Supporting the Connectional Church

Supporting the Connectional Church: Why, Why Not & Because

Reverend Doctor C. Dennis Shaw, Retired Elder in the Mountain Sky Conference and a member of the Conference Council on Finance and Administration

This is a first in a series of thought pieces addressing elements of why and towards what end we are asked to support the United Methodist church beyond the local church.

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A frequent question in discussions of how we support the United Methodist Church beyond the local church is: “what does our church get back for paying our Mission Shares and Apportionment?”

I hear in the “what does our church get back” question, a “why” question. Help us understand “why” we support the Conference and levels beyond? Illustration: a university philosophy class had a one-word final exam: Why? A passing answer was “why not” but excellence was recognized when the answer was “Because.”

My answer to the “why” question is “because”, but I offer you more than one word.

Our “because” is we United Methodists are a connectional people. Connection is defined by the United Methodist Church as: “The principle, basic to The United Methodist Church, that all leaders and congregations are connected in a network of loyalties and commitments that support, yet supersede, local concerns.[1]” [Note:  footnotes do not automatically move you to the reference.  You will need to scroll down.  Sorry.]

Why do we support activities beyond the local church? “Because” it is who we are. We are a network, and within this network, we show loyalties and commitments to other United Methodist churches and other expressions of Methodism in other countries. Interestingly, this principle acknowledges that it both supports local concerns, but at times, supersede those same local concerns. I will return to this in another article, but not here.

As I read that UM definition of “connection” echoes of Jesus speaking of himself from John 15 as the true vine and how we are to remain in him merges in my head with Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 reminding us we are part of the body of Christ. If we remain in Christ and acknowledge we are part of the body of Christ, then the logic of connectedness through our denominational network suggests to me that our connectional understanding is grounded biblically. I will return to a biblical grounding in each article in this series.

Therefore, my “because” is because it is who we are: a connectional people, with a scriptural emphasis, and this principle was true in our creation story.

Duke theologian Laceye Warner writes: “The … heritage of Wesleyan, Methodists, and Evangelical United Brethren … emerged from a missional imperative ... This is distinctive since other denominational traditions often trace their roots to disagreements regarding confessional or doctrinal matters.”[2] Because it is who we are. It is a principle within the “method” that makes us “Methodists.”

I am mindful that “why not” in my philosophy illustration gets a passing grade and “why not” must be dealt with.

“Why not” and trust, most often the lack of trust, are related. Lack of trust rarely appears explicitly named in the unwillingness to share conversation. However, trust is in short supply across our nation and within our church. Laceye Warner, quoted earlier, observes that trust is presumed present in our overall connection, but “when trust is low, this becomes a weakness since there are few, if any clear structures for accountability that almost maintain the connection.”[3] I agree and expand that it is my take that what we don’t understand and when trust is not present there is an assumption of waste and lack of need. As I mentioned earlier, it is my plan that this piece will establish a baseline for discussion, but I will follow it up with other pieces addressing more specifically what the local church gets back. I believe it is considerable.

Our Book of Discipline places great emphasis missionally on both the local church and the Conference. The local church is “the basic unit in the connectional system” while at the same time, the Conference is understood as “the fundamental body.” Our mission statement reminds us that “Local churches and extension ministries of the Church provide the most significant arenas through which disciple-making occurs.”[4]

Disciple-making takes place at the local church (and extension ministries) but the equipping for that action is facilitated through development and deployment of leaders by the Conference. I believe the missional imperative for the Conference is leadership development and deployment and discuss it a little here.  My next article will focus on this more specifically. 

Fundamentally, the Wesleyan movement has understood sharing as a vital part of who we are. A favorite image of mine is a comparison of the Sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea. Both are nurtured by inflows of water from the River Jordan. But the Sea of Galilee releases what is received and gives back. The Dead Sea is not capable of this release, and the water that flows in, stays, to become brackish and filled with minerals. The Sea of Galilee teems with life, sustaining villages around its shores. The Dead Sea is just that: dead.

