Monday, September 30, 2013

Major Fund Raising Drive

There are things a local church pastor should not know about the congregation that she or he serves. Primary among those things, I believe,  is the level of financial contribution of individual participants in the life of the church.

Imagine receiving two calls for pastoral assistance and being aware that one family who is calling contributes tens of thousands of dollars every year to the life of the church, while the other call is made by a family who does not contribute financially. What does the pastor do? In order to avoid such possible dilemma, I have found it better to remain in the dark about individual and family levels of giving.

There are times and occasions, however, when the pastor is privy to financial information. Sometimes that can be a cause for celebration.

Yesterday was a special day around Shiloh Church. Not only did we celebrate the arrival of more than a thousand pumpkins in the church's annual Pumpkin Patch - after unloading them, of course, because who is going to celebrate before unloading thousands of pumpkins? It was also a day when the congregation was going to meet a challenge that was made at its September 15 congregational meeting. That challenge was for members and friends of Shiloh Church to bring additional financial gifts to the life of the congregation. A member said that she and her partner would bring an additional $1,000 check, and she challenged others to do likewise.

We heard from a few families, throughout the course of the following weeks, who were planning to make just such an additional gift. Some were the challenged $1,000. Some were $500. Many were less, but no less appreciated.

I want to tell you the story of one of those gifts.

They are twenty-somethings who have just purchased their first home together. Both he and she are employed full time. They are blessed and they know it. Things are tight, though. There is not an unending source of expendable income, having a new mortgage, ongoing educational expenses, a house to maintain and improve, a wedding to plan, careers to map out, and uncertain financial times.

Our expectation might be that this young couple might make a small additional contribution.

But no.

He wrote a thousand dollar check. He put in Sunday's offering plate, in addition to their normal contribution.

I am inspired by this young family's willingness to risk, to dare to contribute at such a challenging level. Surely, they believe in Shiloh Church. Surely they have invested themselves in the congregation's mission and ministry. They have demonstrated excellent leadership.

Sometimes, pastors get to tell fabulous financial stories. This is one of them. Thanks to all who dare financially, who risk, who take such bold steps. Upon your faith rests the present and the future of the Church.  

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

"Shiloh Insider" Facebook post

Many of the readers of The Shiloh Insider have noticed that there are no comments on the blog. There is a reason for that, actually, one that few would assume. The restriction on comments has nothing to do with disagreement or the caustic nature of some comments. It has nothing to do with topics of sincere discussion and/or argument. I appreciate such discourse.

On the contrary, the restriction of comment on The Shiloh Insider is the direct result of advertising bots that place, often inappropriate, advertisement, disguised as comment, on the blog. There have been ads from everything to erectile dysfunction and sexually oriented material to skin treatments and hemorrhoid ointments. Despite changing my username and password numerous times, these ads became so numerous and disruptive that removing them was becoming a daily tedium.

Therefore, I disabled the comment function of The Shiloh Insider.

Lately, however, several persons have mentioned to me the desire to discuss issues and comments made through The Shiloh Insider. While the title may suggest that the blog deals exclusively with information that is exclusive to Shiloh Church UCC, the content quite often deals with theological and cultural information that applies to wider Church life. My colleagues often read The Shiloh Insider.  In fact, the blog has readers in Sweden and Scotland, in Mexico and the Philippines, from around the country, and right here in Dayton. It is a public site that many in my UD classes read. Often, people want to comment on the issues and arguments raised.

I am therefore considering the creation of a Facebook page that would invite discussion of the topics raised in and through The Shiloh Insider. I believe that I can provide a weekly link from Facebook to The Shiloh Insider. Contributions to the blog would be available to potential readers through Facebook, as well as through the Shiloh UCC website, www.shiloh.org. I am posting the idea on the Shiloh Facebook page, attempting to determine if there is enough interest for me to go to the trouble of the weekly effort. If you are interested, look for the post on the Shiloh Facebook page, and let me know.

I look forward to the discussion.

Monday, September 16, 2013

It's About Money

In churches specifically, and religious/non-profit organizations in general, the love of money is often the root of all evil. Do not misunderstand, money is also a genuine blessing to churches and human service organizations. It depends, I suppose, on how the church or organization thinks of its money and upon what it does with what is contributed.

I worked with a congregation lately that was considering closing its doors. My first meeting with the Board was a simple fact-finding mission. Where are you in the congregation life-cycle? What ministries or outreach projects are important to you? What do you do in, to and for your community? What do you want? What are your plans for the future?

Worship, done their way, was important to them. Their social group in the congregation was their social group in general. Their building was in need of repair. Their organ was not working. They could not afford to pay for a pastor. They were exploring every possible option to keep them in their building, doing things their way...and, forgive me, for themselves. They could point to no outreach ministry to the community. They could identify no ministry beyond service to themselves. Nothing flowed from inside the building to its community or neighborhood.

Vision for the future meant only survival. It did not entail expanded ministry or retooling in any other direction than that accepted and embraced by the handful who still gathered. They did not want to lose "their church," nor compromise the traditions that had been established there.

Over time, my discussions with the congregation were beginning to make some progress. People were starting to envision a place of mission and ministry, where the church becomes a resource in and to its community. They were beginning to think and dream, beyond their own interests, to the foundations of the faith.

Abruptly, all discussion ended. There was no contact for several months. Finally, when I was able to corner the Board president, I was able to ascertain the cause of our broken communication. The congregation had received a large financial gift, in excess of $500,000. The leader told me that this would sustain them for roughly ten additional years, and that there was no need for them to do any of the things that I had been recommending to them.

