Dear Partners in Ministry,
PLYMOUTH ROCK...or is it Plimoth Rock??
As part of our vacation this year, Linda and I decided to do some exploring on Cape Cod...we have often traveled there to preach or for meetings, but never taken the time to catch up on some of the history. Out near the tip of the Cape, not far from Provincetown we walked the dunes of the awesome National Seashore and imagined the Pilgrims finally landing there in November 1620, after their grueling voyage. This was not a "Life is a Beach," “break-out-the-flip-flops" moment. Winter and very uncertain days were ahead. They did not stay there long, but forged on to the mainland, supposedly stepped out onto a rock, and established Plimoth Plantation.....and the rest is history.
So much has changed...even the spelling of Plimoth....or is it Plymouth? The rock (which broke when they tried to preserve it by moving it to a museum) can now be easily missed, except for a grandiose Victorian/Greco/Roman pavilion which was constructed over it to protect what is almost nothing. Would the Pilgrims even recognize the place....or Provincetown....or the malls, or trinket shops, or summer traffic jams?
And yet, the faith that propelled and sustained them through the sacrifices and thanksgivings is the same Gospel Good News that is proclaimed and lived in more than a dozen United Methodist congregations sprinkled from Plymouth to Provincetown (Linda and I drove by many of them....just to make sure they were still there!) They are alive with the "old, old story of Jesus and His love," but in the context of a new day. On Father's Day I was blessed to preach at the West Falmouth Church which is bustling with ministries to its community and growing in strength and new people. These are not "my father's" Methodist churches (He did drive Oldsmobiles.). Some of the congregations are holding summer services outside....some on the beach (reaching the new weekend "pilgrims" with their beach chairs and bikinis). Some are planning ways on different days of the week to befriend and minister to the "service workers," many of whom are from other countries and/or cultures....different kind of pilgrims.
In the wonderful Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich (make sure you see the rhododendrons blooming...I'm sounding like a travel guide now, sorry) there is a portrait of an unnamed man from around 1830. The artist prominently displays the fact that he is reading the "Zion's Herald" newspaper, the Methodist newspaper which started publishing in Boston in 1823....while the Congregationalists were still the established state church in Massachusetts (till 1833) and antagonistic to the Methodists! Just recently "Zion's Herald" changed its name, but continues its great tradition as the "Progressive Christian" magazine. Things change, but we are called to continue to "publish glad tidings...of peace...Jesus, redemption and release" (see hymn #573, "O Zion, Haste"). Many of our churches are now doing it by email...to the whole community. Or pastors are sending daily devotional blogs out.
The context and times change. Like the Plymouth Rock pavilion, are our churches just grandiose structures protecting almost nothing....but a distant memory. Or are we new "pilgrims" of the faith, ready to risk and venture out? How are the ways, in this day, that we will share the Good News of "peace...Jesus, redemption and release?" No matter how you spell it, are people experiencing the love and power of Christ for the living of these days, as they did in 1830, and 1620, and the days when Jesus walked this earth? May it be so in your life and our ministry together.
EVERY DAY 100'S OF YOUTH ARE BEING MINISTERED TO BY YOUR CONGREGATION
This summer there are hundreds of young people in our New England Conference camping program nearly every day....because of the mission shares YOUR congregation contributes. These dollars (along with the prayers, young people, and adult volunteers) that come from our churches to support our five camps and retreat center make a huge difference in the lives and future of youth. And if you've been keeping up with the news, you know that youth are facing great challenges these days...I'm glad I can be part of helping youth through our camping ministries....it made a big difference in my own life and future. On July 16th I will join with many others to celebrate Camp Wanakee's fiftieth anniversary...1,000's of lives touched!
THANK YOU for your faithfulness in sending your mission share dollars in.....even during the summer. They are needed....and doing great work for Christ.
HOW ARE YOU "FALL-ING"?
I know...I don't want to think about fall yet, either. But here are a few things worth thinking about.
1. 9/11/11 will be the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. People's consciousness will be raised again.
How will your church respond?
a. Have the church open all day long for prayer, counseling, maybe a special community service (9/11 will be a Sunday)
b. Offer a study on peacemaking in the terrors of this world (in nations, in the neighborhood, in the family, with "enemies" of any kind). Maybe offer it not just at the church, but in homes, or at community centers.
c. Start an inter-faith dialogue group with Muslims, Jews, and other Christians or faith communities.
d. Do a sermon series on "How do we find security?"
