Some Closing Thoughts

This is one of two columns printed in this week's Good News, the newsletter at Grace, I am publishing it here for my readers who don't receive it...

In concluding my time here at Grace, I want to offer some thoughts and reflections for you to consider as you continue to move forward in mission and ministry. It is easy to offer thoughts on the way out the door. I get to offer these things and then make a quick exit. However, I offer them with the heartfelt hope that they will provide you insight as you plan for the future of Grace. In keeping with the mission that was shown to me when I first arrived here, I have broken them into three categories: ways to better invite, nurture and serve.

Invite – In order to better invite members of our community into a relationship with Jesus Christ, we must make room. We are already working on making physical room by making plans for a new facility on 624. However, physical room is only part of the equation. We need to think about other limitations and how to remedy them. In order to be ready to invite, consider the following:

Invest in technology – Churches tend to live a few years behind the curve when it comes to technology. I think this causes churches to miss out on the opportunity to be more faithful to God’s call and commission. Technology for technology’s sake is idolatrous, but computers, projectors, wireless connections, web portals and other new technologies can make us better stewards of the gifts and time of our staff and allow us to better connect with our congregation and our community. Faster computers and better software allow our staff and lay ministers to work more effectively and efficiently. Technology when used well in worship can connect a new generation to the gospel. Innovative use of the world wide web, email and even text messaging can connect us to each other and to our community.

Invest in staff – This means two things: investing in training and nurturing the staff we have and growing the staff to meet the needs to the future. Just like we can limit the number of people who worship with us when our sanctuary is too small, there is a physical limit to the number of new people we can invite into our midst when the support staff is too small. We need to constantly evaluate our staffing needs, provide for the nurture, support and growth of our current staff and plan to make additions in order to grow not when we grow.

Nurture – I think many established churches struggle with an understanding of what it means to be nurtured in the faith and who is to do the nurturing. First of all, nurturing involves more than just being taken care of in a time of need. It involves helping one to be open to the growth that the Holy Spirit offers through God’s sanctifying (or perfecting) grace. Second of all, nurturing is a function of the whole community. In order to better nurture each other, consider the following:

Take care of each other. Grace is truly a caring and loving community. As you continue to grow you will need to be more intentional and systematic about what you already do naturally. You will also need to be thoughtful about how your pastors help you to care for one another. Let me give you an example. Quite often, I receive a call from a member of the church letting me know that they heard someone is in the hospital and one of the pastors should go. That’s not bad, but here is something better: Every once in a while I receive a call from someone letting me know that they heard someone was in the hospital and they already went to see them and they just wanted to keep my updated.

Take small groups seriously. In order for us to nurture each other, we need to meet in groups smaller than our worship services. This idea of meeting in small groups in order to nurture, sustain, encourage, care for and hold each other accountable goes back to our spiritual founder, John Wesley. We have started a comprehensive small groups program at Grace but we have only just started. Small groups are central to the life of faith and it takes work to develop, maintain and promote them.

Commit to a plan of discipleship. During my tenure, I talked a lot about a map for discipleship. Some of you heard a lot about the “ocean diagram” which is a plan for better understanding the stages of spiritual and faith development. Whether or not you use the ocean diagram, stay committed to the idea that making disciples is not a one time thing but a life long journey. The church is responsible not just for making members but for leading people into the deep waters of true discipleship of Jesus Christ and service in his name.

Serve – In order to live out our call to be disciples and make disciples; in order to follow our commission to serve the least, last and the lost, we must be organized and intentional in our effort. In order to better follow our calling to serve God and each other, I offer the following thoughts:

Meet well. We did a lot of work to move away from long, unfocused, unproductive meetings that accomplished little, frustrated many and drove talented people away from doing the work of the church. We adopted guidelines for meetings that reminded us to start on time, end on time and have a plan for getting our work accomplished. We also began using an opening liturgy that helped us to root our meetings in prayer and in God’s Spirit. It is really easy to fall out of good habits. Don’t give this up. In my experience, better meetings have allowed us to be more faithful to our mission.

Set goals. It is really easy to get lost if you don’t know where you are going. Last year the Church Council adopted a number of church-wide goals that were developed by our church leadership. Big picture goals not only give us something to aspire to, they give us a way to evaluate our progress. Without them, we can’t even tell if we have succeeded or failed in what we were trying to do. I suggest that you take time before the end of the year to evaluate how you are doing and then set new goals for next year.

Plan. It is also easy to get lost of you don’t think about how you are going to get somewhere. Plan as much and as far ahead as you can. Otherwise, it is too easy to get to the end of another year and realize you never did what you set out to do.

Those are my thoughts. There are so many more floating around in my head, but it is time for transition. It is time for me to begin thinking about my responsibilities at University and it is time for you to start looking to Pastor Mark as he begins to add his insight, vision and leadership to that of Pastor John. I have faith that if you remain strong in your commitment to the Gospel and faithful in your call to follow Christ, God will bless you and the ministry of Grace United Methodist Church.

peace,

will