The potential ministry of that community of faith may well die because of the money. It is possible that the church may use the funding to move into a ministry model, to develop meaningful mission and ministry to and with its neighborhood and community. I pray that it does. Given the way that this congregation thinks about money, as a means of survival, I suspect that it will not dare to risk its financial security in the chancy avenues of ministry and mission.

Money can do that. Or, better put, the ways that we think about money can do that. Money becomes a blessing when it is used for ministry and service, not when it is retained and protected for survival. Money is simply a means to mission and ministry. If a church fails to utilize it in this way, if it ceases to be a place of meaningful service to, with and for its community and neighborhood, then money becomes a curse. It is the death knell of ministry and mission. It is the death knell of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Every congregation, Shiloh included, needs to consider whether its money is a source of mission and ministry or if it is used simply for protection and survival. Is money a blessing or a curse?    

Monday, September 09, 2013

Every Person in Four-Way Call

I was thinking this week about last week's post in The Shiloh Insider. In that article, I explained the four-way call of clergy within the United Church of Christ. In the UCC, clergy are responsible for being in relationship with God, the local setting and calling body, the community in which one serves and the wider church. Our code of ethics makes clear that the call is to represent God's will in multiple arenas, at all times, as well as one is able.

What if that calling belonged to more of us than just the clergy class? What if it were understood as God's calling to each of us?

As the themes of the Revised Common Lectionary have highlighted over the past several weeks, those who would be Christ's disciples must take up the Cross and follow him. Apostleship involves self-sacrifice and sometimes radical notions of service to others. Those who follow Christ Jesus must intentionally engage in works of self-sacrificial service, carried out for the sake of those who are served, and for the betterment of the community at-large. From that ministry we cannot turn back. We cannot escape it, if we are to be faithful followers.

Therefore, the four-way call, that previously belonged exclusively to clergy, is a helpful way to think about the ministry and calling of every person. Each of us is responsible to represent God's will in faithful relationship to God. This is the prime directive. Every person is accountable for representing the grace of God in Christ. Each is a mechanism of grace and kindness and mercy. Each is a vehicle of God's love and forgiveness.

Each is called to represent God in the local setting, in those arenas that are closest to us, most familiar. Each represents God in family and friendships, in how we work for justice and peace in our towns and cities, how we represent God in our most intimate relationships. Each is responsible for assisting the local setting be a clearer expression of God's will. As each person does so, we work together to shape community. God's will expands form the most personal and intimate relationships to the social arena. Each person in accountable for expressing God's will in the social, cultural arena. As a natural expansion of the personal, intimate setting, our social obligations occur organically. As we live, personally, in relationship with God, we can live in personal relationship with others, with our communities and with the wider population. We are called to represent God's will regionally, nationally and globally. There can be no disconnect between expression of God's will on any level. (Disconnect is hypocrisy in the eyes of the world, after all.)

Each of us, lay and clergy, is called to represent God's will in personal, community and global expressions of faithfulness. Each is called to embody grace and acceptance, generosity and kindness, love and compassion.

At Shiloh, we attempt at all times to equip persons for fulfilling the ministry to which each is called, in relationship with God's will, with those who are closest to us, in our communities and in the wider, regional and global communities. To this end, God empowers us with God's own Spirit, equipping us with everything that we need to bring God's kingdom on Earth. Join us, as we each work out our four-way call.  

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Four-Way Call

I serve the wider church, and the community, in a number of ways. Sometimes, it seems that I serve the wider church and the community as much as I serve the local church to which I am called as Senior Pastor. This situation can occasionally become a matter of concern for persons who do not understand the four-way call of clergy.

As part of the clergy call, there are four areas of responsibility for which clergy are accountable. The first arena of call is to the Word and Will of God. Clergy persons are asked to exercise great care to ensure that what they say and do is reflective of God's love and grace. That Word and Will call clergy to act in ways that sometimes fail to reflect other values or other considerations. Clergy are accountable for faithfulness to the Word and Will of God. This call takes considerable time and energy and includes prayer, study, spiritual discipline and meditation.

The second arena of clergy call is the community in which one serves, as part of the global community. Clergy are responsible for representing Christ in, to and for the community in which one is located. But clergy are responsible for seeing local community as part of the global family of God (see arena #1). To be an active and vital part of the community, clergy are called upon to represent Christ, not so much as examples to be followed or honored, but in initiatives and life-styles that reflect God's love and grace. Once again, this takes considerable time and energy.

Thirdly, clergy are called to accountability to the local church in which one pastors. Clergy persons are responsible for ensuring that the local church represents God's love and grace in the community and the world. Clergy must see the local church as an expression of and embodiment of God's grace within and for the community (applying God's will within specific communities). Clergy are accountable for local church training, education, preparation and action that faithfully expresses God's word and will in the community and world. Of course, this requires a considerable amount of time and energy.

The fourth arena of clergy call is the wider church. Clergy persons are accountable for the ministry of the church beyond local settings. Clergy must be actively involved in wider expressions of God's grace and love. Sometimes, and with some persons, personal skill sets are needed by the wider church in different ways and to different levels. Lately, I have been called upon to be very active in the wider church. I serve the Association in a host of different capacities. I serve even wider, as a participant in the conversations about Conference restructure and as a delegate to The United Church of Christ General Synod. These responsibilities take tremendous amounts of time and energy.

Clergy are called to all four arenas of accountability, not just one of them. This happens to be a period when my skill set is being used in the wider church. I believe that God has called me, equipped me and enabled me to fulfill the richness of the ministry to which I am called, in all four arenas. I hope that the local church can demonstrate patience and understanding in a period when my gifts are called upon in the wider church. I am not ignoring or abandoning you, as someone claimed to the head of Shiloh's Personnel Committee. I am not padding a resume. I am not thinking of myself. I am being faithful to the four-way call to which I am called.