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An Important Message from the Leadership Team
This message was given by Robert Morell on behalf of the Salem United Methodist Church Leadership Team at the Sunday Service on September 23, 2018.
Fellow Salem Parishioners,
Charge Conference is coming at the end of next month, and as we, Salem United Methodist Church's Leadership Team, prepare the documents for that important meeting, we feel compelled to make you aware of what we see.
At the Charge Conference Reverend Sue, as she always does, will do an outstanding job of conveying to the Conference representatives the spirit that she sees animating this congregation. But along with her narrative report will be pages of numbers and bookkeeping that summarize our budget. And at the end of those reports is a bottom-line, revealing a shortfall that cannot escape notice.
We are bringing this to you because we know you care deeply for this church. You would not be here if you did not. Many of you know that we are struggling at the moment, but we think it likely you are not aware of the severity of the situation. We would be failing you if we did not explain to you the full import of our situation before we presented it to the conference.
We have made commitments that we cannot keep to people that we care deeply about. Our budget is painfully simple: 75% of our expenditures are salary and the overwhelming majority of the remaining budget are utilities and other payments that we cannot avoid. They must be paid. So when we fall short, it is no longer a matter of putting off discretionary purchases. We must pay our utility bills; but will we be able to pay our salaries? At the present rate we will fall short of our obligations by nearly $16,000.
As a matter of principle, we cannot make commitments that we cannot keep. But it is also a matter of cold fact. There are funds that we cannot legally access to make up this budget shortfall. What little cushion we had in the past in the funds that we can draw on is essentially gone. We feel it is likely that when our Conference report is read, we will be told that changes must be made.
Obviously, one reason for our budget shortfall is our diminishing congregation. But it is more than that. Perhaps we are feeling disconnected, or disheartened. If so, we need to talk about that, and find ways of encouraging each other. We need to express our fears, and find hope.
Here is an offering of hope: It's true we are a small church, but we have always been a small church. And this has always been the "little church that can." The commitment to service that is displayed in so many ways at Salem is inspiring. It is one of the reasons we belong here. As Salem's mission states, our purpose is to grow in our faith in Christ and share God's love to all. With Adult Bible Study, Disciple Bible Study, Covenant Discipleship and Prayer Group we provide opportunities for people to grown in their faith. Many of you have participated in ASP and last week we heard from the two teams that went this year. It is amazing how many people have been shown the love of Christ through this ministry, and how many participants have grown in Faith—and how many youth have just plain grown, in character, in confidence, in commitment.
Many of you attended the Ghost Tales event that Kim and Myron organized, and know how well-received that was. The room was full to capacity and everyone enjoyed the evening. We thought—wouldn’t it be great to have events like that every month, and build a reputation for Salem United Methodist Church as a place that hosts interesting and eclectic events? To give it some coherent structure, we decided to call these events “Something is Happening at Salem,” and we have several planned. The first one, as you’ve seen from the banner outside, is an invited speaker who will explain some of the changes in the tax law, especially as it relates to charitable donations. After that we will host a Pumpkin Carving Party, where we will invite any and all to bring their own pumpkins and we’ll help carve or paint their Jack O'Lanterns for Halloween. We’ll have games and light refreshments. It looks like a girl scout troop will be helping us with the sloppy work of scooping out the pumpkin guts and helping younger kids with the carving and painting. If you can help in setting up or cleaning up for either of these events that would be great. But you can also help just by attending, and inviting others to attend. We’ll print up flyers—please distribute them. Take ten and pass them out to neighbors and friends. If everyone did that we could have several hundred flyers out in the community. But mostly just attend, and have fun. We don’t have to make these into recruitment events—let’s just get together and have fun. And when people see the lights on at night and hear laughter through the windows, they’ll want to see what’s going on. And if they come in and we’re having fun, then they’ll want to come again.
We have ideas for future events. My wife and I learned about a program called “Recess” that is sponsored by a charity call 99 Balloons. It’s a program where churches provide child care for one evening a month for a family with a disabled child, to give the parents a night out, a “recess”, for renewal. We are trying to schedule a person to come and tell us about the program and perhaps how a local church in Jessup, a small church like us, was able to provide this service.
If you have ideas, please share them. It can be anything. At adult Bible Study several of us learned that Chuck Fisher had taken a Camera Safari in Africa and we asked him if could show us some of the pictures some time. So why not do that in the Community Hall and invite any and all? Again, it doesn’t have to be big, planned event. We just want the lights on and laughter coming through the windows. So if there is anything you can think of, please share your ideas.
We are putting together New Neighbor packets. Hopefully, we’ll include flyers for one or two upcoming events each time we hand one out. [At this point Libby Wright spoke about the New Neighbor packets and possible alternatives to Lord’s Table ministry.]
So there are many things happening at Salem United Methodist Church, and many opportunities coming up to help and make a difference. But we must remember that at the end of October we will be submitting a financial statement to Charge Conference, and between now and then we must address the budget short fall somehow.
This congregation has always risen to a challenge. Salem United Methodist Church has always come through with an outsized effort when needed. But to rise to a challenge you must know what the challenge is.
The goal of this talk is not to spread fear or feelings of guilt. This is about giving you information so you can make decisions about how best to serve. What we are hoping is that you, and we, will have discussions about what we can do. If you have any thoughts, questions, ideas—anything you want to discuss, we can do that now. Or, if you feel more comfortable, you can contact us later and individually. We will be in the Community Hall for refreshments after the service. That would be a good time for us to talk if you like.
Before we end, I would like to mention two things that occurred to me just as the service began. First, there is no denying that we are facing adversity. Not just our little church, but the Church as a whole, and around the world. As we read the letters from Paul and James, written in the first century, it’s worth remembering that there was a time when the Christian Church comprised no more than the number of people presently in this Sanctuary. There was a time when it was not at all clear that the Church would last beyond the lives of the Apostles. But it was in the way that those earliest Christians faced their adversity that we now see the Church encompassing the world.
Second, Rose reminded us at first service that she had put together a pamphlet describing the beautiful windows in our church, and that would make a nice addition to the New Neighbor packets. I couldn’t agree more. And there is one window in particular that I invite you to take a close look at as you leave this morning. On the south wall is a window with an anchor in it, and across the anchor is a white banner. If you look closely at that banner you will see in faint lettering the word “hope.” You have to look for it, but it is there.
Your Leadership Team:
Libby Wright
Nancy Cox
Robert Morell
Fred Ambrose
Kulley Bancroft
Dave Ranshaw
Hisashi Yamagata
Commission on the Way Forward
Last week at the Baltimore-Washington Conference reports were given about the Commission on the Way Forward. This commission has been meeting for the past two years to find a way forward on the denomination's stance on homosexuality (LGBTQ). A video on one of these reports given by Rev. Tom Berlin from the Virginia Conference can be found at the link below. Also, there is a link of our Bishop preaching on the theme of the Conference—"We Are One At The Cross." Please take the time to watch both. They are both informational and inspirational—and can open our conversation on this important issue.
Bishop Easterling: Annual Conference Opening Worship Sermon (June 01, 2018)
2018 Tom Berlin Presentation (June 04, 2018)
Bishops Propose Plan For Way Forward
Click here for the latest information on what the United Methodist Church is
proposing around the issue of same sex relationships and how the church
should minister to LGBTQ individuals.
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