The Sea of Galilee is compelled to share, it is part of what it is. The Dead Sea is compelled to hoard, it is part of what it is. Part of who we are as Methodists, people who are part of a connection, says we are a people “connected in a network of loyalties and commitments that support, yet supersede, local concerns.” Our support is a both/and – both local and global. There are places around our world where the connection teems with life, sustaining others around its shore.

Again, I plan for this article to be an intellectual grounding in “why” and will unpack in a series to follow more specifically what is it the local church gets back from Mission Shares and Apportionments. Again, I think considerable.

References (and all will be linked to their URL):

Barbara Carroll -- Minnesota Annual Conference – “What Does My Church Get Back from Apportionments”

Dennis Shaw – Mountain Sky Conference – “Defining our Mission Around Leadership Development”

Erik Alsgaard -- Baltimore-Washington Conference – “Connection makes the UMC Work”

Laceye Warner -- UM-Insight “Sent in Love”

Laura Rainwater -- “What does my church ‘get back’ from our apportionments”

North Carolina Annual Conference (and adapted from Minnesota article) – “Faith and Money: What do churches get from paying apportionment?”

The 2016 Book of Discipline

This article as a PDF on Mountain Sky Website.   

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[1] Source: Sharing God's Gifts Glossary of United Methodist Terms. And I plan in a future piece to discuss a little about “supersede.”  My take on that is that there are times the greater good is superior to the local church, but for now, let’s not dwell on this. 

[2] UM-Insight by Laceye Warner

[3] Quoted in a Baltimore-Washington Conference News article from May-June 2017. Link is HERE.

[4]¶ 120. The Mission—The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Local churches and extension ministries of the Church provide the most significant arenas through which disciple-making occurs. United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2016.

Update on Stewardship: November 1, 2018

We want to give you a cautiously optimistic report on our 2019 Stewardship Campaign, at least as it relates to “treasure.” 

	For 2017	For 2018	2019 as of Now	2019 Probable
Pledged	$302,292	$310,327	$325,042	$355,000
Number Pledging in terms of Treasure.	101	95	96	108

The table above shows where we are at 8:00 AM, November 1, 2018.

We are nearly $15,000 increased in our pledges for 2019 over 2018.  The pledge total for 2019 is nearly $23,000 over 2017. 

We have at this time one more pledge for 2019 than for 2018. 

While that table is good news, we think we have more good news on this.  There are sixteen families or individuals who are now worshipping here who in 2018 pledged nearly $40,000 towards Hilltop.  We are contacting them this week in the first phase of our post-Commitment Sunday work to ask if they plan to step up again for 2019.  We are cautiously optimistic that most of them will say “yes.”  If twelve of them step up even at 2018 levels, the last column in yellow is where we expect to be.  We are cautiously believing that three 2019 dollars will emerge for every four 2018 set of dollars.  Given the ‘Culture of Growth’ we saw start with pledges and non-pledge families and individuals, we think that is conservative.  Said another way:  we do not think that the probable pledged or pledge count is unrealistic. 

We see this growth as part of the culture we are hoping to sustain and nurture:  A Culture of Growth. 

Our potential growth in terms of time and talent is not as positive.  We have eight families/individuals who want more information on how to grow in terms in discipleship and eight (some the same, some different) who want to explore serving.  We still have work to do here. 

Returning to treasure and Growth, we have right at 230+ families or individuals who have worshipped at Hilltop in 2018 three times or more.  We have pruned this list to remove those who are seasonal or having zip codes that are not in our region/area.  Adding those who pledged in 2018/2019 with those who supported the church financially in 2018, we get 170 or so families or individuals. 

First, there is no entrance fee or minimum expectation of support in terms of time, talent or treasure.  For years, the first word of Hilltop’s self identity was “belong.”  Again, there are no dues or entrance fee to belong to the church, only an inquiring heart.  If in doubt, please read and re-read until the meaning is understood unequivocally. 

That said, we continue to pray that as part of “belonging”, a family or an individual will want to get started with supporting that which they belong to. 

