving thoughtful attention to their teacher. This Sunday, they were nowhere to be seen, which surprised me.

I could hear more than the usual conversation coming from the church parlor, which is near the Wesley Weds classroom. When I came in, there were the class members–with their teacher–gathered around one of the tables. They were visiting together and enjoying the available refreshments. It seemed a bit out of the ordinary, but I didn’t yet realize what was going on.

The Wesley Weds teacher came around the table and shared with me that this was the last Sunday that the class would meet. That was a surprise to me, as it had been to him that morning. Neither of us had really seen it coming, though it was not completely unexpected.

The Wesley Weds Sunday School class had been one of the great stalwarts in the educational ministry of First United Methodist Church. According to our church’s history, the class had been organized in 1936 by a nucleus of four young couples. Over the years, the class was noted to have “a fine record of service to its members, to youth groups in our church, and to the community.”

In its heyday, the class had as many as 225 persons on their roll. Now, the number had dwindled to 24, with scarcely half of them ever able to attend Sunday School or worship any more. They had met in their particular classroom ever since the church’s Educational Building was opened in the early 1950s.

Rather than fade away into oblivion, the class members had talked among themselves and come to the decision that the time had come for the class to end. It was not an easy decision, but it was a good one. And it was a decision they reached themselves rather than it being forced upon them.

The class members, their teacher, one guest (!), and I were able to sit and talk for most of the rest of the Sunday School hour–sharing stories and memories. Then we headed back to their Sunday School classroom “one last time.”

The life of the Wesley Weds Sunday School class then ended with a prayer, a song, and a gift.

The prayer was one that I offered as pastor of the church. It was an expression of thanksgiving to God for the life of the class for more than seventy years, including its members, leaders, and teachers. It was a blessing on all that had gone before and all that would yet continue to be possible because of this class’s faithfulness.

Then came the song. Not surprisingly, it was “Blest Be the Tie That Binds,” which was #18 in Christian Service Songs, their class song book.It was especially difficult to sing the last verse:
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.

The last thing that the class did, as I learned later, was to disburse the remaining funds in their class treasury. They chose to give the entire $242.74 to the youth of the church to help with their mission trip this summer. It could not have been a more fitting gift.

A prayer, a song, and a gift–that’s the way that the Wesley Weds Sunday School class came to the end of its officially organized life. It was a time of sorrow, but one of deep joy and thanksgiving. My hope for the class members who remain is that they may always be “joined in heart” one with another.

A prayer, a song, and a gift–what a way for the rest of us to live our lives, however long we may be given! I am grateful for the witness of the Wesley Weds Class, not only in how they drew their life together to a close but in how they lived it their whole life long!

Facing Financial Challenges at First Church

It is no secret that we are in the midst of difficult economic times—locally, nationally, and internationally. In the last two issues of the newsletter, there have been full-page appeals or updates from the church’s Finance Committee. This month, there is no such appeal or update—not because we have weathered the storm entirely, but because we are still in the process of making decisions about how best to deal with our situation.

As we make our way through these difficult times together, it is important for us to keep our eyes on God, remember our calling as disciples of Jesus, and ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That is my commitment as pastor, and I believe it is the conviction of the leaders, members, and friends of First United Methodist Church.

There are several steps we have already taken to reduce expenditures, and there are others under consideration. The steps we have taken so far include:

• Elimination of a weeknight Vacation Bible School this summer.
• Elimination of the purchase of Sunday School curriculum on a “standing order” basis, except for the most basic resources for teachers.
• Elimination of cell phones for any staff member being paid for through the church budget.
• Closing the church office every Friday during the summer.=
• Reducing the number of phone lines. This may mean that you receive a busy signal when you call the church.
• Asking people to pick up their quarterly giving reports rather than automatically sending them via First Class mail.

In addition, I have indicated to the Staff Parish Relations Committee and Finance Committee my willingness to take a $250 to $500 per month reduction in salary, beginning as early as September 1, 2009. No action has yet been taken on this possibility.
In the meantime, I invite members, friends, and constituents of First United Methodist Church to continue to sustain the work of the church through their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.

Beginning Another New (Appointive) Year

For United Methodist pastors–at least in the Kansas West Conference, the new appointive year starts on July 1.  As of that date, I will begin my ninth year as pastor of First United Methodist Church in downtown Hutchinson! I have never served (or lived!) anywhere else as long as that!

Indeed, this coming year’s service will match the longest pastoral tenure in the history of First United Methodist Church. Only Wayne Findley served this long, from 1982 until 1991.

