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!

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!