Discussion Forum

A Sneak Peek

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:33:00 -0400

We’re working hard in following the direction of our church’s Master Plan, adopted last year by our Church Council. We believe God has given us a clear vision to grow into by the end of 2016. I’d invite you to refresh your memory of this by visiting our Vision Document on our website.

You’ll see in our Vision Document that the mechanism driving this is our six Development Teams. These include: Mission; Second Site Worship; Faith Formation; Property and Facilities; Generosity; and Church Transformation.

These teams, composed of congregational leaders and staff, have been working hard over the last several months. They are in the process of developing initial plans for their respective areas, with May 31 being the submission date.

I thought you might like to get a “sneak peek” at three of the ideas that have been brought up. There will be additional work to be done before they may become a reality, but it’s exciting to see a little of what the future may hold.

A Focus on 20s: Folks in this age group are a missing demographic, not just in our church but in most churches. Concentrating on creative outreach, small group/mission opportunities, and alternative worship are being considered.

Outreach into Our Immediate Community: We’re looking at what needs within our geographical area may better be addressed. We’re also looking at what resources, including the skills and talents of people within our congregation, we may have to meet those needs.

A Center for Learning: Our Christian Leadership College has gone through a process of discernment as to how they may positively impact other congregations as well as our own. We’re also looking into supporting an annual speaker’s series.

There are many other things that are being considered, of course. Your prayers and your service are essential as new ministries will evolve.

While we’re looking toward the future, we’re continuing to strengthen and expand our current worship, faith formation, mission, and fellowship activities…but that’s for a future e-blast!

It’s an exciting time to be in ministry with you at Manchester UMC!

Peace,

Pastor Greg

The People Behind Worship

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:41:00 -0400

In my last e-blast, I mentioned the hard work put in by volunteers and staff in order to make the Faith In Action weekend so special.

This is a good exercise to do: when you’re at a church event, ask yourself what it took in order for that event to take place.

Take worship, for example.

In the span of that fifty-five or so minutes you’re in the chapel or sanctuary, do you know how many people were involved in making it happen?

I made a list of volunteers who are vital for worship to take place:
Altar Guild, Welcome Ministry (ushers, greeters, parking attendants, Welcome Center volunteers), acolytes, bulletin folders/stuffers, pew-cleanup people, singers, musicians, dramatists, lay readers, multi-media/audiovisual people, dancers, communion coordinators/servers, and nursery volunteers.

The problem with lists is that you always leave out someone, and if I did, I sincerely apologize. But it was worth the risk in order to remind you that so many people work long and hard to offer you worship that is warm, inviting, helpful, and perhaps at times life-changing. We are indebted to these faithful servants.

Of course, you can do this exercise as well with most any ministry or activity you encounter around here. For example, when you leave the sanctuary and go into Fellowship Hall, who enables there to be donuts, bagels, coffee, and other treats? Or for the Sunday School and small group opportunities? Or for youth ministry?

There are so VERY many volunteers behind the scenes enabling fellowship, education, and service activities, and we owe them much appreciation. So, if you happen to see someone come out from behind the scenery—like filling a coffee urn at 9:25 on a Sunday morning in Fellowship Hall—why not go up to the person, shake their hand, and share a heart-felt “Thanks for what you do around here!”

Peace,

Pastor Greg

This Church Does More Than Talk!

weckeith (Pastor Greg) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:22:00 -0400

I was talking with some folks in one of the sessions I was leading on the book, Same Kind of Different as Me. One of the persons said, “In another church I was at, they talked a lot about what they wanted to do, like a mission day. What I like about Manchester is that this church does more than talk!”

What a great testimony! It’s easy to say we want to do risk-taking mission, but it’s another thing to actually do it—and to do it in such a dramatic way as Faith In Action this past weekend.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it’s wrong to say that we didn’t worship, didn’t have church, yesterday. On the contrary, since worship is the gift we give God, what a great gift it is to go beyond the walls of this church and connect with people served by our four core mission agencies in the city. As sixteen school busses carried us off to meet and do hands-on ministry with some new, soon-to-be friends, I know God smiled.

Take a look at some pictures from this weekend’s extraordinary worship. As you can tell, God wasn’t the only one smiling.

I invite you to take a moment and consider the scope of what took place. There were 16 sites, with well over 900 folks who went forth in blue FIA shirts. All this is a bit overwhelming. Special thanks go to the Rev. Beth Elders, our Director of Outreach and Mission; the members of our Outreach and Mission Team; and the many volunteers who put in so many hours.

My hope is that what you did yesterday resulted in memories that will be special. I also hope it opened up new ideas about how you can continue putting your faith into action.

After all, we ARE a church that does more than talk!

Peace,

Pastor Greg

Living the Dream

weckeith (Pastor Greg) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:07:00 -0400

This is a phrase people use to describe how happy they are to be doing what they’re doing. Relaxing, playing, or working, “living the dream” means that it’s difficult for life to get any better for you.

This is a good way to look at what we’ll be doing in our Faith In Action weekend in just a few days.

God’s dream for our world, as embodied in Christ, is one of rich diversity for the human family. Under the lordship of Christ, we have all been given honored status around his banquet table.

When we go out this coming weekend, we’ll be affirming this in a concrete, visible way. Going to different locations, meeting different folks, working side by side in beautifying, fixing, building…that is truly a glimpse of what I believe God has called us to embody.

I hope you feel, along with me, that it is truly a unique privilege to be part of a church that enables this to happen. With our mission of “making a difference for Christ in the world,” and with members and staff committed to this mission, Manchester UMC is truly a special faith community.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so by clicking here. This will also give you an idea of the range of choices of activities you/your family can participate in.

May what we experience on Faith In Action weekend truly be a “dream come true.”

Looking forward to working beside you,

Pastor Greg

Not Taxing, But Celebrating

weckeith (Pastor Greg) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:18:00 -0400

Since this is the deadline for filing a 1040 that has a lot of numbers on it, I thought it’d be interesting to file with you a ministry form that has lots of numbers.

“Fruitfulness” in ministry can’t be measured solely by such data, of course. But it can help us look at trends, and what may be behind them.

Here are some statistics drawn from our 2012 year-end reports to the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church:

Inside the Walls:
Contributions received for Operating Budget
2011 - $2,651,000
2012 - $2,757,000

Church Membership
2011 - 3365
2012 - 3321

Average Church Attendance
2011 - 1334
2012 - 1440

Outside the Walls:
Amounts given directly to charitable causes
2011 - $97,488
2012 - $130,271

Number of persons sent out on other mission teams from our church
2011 – 1,943
2012 – 2,404

Number of persons served by community ministries for outreach, justice, and mercy
2011 – 7,871
2012 – 10,158

As you can see, there’s so much to celebrate!

Two numbers that stand out are attendance and membership.

One of the main reasons for our attendance increase is the addition of a Sunday evening youth/young adult-focused service led by Ryan Langeland.

One of the main reasons behind the drop in membership is the removal of 86 members through Charge Conference action; these are people, excluding homebound, for whom we don’t have contact information and/or who have not been active in the church for over two years.

Our focus is on loving Christ deeply, worshipping him passionately, and serving him boldly. As we express this by making a difference for Him, I think we can see how He is making a difference for us within the exciting faith community called Manchester UMC.

Peace

Pastor Greg