We have made some suggestions over the course of this campaign around levels of weekly sharing of our treasure.  Here is a modest proposal:  treat $20/week as a “full share” in Hilltop’s financial life; treat $10/week as a “half share” and $5/week as a “quarter share.”  Multiple families are investing in double digit shares annually.  Where are you?  Why?  The invitation here is to get started with a plan ($5/week) and then back that up with a transaction at your bank that realizes that plan.  In 2020, grow it to $10/week.  In 2021, grow it to $20/week.  Using this logic, Marilyn and I supported Hilltop in 2018 with a little short of 30 shares.  Others have done far more. 

We invite all to get started, on a culture of growth:  time, talent, and treasure. 

Selah,

Pastor Dennis and Dr. Roy Trawick

Growing in Love

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 New International Version

We love [God] because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 New International Version

The search for meaning in my life ultimately brought me to the Church.  That quest for meaning presented me, in love, with a life defined by the life of Christ, a Christian life, shaped by the Word of God and the ongoing presence of God in my life.  A life initiated in love but further defined by the need for constant growth. 

A Christian life in a state of growth consists of at least two further searches, if not more:  Acknowledging that God searching for us, we are searching for God.  Those two searches are defined and driven by love.  In the scripture above, we understand God loves the world and we love God because God first loved us.  That affirmation of love is meant to be meaningful and transforming.  Most of our lives have been transformed by love:  think about it, where would you be without love?

The love we experience is not static or stationary.  It is a constantly evolving and at its best, constantly growing, force.  It grows deeper through trust and mutual respect, tenderness and care, growing.  I confess love has transformed me, and I suspect you as well.  Love leads to growth. 

I said this past May that “at the heart of God is to be in relationship.”  That day it was the relationship of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Today, let’s reflect on loving relationship within the Body. 

Our new Vision Statement makes relationship core by naming it – Hilltop and then addressing how we are in community:  Hilltop – An inclusive community of hospitality, healing, help, and hope, leading hearts to Christ.  Our vision is intended to be understood as a statement of being, who we are.  We provide hospitality and help, and God provides the healing and hope. 

In the First Century, long before we had denominations and set aside buildings for worship, the Christian search for meaning thrived on relationship.  We lose our way when we forget that.  People are the church:  we sing a hymn called “I am the Church.”  Too often we get focused on denominations or buildings to define the church, and that is the wrong focus.  At our best, we are a restless, searching, people who are, in humility, leading other hearts to Christ. 

We call the Church the very Body of Christ.  The Church, at its best, is focused on helping us be Christians that are constantly in a state of communicating, receiving, and giving.  We are, at our best:

·        Communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ to a cynical world, 

·       Receiving nurture, direction and hope regularly in order to be forces of transformation in that cynical world, and

·        Proudly, joyously, giving back to God our Time, our Talent, and our Treasure. 

Let’s spend some time this Season of Stewardship, a Season of Prayerful Growth, with great intentionality looking at where we are, or perhaps are not, growing.  Are we growing in the depth of our relationship and if not, what are we doing about it?  Growing in our minds, growing in our service, growing in the joyful sharing back to God what has been given to us in the first place.

Be alert, be attentive, be awake to the small still voice of God calling to you about how you might grow.  In order to truly understand that call, you may have to first be open to your potential for growth leading to joyful response. 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Diligence, Vision, and Remembrance

Be Diligent

1 Timothy 4:13-16, New International Version -- Until I come [that is Saint Paul], devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.  Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Despite summer not officially being until June 21st, many have started attending to summertime events. Marilyn and I took advantage of the beautiful weather on Memorial Day to visit the Golden Spike Historical Site, the Bear River Bird Refuge and the Spiral Jetty. It was a full day we thoroughly enjoyed. We have not traveled in Utah as much as we should have, and hope to take some time this summer seeing the incredible beauty that exists here.  But this past Memorial Day was a time of growth: spiritual and intellectual. We plan to have other times this summer where growth will continue to be a primary focus. 

The First Timothy speaks to public reading of scripture followed by preaching and teaching. In fact, we are encouraged to be diligent in these matters. Paul is rejecting in this pastoral letter an attitude of complacency; rather it is an advocacy towards a culture of growth. 