2. Do a Community Leaders Luncheon
Some of you may remember that I have modeled this "Leaders Luncheon" format (which I used when I was a pastor) during my District Days on all of the Districts at least once. Simply invite key leaders of your community (mayor, chief of police/fire, leaders of service agencies, the business community, neighborhood groups, educational institutions, Superintendent of Schools, other pastors, etc.) to a lunch (noon ‘til 1:30 pm) to share a) what are the good things happening in our community, b) what are the major challenges we are facing, and c) how can the churches help as we all team together better. My experience is that the church is affirmed for "setting the table" for such a conversation, many of the "players" have never really talked to each other about collaboration (or may not even know each other), and issues quickly surface where everyone sees the benefits of working together. One of our churches recently initiated doing this, and the leaders are now meeting monthly to work on particular problems together. The church provides the lunch, nametags, etc. (we should be good at that). The pastor and lay leadership welcome the guests...offer grace for the meal and community...and simply ask the questions to get discussion started (people will jump right in)...and take notes to send out to all participants...and at the end of the time (be faithful to the 1:30 close) ask if the group, or some sub-set of the group, wants to meet again to continue working on one or more of the issues raised. In many communities this has been a great service to the communities, other institutions, and the church's own awareness of how it can be a better partner in addressing community needs.
3. Follow up, follow up after Vacation Bible School
If your church does VBS (and I hope it does) be sure to collect the names and contact information of the children. In September invite them back for a Saturday VBS "reunion" and Back to School event. Also invite them to your Sunday School or weekly after-school program....maybe using the VBS themes in that programming. Then each month have another "reunion" Saturday planned around the holidays or special events in your community. Don't try to "steal" other churches' kids who have come to your VBS, but there will be many who are not really active in any congregation.....offer them the gift of your community of caring and Christ!
4. Send out a mailer, or visit in your neighborhood to let folk know your church is alive and well with special programs (or a special sermon series...or new singles group....or cancer support group...or mission team helping tornado victims in MA on such and such a weekend...or you need volunteers for your food bank...or you're doing the Alpha or Genesis study group on basic Christian beliefs...or a Friday night youth group...or a new Saturday contemporary worship service...use your creative imagination....or what you've heard about people's needs in your neighborhood visits..) Sending out third class mailers to your area is relatively easy (have a "pastoral postal party") and inexpensive. New people have moved into your area and may be looking for a church home. Or non-churched people may be feeling the need to "turn over a new leaf" in life as the fall begins. Plan far enough ahead to put information about Advent and Christmas programs, sermons, and services in the mailer....or better yet....plan a follow up mailer in mid-November. As always, the best invitation is a personal one, one person to another. So have mailers available so that in September those at worship can take some with them to give to their friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Get the word out.
5. Plan a planning process for your congregation this fall. As a young pastor I remember reading, "the organization that does not plan for the future is not likely to have one!" We started doing five year plans....and then used them in every meeting to guide decision making. We started with the whole congregation involved in an intensive month of prayer focused on God's will for the future of our church. Then we had a weekend where Saturday morning was focused on listening to community leaders (see #2), and invited non-church people under-represented in our congregation (i.e. folks who were single, poor, single parents, of different racial/ethnicity, homeless, "yuppies", etc.)...it was always a great listening-learning experience. They were invited to stay for lunch. In the afternoon members of the congregation would do a process of brain-storming and priority setting, interwoven with prayer, prayer, prayer, to begin to shape a five year plan. A representative team would work to draft a summary of that day for "offering" to God and the rest of the congregation in Sunday morning worship. Small groups in worship, and following worship would prayerfully give feedback and additional ideas....ending with a Sunday lunch together for the whole congregation where we commissioned a team to further perfect what had been done that weekend....including looking at financial and "realism" factors for a next five year plan. Within the next few weeks a draft proposal would be brought to the church council, perfected, and then presented to the whole congregation through various means, and eventually at a "church conference," with the DS presiding, for vote. Then each year, the primary agenda for the church (or charge) conference was to see how the plan was going, and where God was leading us next in the plan.
There are different "plans for planning" but I offer this out of my own experience to illustrate how relatively simple an effective plan process can be, and how helpful it becomes as God guides us in our ministries. A one sheet summary of the plan was at every church meeting we held so it could be referred to easily.....sometimes it was printed on the back of that meetings agenda if we had one in print.. Best practices these days suggest doing a "rolling five year plan" based on the concept of "strategic direction." But however you do it.....this fall would be a great time to get started.
MAY GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU AS WE SERVE CHRIST AS PARTNERS IN THIS AMAZING MINISTRY THROUGH THIS SUMMER!
Grace and Peace,
Pete
