Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A Message from Our Church Council Chairperson/Lay Leader - Lancaster First UMC


[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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