Extreme Makeover: Sanctuary Edition

I love our church's sanctuary.  It's beautiful.  The only problem is, it's very large, and our congregation is very small.  So, this past week, Lisa and I made some changes.  Before and after pictures are below.

We turned the sanctuary into 4 separate spaces with the help of homemade room dividers: sanctuary, gathering space, Sunday School room, and storage.  The sanctuary is now half the size.  A storage space has been added for the removed pews.

A gathering space has been added, and will be used primarily for fellowship.  Our fellowship hall is divided into cubicles on Sunday for Sunday School, as our building has no classrooms, so this gives us a space intended to cultivate relationships with each other before and after worship.

A Sunday School room was added to solve the problem we had with a Sunday School class meeting in the sanctuary.  People arriving for worship felt they were disrupting the class, and vice versa.  So, this solves that.

We unveiled the new changes with a special congregational meeting between worship services this morning.

Permission Granted

Here at First UMC of West Newton, the time-honored way of celebrating Communion is by kneeling at the altar rail to receive the bread and cup. We celebrate with small cubes of homemade bread and the "shot glass" distribution of the juice.

When I first arrived here, I was struck by the extreme passivity of the parishioners in this sacrament. They would not do anything unless directed by the pastor. They stand at the altar and stare at me or their shoelaces, waiting for the imperative to "kneel as you are able." Then they receive the bread and cup, but will not eat or drink until the pastor gives some verbal cue to do so. The first time I presided over Communion here was a bit awkward, as I had not prepared to give such directives. I did not expect pastoral ministry would require me to boss people around in the celebration of a sacrament. I'm not the type of person who particularly enjoys telling other people what to do - especially in something as simple as eating a cube of bread and drinking a shot of grape juice. Who are these people, anyway? These are adults; they shouldn't need me to hold their hand and walk them through every step of Communion. Perhaps this is what the Bishop meant when he commissioned me to "Order."

But now, I'm beginning to understand. These people don't need someone to give them verbal cues. They're not waiting for permission. What's really going on here is a deep understanding of why we call it Holy Communion. These people know this isn't a frivolous monthly practice. While we ought not take Communion too seriously, we should approach it with some sense of reverence. After all, this is Jesus Christ, broken for us, poured out for us, present with us in the giving of the bread and cup. Maybe we ought not to rush into the eating and drinking, lest we suffer from spiritual indigestion. Maybe we should take our time and allow someone to tell us what we are really doing at the table, so we have time to process the magnitude of our actions.

And, this congregation also understands why it is Holy Communion. With each group of 15-20 that approaches the altar, they wait to kneel so all may kneel together. They wait to eat so all may eat together. They wait to drink so all may drink together. In this, the celebrant is not the "boss" but the conductor. I am not ordering them what to do and when. No, I'm helping them eat together, to commune. Perhaps this is the role of a pastor - to help the assembled kneel together, eat together, drink together, and pray together, so that Christ may come alive in our midst. May it be so on the first Sunday of every month, and all the days in between.

O What Fun It Is!

Over the last four Saturday mornings, our congregation engaged in discussions about our future. We prayed, we talked, we laughed, and we broke bread together. We spent time reflecting on our past successes and failures, and our present situation. We allowed God to rekindle a fire among us, and in our prayerful listening we have begun to discover God’s vision for our future. We have developed short-term and long-term plans to enact that vision in a myriad of ways. There is a sense of energy and excitement in the air, and we are beginning to embody the hope to which we are called.

First UMC of West Newton is at a critical point in its 170-year history. After some tough times, we’re turning the corner. We have chosen to invest our time and energy in letting God make us a new creation. I’m excited about the possibilities for God to work through us in amazing ways. I’m deeply humbled by the trust the congregation has placed in me as their pastor, and by their willingness to follow where God has led us all. As I reflect on our discussions, and the last 13+ months here, I wonder if it is possible to have more fun serving as a pastor than I am having right here, right now. What a joy and blessing it is to serve a congregation so willing to look hopefully toward the future, placing their trust in a 26-year-old pastor, but ultimately placing complete trust in God. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us!

Program or Mission

Here's a little breakdown of program vs. mission churches that I came up with. A faithful church has a balance between programs and missions, and a balance between each of the sub-sets listed. See the "FLAME" post for more explanation on why I created this.

Program-oriented church – Ministry within the congregation and church building is emphasized

1. Fellowship – primary goal is building relationships with each other.

2. Discipleship – primary goal is growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ


Mission-oriented church – Ministry outside of congregation and church building is emphasized

1. Supporting mission – primary goal is support, financial and otherwise, to mission opportunities that are being carried out

2. Hands-on mission – primary goal is engagement as the hands and feet of Christ.

FLAME: Igniting God's Vision

At West Newton UMC, we’re in the middle of a visioning/planning process called FLAME: Igniting God’s Vision. Like good Methodists, we created and acronym -- FLAME stands for “Fostering Love and Ministry Everywhere.” We’re meeting Saturday mornings at 8:30 for breakfast, with conversations beginning at 9 am. The intent is to reflect on ourselves and our context, then moving into conversation, prayer, and discernment about how God is calling us to use our gifts and talents to be in ministry with the world around us. Since the church already has pretty good mission and vision statements developed several years ago, we are not developing new ones. Instead, we are trying to determine how best to live out these statements, which are:

Mission Statement: The mission of First UMC of West Newton is to become faithful disciples of Christ so we may effectively minister with others.