I arrived in Hutchinson in the summer of 2001, looking a little like the opening credits of the “Beverly Hillbillies.” I was driving our 1996 Ford Ranger pick up, with a dog in the front seat and our porch swing in the back. There was a wondrous variety of items stuffed in around the edges and tied on with rope.. The rest of my family arrived in more stylish means of transportation. My first trip to the store in Hutchinson included a purchase of cat litter and a gallon of milk.

I had grandiose expectations of what would happen here under my leadership. I fully expected that, by now, we would be averaging more than 400 persons in worship and that we would have a full time associate pastor. For two or three years, that looked like a reasonable trajectory, but several things happened that altered the course of our life together.

More than once in the past years, I have questioned my own capacity to serve effectively as pastor of this congregation. There have been those in the congregation who also expressed their doubts and disappointments about what I have done—or failed to do. Some have left, and that has been painful to experience.

However, I continue to have an abiding conviction, which I believe is God-given, that I do have the gifts and graces, the commitment and the compassion to serve effectively here. I am grateful for all those who provide support and encouragement as well as accountability in that venture.

How much longer will I serve as pastor of First United Methodist Church? I honestly do not know. All I know that is I am appointed here for another year, and I am looking forward to see what God has yet in mind for all of us, as we move forward in faith together!

Doing Something New

“Doing something new” is not always easy. Our recent financial challenges as a congregation have made it necessary at least to try doing some things differently—if not completely new!

One of these was to change how we did Vacation Bible School this summer.  Since at least 2001, we have had an evening V.B.S. That was not the case this year. We made the decision earlier this spring to reduce expenses where we could, and Vacation Bible School turned out to be one of those places.

One of the possibilities was simply to cancel Vacation Bible School, but that was never seriously considered. We finally decided to do a Sunday morning Vacation Bible School, using the basic curriculum already chosen. That saves us the cost of utilities and for an evening Vacation Bible School. It also meant a reduction in the expenses for snacks and other associated costs.

It hasn’t been a perfect solution, and we will revisit this way of doing things before next summer. However, there have been some positive aspects of doing something new.

For one thing, the entire congregation has been able to focus on the same scripture passages that are being used in Vacation Bible School. This has helped to reinforce what was being taught and also to help all of us focus more intentionally on one topic at a time.

This focus moved me into portions of scripture that were not familiar ground. The scripture passages for Vacation Bible School have focused on Moses and the Exodus. I have preached on both topics more than once over the years. However, to the best of my memory, I had never before preached on the plagues! That was the emphasis for the session on “God Is Powerful.”

The closing in Vacation Bible School has become what we use for the benediction on Sunday mornings–at least in the second service. The theme for the day is repeated—loudly and vigorously, e.g., “God Is With Us,” that is then followed by a resounding “Fear Not!”

Doing Vacation Bible School this way has given us a greater sense of focus and purpose as a congregation.

“Doing something new…doing something differently!” There may be more of value than we realized!

You Are Welcome Here!

For the first six months of the year, a group of about fifteen of us worked together in an effort to “re-vision” the life and work of First United Methodist Church. It was an ambitious goal, and we were partially successful.

We read together You Only Have to Die: Leading Your Church to New Life by James Harnish. We looked at the statistical trends and patterns of our congregation and the community. We prayed together.  We talked together.

We thought that we would be able to develop a common vision or direction for our church’s life. It did not turn out quite that way–or at least not yet.

We continue to work toward understanding the “future with hope” that we do believe God has in store for us. We are working with a consultant in a strategic planning process. And we have decided that a long-used phrase really speaks to who we are–and who we want to be!

The phrase is simply, “You Are Welcome Here.”

• “You” means anybody and everybody who might come our way–intentionally or unintentionally.
• “Are” means “without condition.” We genuinely want to be open to whoever God sends our way. We want to avoid preconditions as much as possible.
• “Welcome” means that we want everyone to have a “place” where they can truly belong, discover a “pace” that works for them, and fulfill the “purpose” that God has for their lives.
• “Here” means not only First and Walnut but wherever God sends us as a congregation–individually and collectively.

Do we fully embody that commitment as a congregation? Not yet, but we are on the way. We need to live into this commitment to “radical hospitality” as we seek to live up to what we claim as God’s purpose.

It is not quite where I imagined that we would come out in the re-visioning process. But it is a place that I believe we need to be–and a place that we can become.

Grace and Peace,
Mark Conard