[Randy Williams, the chairperson of our Church Council & Lay Leader shared these remarks at our December, 2013 Church Council meeting.]
This month ends 3 wonderful years of serving as chairman of
this church council. It has been a
blessing and an honor. But more
importantly is to understand where we are and where we need to go.
First, we need to continue to reflect on our past, not in
a prideful manner as if to gloat, but strictly to avoid repeating the errors of
the past. When I reflect on the past, 3
important issues come to mind:
1. We must continue to strive to have leadership
which is not dependent on the pastorate.
We have wonderful pastors in this congregation. Robert and Cheryl have led us with great
theological wisdom as well as working by example. But if they were not here tomorrow, this
United Methodist community should continue on in the most seamless way
possible. We got away from this goal
several years ago and I feel confident we are back in the right direction and,
into the foreseeable future, we will not stumble into this pitfall again.
2. We must effectively monitor our activities. The first area to come to mind is with our
church finances, where we now have an active audit committee performing due
diligence to ensure we protect the finances which our congregation cheerfully
gives but also to have a known check and balance system which may keep an
otherwise honest employee from being tempted when faced with a financial
difficulty. This also applies to the
Staff Parish Relations Committee which is a very active committee and very
concerned with the effective use of staff to perform function vs. the use of
the laity. Sometimes, hiring staff to
perform necessary functions has taken opportunities away from the lay members
of our congregation to develop and grow in their faith and dedication to First
United Methodist. We have seen the same
with our Permanent Endowment Committee which now closely monitors our funds,
pays close attention to the investment vehicles being used, and, in a very
dedicated fashion, sees that the earnings and principal are applied strictly in
the manner prescribed by the giver.
3. Finally, we must live within our means. When the financial conditions in our country
produced a severe recession, if not a depression in Lancaster, and throughout
the world, we had to make serious, and many times painful, decisions on
staffing, materials, and ministries. We
had for several years relied on our earnings to overspend our annual
givings. This worked when the endowment
was returning 10% or more earnings. But when we had an actual loss in the value
of our endowment, we encountered a massive financial roadblock. This should never have been the case. We had to reduce staff, cut the pay of the
remaining staff, and shrink some ministries.
We must live within the constraints of the ministries our givings will
support. Some have blamed our financial
hardship on a theft problem, but it was really a result of poor
stewardship. The Crossroads project is
another example of not living within our means.
We built a wonderful facility to minister to our congregation and the Fairfield
County community on West Fair Avenue. We
should be rightfully proud. However,
with pledges for the first 3 years of under $1,000,000, we probably overbuilt a
$4,000,000 project. This has put a
severe strain on our congregation during a period of national financial
difficulty. I would anticipate, we
should have planned resources of commitments and endowed funds at near the 50% level if we ever have another
significant project. Maybe we should
have built in phases, maybe we should have had the 3 year campaign completed
before commencing construction, maybe, maybe, maybe. However, this community of faith has come
through and stood by our commitment and we should completely eliminate, or be
close, within the next 30 months.
3 weeks ago we celebrated “Christ the King” Sunday, the
culmination of our Christian year. Now
we are 3 Sundays into Advent, a time of hope, of waiting, of preparation. We sing familiar carols and try to keep our
holiday attention in the right direction.
But just like we faithfully look forward to the new year of leadership
in the laity of this church , we look expectantly to a continuing new
experience in our church life.
We may be
coming off of a committee which has been challenging but rewarding. We may be making new commitments to work with
a study group. We may want to reach out
to explore what service projects may enrich our faith while serving our fellow
men and women in Lancaster, our community, and the world. Maybe it is a commitment outside our First
United Methodist fellowship. We may be
contemplating a new work experience and trying to approaching it not only from
a financial perspective but also with consideration for job satisfaction and
freedom to support our families. Maybe
we are thinking of reaching out in a fraternal or civic organization to assume
leadership where we extend our faith in service to the organization’s members
or in projects in our community. Maybe
you have political aspirations and want to run for city council, township
trustee, or state representative.
However, the one constant which we all need to remember is where the
Christ Child belongs in this process. He
even came to earth in the form of a baby to teach us a new way and became a
living sacrifice for our human shortcomings. He brought a new law to the Earth, that we
should love one another, even as he loves us, that we should love one
another. He also taught us he would send
the advocate to us, that Holy Spirit which came to the multitudes on Pentecost
and is there for each one of us if we but take the first step and accept Jesus
as our Lord and Savior. Our Heavenly
Father provided a vehicle to reach out and ask for direction when making
important decisions.
It is called
PRAYER!!! This should always be asking
for what you want and then listening for what we need and asking for where we
want to go and listening for where God needs us to go. Do you hear that, God will put us where we
need to be if we will but listen.
Listening is the most forgotten part of prayer sometimes. We ask for help, health, healing,
direction, blessing, etc. but then we
fail to listen for God’s response. It
will come in God’s time, not when we want it but when we need it. So here we are in the heart of Advent, that
time of hope, anticipation, quiet waiting.
Let us all spend time praying our requests to God but also taking time
to listen daily for His response.
Almighty Father,
To you is all the praise, glory, and honor. We ask that you continue to shine your
blessing upon this congregation and that we continue as a people of Yours to
recognize that You are the source of all our success, all our joy, all our
possessions. As we approach the day
commemorating the birth of Jesus, may we each renew our commitment to rejoice
in that little baby who came to Earth to take all our sins and burdens so we
may have life and life abundantly. And
now we each have some personal prayers which we need to speak this day and we
ask that you hear each of our thoughts. Amen.
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