We ran out of time for a number of questions asked in worship
on April 15. Here is the next installment on responses to those questions.
You have been here almost 5 years. How much have we
changed? What still surprises you about us?
As of today, June 21, I have been the pastor and teacher of
FCCLG for 4 years, 2 months, and 2 weeks!
I jumped in with both feet running during the busiest week of the
Christian year: my first Sunday was Palm
Sunday, April 7, 2014.
I came with a
specific call to lead the congregation into being a 21st Century
church by following through with the Alban Plan the congregation had adopted in
the previous pastorate before I arrived. The plan involved a major change in the
structure of the congregation’s leadership, increased lay leadership in each ministry area of the congregation, expanding the financial
participation of the membership and financial transparency by the leadership,
and expanding our non-member use of our building and space on both an
occasional and exclusive use basis. This has been the planning basis for most
of what I’ve been doing.
All of these changes are Cultural changes. Cultural changes in any group generally take
at least 10 years to actuate. So we have some way to go yet.
We have
made significant progress. We have filled
the building with organizations sharing space.
We have changed software and reporting systems so that information is
available in understandable and comprehensive formats; we need to find methods
to regularly get this information into the hands of members, however. We have a significant number of new donors,
but we need to increase the number of members who give -- as well as look for
other sources of income. We have many
new volunteers in our ministries, but are challenged to “fill the slots” on our
ministry teams and leadership committees.
And while we’ve learned that we can’t depend upon paid staff to do as
much as it did 10 years ago (when there were many more paid staff!), volunteers
are not always forthcoming to do the work formerly done by staff.
The culture of the congregation IS changing! We are making progress in each of these
areas.
I believe the culture is also changing in how we view the
role of our faith in our everyday lives.
I am hearing people talk about their struggles to live faith-based lives
in a world that often seems to lean toward injustice and oppression. I think we are more aware of our privilege
and our prejudices and are trying to engage in ways to work for equality and
compassion. I hope that we are moving
more toward being the church than “going to church.”
After over 30 years in ministry, I have found ministry with
and beside each of you to be more engaging, challenging, joyful, and rewarding
than any of the congregations I’ve served.
I believe that I have found a home in your our church home.
Have a question about faith, the Bible, the Church, our
congregation? Submit it here and look for a
response in a future Tidings.