Your Sunday attendance is important for growth. When I thank people for a first time attendance at Hilltop, I use nourishment as an image: “I pray you were spiritually nourished.” Just as our bodies need a regular dose of rest, fluids and food, our soul requires regular spiritual nourishment. My car needs to be topped off with fuel periodically, and our soul needs to be topped off with spiritual fuel in the same way. I will go so far as saying that if you are at home, the place you are called to be on Sunday morning is Hilltop. Here is where you are supposed to be. If you are on the road, I pray you avail yourself of a chance to experience worship in a different setting or location, and see how others might be fed or refueled. But your Sunday attendance is important for your spiritual growth and health. How are you going to grow spiritually if you are not spiritually fed or fueled? Pleases continue to make it important to you and your family and be fed and fueled at Hilltop. 

Your continued financial participation is important for sustainment, and potential growth, at Hilltop. Many summers see an economic downturn in giving leading to anxious moments by those in financial leadership (see Galen Ewer’s article from the Newsletter below). With a drop in attendance, the members’ checkbooks are not brought to church, and anxiety is born out of that downturn. What happens is that instead of a culture of plenty, we enter into a culture, induced by a history of low attendance and giving in the summer that sees only scarcity. An enormous portion of our monthly spending is for staff and non-discretionary expenses, e.g. mortgage.  We might take a vacation, but servicing the mortgage, for example, does not. I would pray that if you plan on being gone for much of the summer, take some steps to get your pledge or programmed contribution over onto automatic. The sustainment of key activities of your church depends on it. 

Paul in his letter to Timothy above speaks to being diligent. To be diligent suggests we will attend to life in a way that shows care and conscientiousness in our duties.  I pray you show care and are conscientious in your weekly attendance at Hilltop and supporting her with your time, talent and treasure. It is important. It is important to sustaining a culture of growth.  Paul says to “give yourself wholly to them.” I think that is excellent advice, and I pass it on for your consideration and possible implementation.

Thank you for attending to this issue of great importance.  

Vision Casting

Our Proposed Vision:  Hilltop – An inclusive community of hospitality, healing, help, and hope, leading hearts to Christ.

Our Proposed New Vision Statement!

We are getting close to looking for congregational buy-in on our proposed Vision.  Belong, believe, and become has served us well, but your leadership believes it is time to cast a new vision from which to navigate the next ten to fifteen years. The amount of time we might use the proposed vision above is “God knows.”   

On May 27th, I spoke to the idea of allowing the Holy Spirit to be the wind in our sails and we use the testimony of God to pick our destination. There were two other options mentioned that morning, one of which was to row like it all depends on us and the other was to get on board a raft and allow ourselves to be blown by the winds. One says it all depends on God, and the other says it all depends on us.  What about opening our hearts to a biblically ordained destination, and allowing God’s holy breath to blow us along towards that destination. 

We pray that is the plan we follow. 

Selah, Pastor Dennis 

Don’t Forget Hilltop Over the Summer

By Galen Ewer, finance committee chair

I am nervous.  Each year as the summer months come Kathy Wheeler, our treasurer, and I get nervous about Hilltop’s cash flow. Last year the congregation was good about keeping up pledge commitments during the summer but that has not been the case in prior years.  Some of the past years we have had to skip our obligation to the conference or stretch out other bills.  Not good business practices!

As we enter the vacation months please do not forget the needs of your church.  If you noted the monthly report in the 3rd Sunday bulletin we are about $10,000 in the red for the year.  If giving slows over the next three months our financial situation could begin to look bleak.

Please keep up on your pledge and giving.  Remember the bills do not take a vacation in the summer!

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 …

Ministry Moment -- October 1, 2017

Today Curtis and I want to talk a little about the property …

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 property is a very important element of that transformation …

Let’s start with Hilltop House

Curtis:  The Hilltop House provides housing for twelve families a year through Family Promise.  That is 48 people who experience shelter and food who would otherwise be homeless.  Further, the United Methodist Committee on Relief Depot in Salt Lake profits from Hilltop House in teams from across the country stay here while working at UMCOR. 

