(These comments were made at the
start of worship this past Sunday. If you care about our Christian
community, and would like to know about some key issues facing us, I encourage
to read the letter to the end. Grace to each one! -Mark)
March 16, 2014
Dear Friends,
This morning, as we gather for
worship, I want to take a few minutes and speak with you as your pastor about
where we are as a congregation on several important projects, and I want to
tell you what may be ahead.
At the beginning of his very
brief letter that we know as the New Testament letter Philemon, Paul begins
with words of affection to the people he serves. He says:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and The Lord Jesus Christ.
When I remember you in my
prayers, I always thank God because I hear of your love for all the saints and
your faith towards The Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith
may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.
I indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the
hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
For this reason, though I am bold
enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to
you on the basis of love....
This morning, in these few
minutes, I am going to risk being bold. That means being direct with you.
And yet what I am doing is making an appeal to you "on the basis of
love."
First, you need to know that so
many of you are examples to me of what faith and love look like when they are
yoked together. I see your love for God getting expressed in acts of
mercy and with an attitude of grace, and it is a blessing to me and to the
world. I give thanks for you!
Second, our congregation has been
in the center of this community for nearly two hundred years. We have
been placed at a strategic intersection between a national university and the
center of the city. When Jesus talks about the fields being white with a
crop ready for harvest, Jesus could have been speaking about First UMC and The
Open Door. We are surrounded by spiritually hungry people and many of
them feel disconnected. They've seen religion done badly, and they are
hungry -I am convinced- for an authentic, Christ-centered, open
community that is all about serving others. So this is a blessed place.
Third, over the last 15-20 years
FUMCB has been on a plateau in all sorts of ways. That is, frankly, being
overly positive. Between 2004 and 2010 our congregation declined by more
than 120 persons in worship. That is more people than make up over 80% of all
United Methodist congregations. The number of new members received each
year has been far below the number of persons needed to even maintain our
current levels of outreach and ministry. For a variety of reasons, we
went through a decade where, even with the start of The Open Door outreach, we
stopped growing. We stopped reaching and serving new persons, the
congregation began to age, and several painful controversies tested the unity
of the congregation. Another decade or two like the last two decades will
mean FUMCB will shrink in size, vitality, and outreach. Recent trends
show a steady stream of new, younger families to the church, but that doesn't
change -by itself- the trends of the last two decades.
FCJ
Leaders of the church have been
aware that this blessed, wonderful, faithful congregation has had some
significant challenges that need to be faced. That is why they voted at a
Church Council meeting -which had been advertised and was open to the
congregation- to participate in the Fruitful Congregations Journey
(FCJ). This is a three-step journey towards congregational
revitalization. It is designed to help us refocus our vision, and make
some significant changes that will result in a church that is more focused,
more alive, more faithful, more loving, and has a greater impact on the
community and world. A team of more than 12 lay leaders has been reading,
praying, studying, and exploring what faithfulness, health, and vitality looks
like for the church.
You've heard about FCJ.
We've sent you emails about FCJ. You have been -or will be-
invited to sharing sessions about FCJ. On the 24th our Church
Council will vote on whether or not to step into the Second Phase or Assessment/Intervention
part of the FCJ adventure.
The reason why we have been in
the middle of the FCJ experience is because of the need for some kind of
profound refocusing and new life here at FUMCB. More of the same, in
every way, will not be good for this congregation and our ability to do what
God calls us to do.
You need to hear something: no
one from the Annual Conference -not the Bishop, not the District
Superintendent- told us that we "had" to participate in
FCJ. There are some in the church who are saying that FCJ is an attempt
by someone -they are using the word "they"- to "take
over" our church.
The truth is that FCJ is a
process voted on by your church leaders, after a time of prayer and discussion,
and it is an attempt to let God make the church fully alive. No one is
trying to take over anyone's church. (It is worth remembering that the
church doesn't belong to you, and it doesn't belong to the Church Council, and
it doesn't belong to the Lead Pastor -- the church belongs to Jesus
Christ. It is his body. It is to be and do what Jesus would be and
do!)
We're in the middle of this FCJ
journey of conversation, discovery, and prayers about what new life might look
like, not because someone is trying to "take over" the church, but
because your church leaders love the church and believe God wants God's church
to thrive and bless the world.
Property & Facilities
There is another major topic of
conversation in the hallways and in the parking lots around FUMCB, and that has
to do with building and property questions. There are more unfounded
rumors around these two issues than you can imagine.
For those of you new to FUMCB,
let me give a quick update about where we are with property and facilities.
Over 15 years ago the leaders and
people here made an inspired, God-fueled decision to remain in the heart of the
city and be a church with a ministry to the whole city. First UMC decided
not to run to the edge of the city but stay in the heart of the city.
Then, the congregation made a
major commitment to upgrade the facilities and that led to the building of the
east wing or Wesley Wing. It's the area where you'll find the Great Hall,
Church Office, and PDO/Daycare. It was a bold move that provided us with
many benefits, but we spent more money -double what standard guidelines
would suggest for a church our size- than we should have. We
continue, after all these years, to owe $1.3 million on that debt.
Finally, as we quickly review
recent history, more than seven years ago church leaders led the church in the
purchase of the large lot just south of our church building. The
Bloomington post office was once located there. The land was purchased,
some were told, for parking. Others were told the land would not become a
parking lot. So, whatever was said back then to different people is tough
to sort out, but the purchase of that land was inspired, and having that
property allows us some options moving forward.
