Ministry Moment October 15, 2017

(Christine LeBel is the Vice Chair of our Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC), and Eric Weber is the Chair.  They assisted with this ministry moment.)  

Today Christine/Eric and I want to talk a little about staff …

Let’s review …

The mission of the United Methodist Church is transformation … it is our very why … we exist so that we can help transform the world … ourselves, our neighborhood, our world …

Transformation of the world begins with the individual … (repeat that)

Our staff is a very important element of that transformation …

Let’s start with how our staff contributes to this transformation story  …

SPRC Rep:  We have a great staff.  They care for and about each other.  Truly, pain for one, is pain for all.  Joy for one, is joy for all. 

Very often, when we say “the church” our staff is the living church – the embodiment of you, of me, of all of us -- throughout the week and they prepare and provide us with many things, not the least of which is meaningful worship each Sunday.  

Further, our staff is, through their work, an outreach of discipleship from our congregation out to the larger community.  They do this day in and day out.

Shaw:  What you want us to understand about what we are trying to do with our staff?

SPRC Rep: 

For too many years, we have underappreciated our staff in terms of compensation.  The level of responsibility that they have is much greater than their compensation levels.   All of them work for more hours than we pay them, and we pay them less than market wages. 

The staff has more responsibility than their compensation would suggest. 

We have an excellent staff and we are trying to build financial bridges to improve their compensation. 

That bridge building is not complete, nor will it end on December 31, 2018.  We have some catching up to do here.  Across the board. 

Shaw:  Anything concluding thoughts?

SPRC Rep:  Yes, we need to support our staff with a competitive compensation program that helps support and expands their responsibilities plus recognizes their expertise. 

Many of our initiatives start with development by our staff.   Better support helps to move all of our initiatives forward….. The staff is over half of our budget and some of the ideas we have suggested here, and more not stated but hoped for, will require us to step up with our giving so that we can realize our goals ….

Shaw:  We could go on for quite a while here.  (Lift up the handout) … more details are here. 

But the fundamental question is “does the world need more or less of your staff’s contribution to a message of God’s free and unconditional grace?”  Thank you …