What about the main building?

Curtis:  Three quick examples:

Alcoholics Anonymous uses the building once a week … fifty women and men are transformed by a doctrine of personal accountability within a framework of a supportive community.

Boy and Girl Scouts use the building extensively during the week … over one hundred and thirty boys and girls are transformed in a community of loving adults.

Hilltop Christian School uses a significant portion of our building and eighty children are transformed in a loving atmosphere …

If I can offer one additional point, there are over six thousand entrances into this building in the course of an average month … six …. Thousand …  some of them several times … and many of them are subtly but profoundly changed by their experience …

And those three examples says nothing about consignment sales which generates funding for missions and clothing for those in need, Christian Education during the week, and other activities …the list of things that go on in the building is incredible …

Our predecessors at Hilltop made a conscious decision for this building to be used as a community resource.  This is not an expensive car parked in a garage and only taken out for a Sunday morning only spin.  It is taken out for of the garage every day of the week.  It is a sturdy, well built facility that is carefully used daily ….  Drive around Salt Lake and look at most church parking lots Monday through Friday and compare those lots with Hilltop during the same time.  We ARE a community resource, and that leads to wear and tear, and additional expense …

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

Ministry Moment for September 24, 2017

In 1738, during a bible study, John Wesley had a personal experience when he felt his heart “was strangely warmed.”

It is part of the Tradition of the people called Methodists that “When we sense God's leading, God's challenge, or God's support or comfort, we say that it's the Holy Spirit at work.”

When the Holy Spirit is at work … our hearts are often strangely warmed …

I remember distinctly the experience in a chapel in Heidelberg, Germany in 1991 …

I remember distinctly my heart was strangely warmed the first time I saw the Pastor at St. Matthew’s United Methodist in Annandale, Virginia take an infant during baptism and declare that there was a piece of God in her that was in no one else, and that in her birth he believed that God had looked over the ongoing creation from the edge of heaven and continued to declare it good … very good.

Was your heart strangely warmed today?

For those who were here when we had our joint musical presentation with Crescent Ridge Stake and four hundred voices as one sang “O Come All Ye Faithful …” was your heart strangely warmed?  The Holy Spirit is at work in you.

Celebrations of life sometimes write themselves … because the family of the one now with the Church Triumphant offers such sparkling insight into how their mother, father, aunt, uncle very heart was warmed by the church … often this church … and because of them … others experience their own hearts being “strangely warmed.” 

Maybe the warmth comes when on television in the midst of an Ebola Crisis in Liberia, and the talking head on the screen stands in front of a hospital – unnamed in the presentation – but proudly displaying a cross and flame … and you … I … know that in Africa, the United Methodist Church exists beyond the end of the road … The Holy Spirit is at work in us.

Maybe your heart is strangely warmed when a Hilltop parishioner describes an encounter downtown with a homeless man, where she identifies herself as part of the Hilltop community and he says that he knows Hilltop and that our message of God’s boundless Grace – sung, spoken, and served – has touched him … his heart was strangely warmed …

I was asked in Colorado Springs before I left for Utah and Hilltop – why I wanted to come?  I said “I believe we can make a difference …”

 

I firmly believe we ARE making a difference … here in Sandy, in Salt Lake, in Utah, and across the planet.  The Holy Spirit is at work in us.

The mission of the United Methodist Church is transformation … that is our very why … we exist so that we can help transform the world … ourselves, our neighborhood, our world … and it requires hearts that are strangely warmed to do that … and  the work of the Holy Spirit?