Whatever we do with that
property, having adequate parking for this large, downtown congregation is
essential. Some would say we should sell the land for $3 or $4 or $5
million, pay off our debt, fix up the building, and call it a day. But to
sell all of our parking is to sell our future. To sell the entire lot and
not have adequate parking is to decide, in many ways, to abandon
downtown. A church of more than one thousand persons cannot remain viable
downtown without adequate parking.
Now here is where we are right
now.
In recent months our Building
Committee and some great lay leaders have helped us remove the old post office
building (which was crumbling and becoming a danger), prepare the lot for this
time of transition and decision making, and they have moved forward with the
long-delayed courtyard project. Our hope is to dedicate the courtyard
project with the labyrinth, peace garden and columbarium on the weekend of June
1st. This is a big deal! After a long delay we're keeping promises
made a decade ago.
A few weeks ago our Trustees
voted, in partnership with the Building Committee, to engage the services of an
architectural firm for the purpose of:
- studying
the structural and mechanical integrity of our historic building,
- identifying
essential deferred maintenance issues;
- and,
looking at possible improvements to the structure so that this facility
will be an asset to the next generation for its ministry and not a
liability.
If you have noticed, this
facility is in great need of attention. Two weeks ago I spent some time
with George Purnell, former pastor, and he told me that every year $50,000
would be included for the operating budget for major maintenance and every year
that amount was removed from the budget. We've done our best to
"patch" things along, but we have major issues that may be facing
us. We don't know what all they are or what they will cost, but we know
we have water issues in the basement, leaks in the chapel ceiling, tiles
missing from the sanctuary ceiling, wood that long ago lost its stain and
finish, carpet that is stained and wrinkled, a front entrance whose steps are
crumbling, mortar that is washing out from between the limestone with each snow
or rain, doors that are easy to open only if you are a weight lifter, offices
that are difficult to find from the street level, an absence of insulation in
the sanctuary, and on it goes.
Here is what you should know: I
do not have -no one does!- a plan for what is to be done with the
old post office lot or to the existing historic building. If someone
tells you they know what we are planning, I would like you to have them give me
a call and tell me - because I don't know!
Here is what I know:
We have a historic building that
appears to have some major deferred maintenance issues.
We have a historic building that
often gets in the way of our ministry rather than being an asset.
Not to address these building
issues is to leave a mess for the next generation.
We're discovering that having
church offices on the street level has made them more accessible to the people
we serve. And we're wondering if there might be a way of turning the old
office area into classrooms for adults and small groups. We don't know.
We're just wondering.
And we don't know what the
repairs or possible improvements in the main building might cost.
So the first thing we are going
to do is gather the best information we can.
Then, we are going to develop the
best plan we can. We will develop a facilities plan that won't just
address the emergencies but leave succeeding generations with a facility that
is in good shape, and that is ready to serve new generations for the next 25-50
years.
Finally, we will come to the
congregation. We'll share the plan. We'll test the plan.
We'll vote on the plan. And we'll see how you will support the plan
financially. If there is a gap between what our people will give to
repair and improve the building, we may decide we can't hold onto a $4 million
dollar piece of land while the building crumbles around our shoulders. So
we may need to use part of the land to help to pay for building repairs and
improvements. But right now we don't know.
High Trust Community
Now to the last issue.
We've talked about FCJ and the property issues.
The last subject I want to talk
with you about is the issue of trust.
For whatever reason there seems
to be a significant level of mistrust among us and between us. I don't
know where this comes from, but it is a like a low grade fever that saps the
strength of leaders and staff and congregants.
In recent weeks I proposed that
we would have a small team of lay leaders who would meet with me for prayer,
conversation, and to help make some operational decisions between meetings of
the Church Council. The consensus of the people in the room was that some
people at First UMC would regard that with suspicion. They would think
the Lead Pastor and key leaders were up to something, so they suggested we just
not even put it on the church calendar. A great lay member of our church
came to me and asked, "What does it say about us that a meeting of our
pastor with a group of lay leaders is seen as a threat or suspicious?"
We're all a part of creating a
culture of trust or building walls of mistrust. I'm sure there have been
times when I may have said something or done something that hasn't been
helpful, but the truth is that we are working hard to be as transparent as
possible. Every week I devote some time to writing a congregational email
that attempts to tell you what is happening. Every meeting of every
committee in the church is open -only personnel discussions take place
appropriately in closed sessions of the Staff Parish Relations Committee.
Too often people say they know
something when they don't. Too often people make assumptions that are far
wide of the mark. Too often people talk about someone rather than talking
with someone. Too often we are too quick to express what we want and too
slow to prayerfully ask, "What is God calling us to be and do?"
Too often people use words like "us" and "them."
This issue of mistrust has
surfaced during the work of our FCJ team, and I expect you will hear more about
it.
If you hear someone saying things
or acting in ways that would lower trust, I would encourage you to lovingly
challenge them. Let them know we are building a high trust community.
So I want to invite you to be a
part of a high trust community. I invite you to think the best of one another.
I invite you to pray for and encourage those who are working so hard to lead
this great church - and I am talking about our amazing team of lay leaders and
staff.
Mistrust is like the mortar that
washes out from the limestone with each rain. It weakens us. It
makes everything harder...more difficult.
God has given us a great
mission! I'm leaning into the future confident that God is with us, and
that God will provide what we need as we seek to be faithful to our mission of
making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
I make this appeal to you, as
Paul makes his appeal, in love.
If you have questions about any
of this, please don't hesitate to let me know. This statement will be
posted on our web site and we'll have copies printed and available in the
church.
I'd like to invite you pray with
me....
In Christ and for Christ,
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