Vision Statement: Our church is so spiritually alive that God’s love overflows into our community and the world.

Week 1: We talked about the state of our church. We shared past and present programs and ministries – some that went well, others that didn’t quite turn out as we’d hoped. We shared insights about who we are, what gifts and talents God has given us, and how we see ourselves. It became quickly apparent that all was not lost. Despite the “doom and gloom” atmosphere that has prevailed here in recent years, we have been doing ministry. We have been experiencing God. There are still positive ways in which the Holy Spirit is moving through our congregation, even in the midst of painful situations, lack of clergy and lay leadership, mistakes and poor decisions, and the prevailing attitude of “surviving” rather than “living abundantly.”

Week 2: we tried to look at ourselves from an outside perspective. We shared reflections on how we might better serve each other, how we might better serve the West Newton community, and how we might better serve all of God’s creation. We learned about the Four Areas of Ministry Focus developed by the denomination. We also learned the differences between a program-oriented church and a mission-oriented church. For that, I developed my own explanation, which you will find in a subsequent post. Finally, we talked about the difference between serving others with the goal of “increasing attendance, membership, and tithing” as opposed to serving others simply because it’s what Jesus would do. We talked about the difference between being a “successful” church as opposed to being a “faithful” church. After all, we are not seeking to ignite our own vision. No, we are seeking to let God ignite His vision in our congregation and community.

This Saturday, we will begin to harmonize the gifts of the congregation with the desperate cries of need that surround us. We will lay the groundwork for programs and service opportunities that will help us “become more faithful disciples of Christ so we may effectively minister with others.” If you are a part of our congregation, I invite you to join us if you haven’t already. In addition to attending meetings, we ask you to pray. Pray for FLAME. Pray for God to ignite that vision to which He is calling us. Pray for God to “rekindle the gift of God that is among [us],” not with “a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and love and self-discipline.” (2 Tim. 1:6-7)

If you are not part of our congregation, please join us in prayer. Pray that God may illumine our hearts and minds so that we may grow into deeper discipleship, leading to loving, humble service of our neighbors. As we go forth, we will trust in the words of 1 Peter 5:10-11: “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To God be the power forever and ever. Amen.”

First Year Reflections

One year ago today, I walked into the pastor's study at First UMC of West Newton, PA, and began my journey as a United Methodist minister. I've learned a lot of things in my first year. Here are some of them:

1. Most weeks, it is possible to take a day off.

2. Sometimes the sermons you think are terrible are the ones that really speak to people. Sometimes the sermons you think are great are the ones that fall on deaf ears.

3. It is true: the work of a pastor never ends.

4. No one fully understands how to handle having a pastor younger than their children.

5. The people of West Newton are hospitable and honest.

6. The pastor-DS relationship is the most complicated relationship in the UMC.

7. Christmas Eve at West Newton UMC is the most beautiful fire code violation I have ever seen.

8. Administering the Lord’s Supper is one of the greatest joys of this vocation.

9. It’s not as difficult as I thought to come up with a new sermon every week.

10. I miss eating lunch in Brooks Commons with my seminary friends.

11. I would be lost, confused, and always busy without a secretary. I am blessed to have Terry.

12. Walking to work every day is AWESOME.

13. I’m balding. Quickly.

14. If I haven’t taken the time to read scripture as well as a variety of religious writing, I’ve turned my brain off and have rendered myself useless to my congregation.

15. There’s no sense calling ourselves Christians if we focus on the FEAR and CONFUSION of the world rather than the HOPE found in Jesus Christ our Lord.

16. I love the town of West Newton, as well as the people of our congregation.

17. I'm up for another year here, and according to the SPRC, the DS, and the bishop, everyone else is on board too. Let's go!

In the Garden

Last night, Lisa organized a trip to the Hunger Garden in nearby Madison. The Hunger Garden is a couple acres of land donated by a local farmer to the Westmoreland County Food Bank. It is run and farmed completely by volunteers, grows many different crops, and 100% of the crops produced are distributed through the food bank to the hungry in our midst. It is a wonderful project on so many levels -- feeding the poor, practicing environmental stewardship by distributing locally grown food, tithing of land by one individual, the work of many to be the hands and feet of Christ, etc.

Our congregation (average Sunday attendance: 61) took 11 people last night on the first of hopefully many trips to the Hunger Garden. We spent about 2.5 hours farming, then grabbed ice cream together on the way home. Among those 11 were 4 youth, 2 of whom were confirmed in worship just one day earlier. These two girls, Natalie and Alex, professed their faith, remembered their baptism, and promised to support Christ's holy church with their time and resources. Then they wasted no time in literally getting down and dirty for the kingdom, right next to fellow brothers and sisters from all over the area that had come to plant hope at the garden.

What a witness! I could not be more proud of Natalie, Alex, and the rest of our group than I am right now. This morning I sit in my office, beaming with the joy at the miracle I witnessed last night. Moments like last night give me hope to live out another day as a member of the body of Christ. This congregation has a future filled with hope. This region has a future filled with hope. This world has a future filled with hope. And God's kingdom has a future filled with hope. Now we wait for the harvest to come, where that hope will finally be fulfilled.