Part of how we do that transformation is by inviting fellow strangers in a strange land to first belong in a place of sanctuary …

Our transformative task at Hilltop is helping all of God’s children find the meeting place of each individual’s passion with the world’s greatest needs.  (Repeat that)

I believe that first and foremost, our hearts – often strangely warmed – lead us to experience the sacred and the holy.  Transformation of the world begins with the individual … (repeat that)

Through October I hope to come before you and talk to your hearts about Hilltop and transformation …

More detail – the numbers – will be addressed each week with THIS (hold up a future insert) and also in this (hold up the newsletter) and on my “blog” which I will point to in my weekly eNote …

But the fundamental question – and one that I pray warms your heart – strangely or not so strangely -- is does the world need more or less of the message of God’s free and unconditional grace?  I think I know the answer to that … I pray your heart is warmed right now …

Thank you … Pastor Dennis

Going Over the Ground Rules

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (NRSV) -- The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

 

As many of you are aware, I love baseball.

 

Before every game, the teams meet at home plate to exchange lineup cards and go over the ground rules of that stadium.  For example, Wrigley Field in Chicago has ivy covering the outfield wall, and a ball “stuck” in the ivy is out of play, and the batter is awarded second base. This is a “ground rule double.”

 

Let’s go over the ground rules for our coming stewardship campaign.

 

Handouts, the newsletter, and my blog pieces will be the primary place where we discuss elements of the money story.  Money is head talk, and head talk will be primarily something for you to read. For example, on October 1^st when we talk with the Trustees about the building, we are not going to talk about utility costs.  The handouts will address that.

 

Handouts will also identify who you might talk to about a particular area. Current people are identified as they know the story, new people will not.

 

Our ground rule is head talk is reserved for reading, and speaking will focus, we hope, on heart talk.

 

Our speaking will focus on our hearts with why the church exists – change. The people called Methodists call this change transformation. Change is local, regional, national and international. Change is also personal.

 

Drawing from the scripture above, we are called to sow in a bountiful, grace-filled manner, so we can have a bountiful, grace-filled harvest. We have all heard, you reap what you sow. That is true both on what commodity comes back in the harvest, and how successful you are. Sow love and grace generously, and we harvest both, generously. 

How do we speak to the next topic in love and generosity?

 

If we look at the seven predominantly white churches in Utah with a full-time pastor, we apparently are sowing sparingly because we are reaping sparingly. If our giving were consistent with the others, our congregational giving would be in the $530,000 range. It is not. Our congregational giving is for 2017 is expected to be about $405,000 (or plus $35,000 over 2016).  I will say that there is some good news here:  that amount is almost $100,000 higher than at the end of 2012.  We are making progress here.

 

Let me return to the ground rules. 

We know there are those who have limited flexibility to step-up here.  Our ground rule is we will honor and respect that.  We do hope those in this situation will pledge and be faithful, and regular, stewards.

You may pledge for 2018 at anytime in October.  You do not have to wait until the last Sunday, and in fact, we hope you will step-up here early rather than later.

 

We have for many years been compelled to keep asking people into January if they intend to pledge.  This is generally focused on those who have pledged in the past.  We want to get to a ground rule that says the campaign is finished on Commitment Sunday (this year, October 29^th).  That knowledge will help us in our budget building. We are people of faith, but we do not approve faith budgets.

 

We do need more of us to pledge, and those that pledge, to pledge a little more.  If everyone who last year’s pledged increased their pledge by $10/week and everyone else who did not pledge increased their unpledged giving by the same amount, we would be right at $500,000 which would allow us to accomplish many, long deferred goals. We will speak those thoughts over the month of October.

 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Children's Ministry

Congregational Pledge 2 at Baptism of Children (from former Methodist Church) found on page 44 of United Methodist Hymnal (UMH):  With God’s help, we will so order our lives after the example of Christ that these children, surrounded by steadfast love, may be established in the faith, and confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal.

Communion Confession UMH page 12:  We have failed to be an obedient church … Free us for joyful obedience. 

Sacramental Importance

Baptism and Communion are our two sacraments. Other denominations have more, but United Methodists, just has these two. They are important statements. Both have community implications.

 

In infant baptism, we pledge to “so order our lives after the example of Christ” to help confirm and strengthen children. During that ritual, I often remind the congregation that we are making a community commitment to this child.

 

Communion without confession should be rare. Confession isn’t to shame us, but to offer a thought or seven about the example of Christ and an acknowledgement that we are works in progress, inspired by Christ. The ritual includes the idea that through Christ we are forgiven.

 

Joyful Obedience

I want to write to you freeing some of you to respond in joyful obedience.

 

We need adult participation in our Children’s Ministry. As a community, we are not being obedient to our baptismal covenant. We are not, as a community, so ordering our lives to establish, confirm and strengthen our children. We are limping along here in our fulfillment of our sacramental responsibility, when this ought to be a core strength.

 

The current situation is not new. When we look over the minutes of children’s ministry back to 2004, variations on this theme are revealed: we need more, reliable, and not stop gap temporarily patched on volunteers.

 

I have had more than one volunteer in this area urge us, sometimes quite strongly, that every family who has a child in Children’s Ministry should be told it is an expectation that they help in this ministry.  I frankly have resisted that because I think every situation is different, and I traditionally resist one size fits all, cookie cutter solutions. I know there are powerful volunteers in the areas of church music and scouting for example who have children in our Children’s Ministry program. Do I have to tell them to sacrifice their choice of using their spiritual gifts in music or scouting to devote time on Sunday morning? That is just one clear example; others abound. The covenant we entered into through baptism doesn’t say the parents will do this, it says the church will do this.  We sing:  “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together.”  The baptismal banners we hang are to remind us of our community commitment, not solely the parents commitment.  

Children's Church

We are declaring, briefly I hope, a pause in Children’s Church at the 10:30 service. This is not an arbitrary decision, but is in fact one reached only after much discussion, prayer, anguish, and many invitations to the congregation. We are mindful that there is potentially an impact on evangelism and worship attendance, but we needed to make the failure here a shared failure and to stop limping along without a coherent or clear strategy for fixing this. I said in my April Newsletter that I am a person of hope, and I am.  But I am also pragmatic: I think we need to fail, in order to build the elements of success.

 

I have instructed Caitlin Collins, your staff member leading in the area of Children’s Ministries, to receive volunteers into Children’s Ministries within the current structure, and to examine over the summer the very framework of how we provide this service. At this point, I do not wish to entertain good ideas while trying to address a fundamental shortfall in volunteers. I am prepared to believe that a different model might be beneficial in the long term, but no model is going to work without volunteers.

 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Step-Up Conclusion

Remember

Last week I focused on the threefold fullness of health:  grandparent, parent, and child.  I want to conclude our weekly conversation with some comparative analysis, but Before I do that, I want to re-re-refocus briefly on our why. 

This last Sunday was Transfiguration Sunday.  Jesus emerged from that experience with a clear focus.  I suggested that transfiguration is a positive, beautiful transformation.  The express purpose of the church is transformation.  I have written recently:  “Transformation is an intense process and it requires us to stretch. But, a critical element of that transformation, that stretching, has already occurred here:  Hilltop is reaching, stretching, beyond itself.  That is transformation.  Let’s continue that change.  Change like that requires rare people.” 

No Guilt!

I want to share with you a comparative analysis of Anglo United Methodist Churches in Utah that have at least one full-time pastor.  As you look at this, I ask that we read and study in order to understand, rather than to formulate a reply.  I also do not want any guilt to emerge from this conversation.  Ready? 

The next chart shows where Hilltop is ranked if we use per attendee income for 2016 from the congregation as our ranking metric (tool).  We are in last place. 

Congregational Giving per Attendee:  2016

Your church leadership is 100% mindful that Park City is in a different economic base than us.  I suspect SLC Christ is demographically older; see the sixteen deaths, than Hilltop.  I confess, I am surprised at the disparity between Hilltop and the two Ogden churches.  This disparity was true in 2015 as well. 

If our congregational giving on a per attendee basis was at the level of Ogden Community our income would increase by over $220,000.  If we were at the level of Ogden First, it would increase by nearly $80,000.  I find that stunning. 

Again, no guilt, right?  No guilt, please. 

The first question that comes here is “can you explain why?” 

No, I cannot satisfactorily explain why.  I think the answer is composed of many variables all working at the same time.  History, demographics within the congregation to where we have many with youth in college, some proportion of fixed incomes, and a general unwillingness to talk about money because of the dominant culture and its high expectation on financial support of the church.  There are a lot of variables.  But on a compare of like to like, if we add in Mountain Vista in West Jordan to us and the two Ogdens, I suspect our demographics are more alike than we are different, and again, the compare is stunning. 

Three Closing Thoughts

Here are three thoughts that have been mentioned earlier:

• “We are under-incomed, not over-expensed.”  I offer we are not under-led.  Your lay leadership at Hilltop is bold, because our vision is bold. 
• Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Message offers this glimpse at Luke 12:48b: "Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!"  We need to respond in a responsible way to the gifts we have been given. 
• We quoted an unnamed black preacher in the February Newsletter:  “God is not a monument, but a movement.”  Methodism was called a movement in our early days.  We can recapture that by focusing on our transformation purpose.  

What is our “bottom-line?”  We need to have our resourcing match our mission and purpose.  We need this in order to transform the world:  Our world. 

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Threefold Fullness of Health

Remember

Last week I wrote:  “Next week I will address the threefold fullness of health:  grandparent, parent, and child.”

Before I do that, I want to re-refocus briefly on our why. 

This Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday.  It is in part a remembrance of Jesus taking on his purpose with a clear focus.  Transfiguration is a positive, beautiful transformation.  Our own church purpose is transformation.  Our vision to be co-creators of new church life is bold, and it is about transformation.  As I indicated last week:  “Transformation is an intense process and it requires us to stretch. But, a critical element of that transformation, that stretching, has already occurred here:  Hilltop is reaching, stretching, beyond itself.  That is transformation.  Let’s continue that change.  Change like that requires rare people.” 

Health at every level matters

We are not alone in this adventure.  The “conference” is with us.  The conference is no longer a disembodied entity in Denver, if it ever was.  Too often, churches view the conference as where the Bishop is located and the place where we send money.  It is too often viewed as a one way street with everything going to Denver, and nothing coming back.  That is not accurate.  

I am personally here because Bishop Elaine listened to Hilltop.  The same can be said of Pastor Emily:  the conference listened.  But in ways other than pastoral leadership, the conference is sharing in this adventure.  All but $20,000 of the annual costs of this adventure are being paid by the conference.  The ability to do this is made possible by the 250+ churches of the conference, located in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.  In effect, a sliver of that $65,000+ to be sent to us in 2017 by the Rocky Mountain Conference is from Arvada (Colorado) UMC, LaJunta (Colorado) UMC, Laramie (Wyoming) First UMC, and Park City (Utah) Community Church just to name four.  Cantaloupe farmers from Rocky Ford, Colorado are invested in Hilltop and our bold ministry vision. 

Last year about half of all the churches in the conference met their financial obligation to the conference.  We were not one of them.  Our proposed budget for 2017 gets us incrementally closer to that goal, but still falls short.  The conference is in the resourcing business.  That is what it does:  equips people, both laity and clergy, as well as local churches for their transformation missions.  It can only do this if the local churches support the conference in its own financial health. 

Great gifts, great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities

Health of the parent – Hilltop – and our intentionally planned child matter.  In fact, only $21,200 of our 2017 planned spending is about the child, creating her in good health.  That is a little under 6% of expenses supported by current congregational giving. 

Threefold Fullness of Health

Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Message offers this glimpse at Luke 12:48b: "Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!"  We need to respond in a responsible way to the gifts we have been given. 

To repeat a mantra we have been offering since January:  “We are under-incomed, not over-expensed.”  I offer we are not under-led.  Your lay leadership at Hilltop is bold, leading to a vision that is bold. 

Roberta quoted an unnamed black preacher in the February Newsletter:  “God is not a monument, but a movement.”  Methodism was called a movement in our early days.

We can recapture the movement spirit by focusing on our transformation purpose.  Health beyond Hilltop, at Hilltop and the new life springing from Hilltop must all be factors.  Not simply the health of Hilltop as parent. You are at the center of this threefold fullness of health.  

Selah, Pastor Dennis