Who Gives a …?

"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much… And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." – Luke 16:10, 12-13

All that we have is from God – even our money. This is what Jesus is telling us – we have to be faithful with what God gives us.

Is it really that painful? Do we need to warn the offering stewards to beware? [smile]

Who gives in our church? Here’s how it looks through the month of August:

Total Giving, 34 weeks = $249,256.62 - Average Weekly Giving: $7,331.07
Total Needed, 34 weeks = $241,468.00 - Needed Weekly Giving: $7,102.00

There are 156 regularly attending individuals or families (units).

10 units – 6% did not contribute to the budget
47 units – 30% contributed $20 - $500. This represents 5% of the total giving.
84 units – 54% contributed $500 - $3000. This represents 52% of the total giving.
15 units – 10% contributed over $3000. This total represents 41% of the total giving.

And here’s an interesting statistic: 66 units – 42% of our church – are composed of widows/widowers, singles, and retirees. They gave 34% of our total giving.

Over 40% of our budget comes from 10% of our church. And 34% of our total giving comes from retirees, singles, and widows/widowers. Wow!

It is important not to lose sight that God just doesn’t need our money: when we take church membership vows, we vow to give the church “our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.” But how we spend our money, and how we use it for Kingdom work, is also something we should not lose sight of. Where our treasure is found is where our hearts will be found.

Pax,
Sky+

Communications 101: Developing Community

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoys its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. – James 3:18

I am not a huge Rick Warren fan (author of The Purpose Driven Life ), he is too much of a Calvinist for me - especially when it comes to predestination. But he once said something about cultivating community in a Christian context that caught my eye: “It takes both God’s power and our effort to produce a loving Christian community.” What are those efforts? Warren gives some good advice:

• Cultivating community takes honesty. In other words, speak the truth in love. Don’t gloss over tough issues or pray that they go away. In the end, people like honesty better than flattery.
• Cultivating community takes humility. Being stubborn, being self-important, and being prideful destroy fellowship and community at lightning speed. Humility builds community. In the words of Paul, paraphrased: “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t try to act im-portant, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all.” Being humble, Warren says, is not to think less of yourself; it is to think of yourself less.
• Cultivating community takes courtesy. We have to respect our differences, be consider-ate of others and their feelings, and be patient with others – even those who irritate us.
• Cultivating community takes confidentiality. Only in safe places will people share their hurts, needs and mistakes. God hates gossip… and yes, sometimes a “prayer request” for someone else is gossip. What is shared in your prayer group or Sunday School class should stay there. “Gossip is spread by wicked people; they stir up trouble and break up friendships.” (Proverbs 16:18)
• Cultivating community takes frequency. In other words, fellowship needs to take place often, because relationships take time; deep relationships take a lot of time. Shallowness in churches is often due to a lack of spending time cultivating relationships. We need community for spiritual health.

Most of all, community requires commitment, just like families require commitment. And in the Christian context, the family of God is the Church. We have to ask ourselves continually: are we committed to cultivating community?

Pax,
Sky+

The Future of Episcopacy in the UMC – Part 5

In an earlier blog, I mentioned that the lack of leadership and direction in the UMC is showing in alarming ways. And I mentioned that while our bishops should lead, we don’t give them much power to do so. And one solution I mentioned (which I wasn’t for) was this one:

Get rid of the episcopacy? Not my vote, and it would be a feat of legislation and lobbying to enact it. However, the fact is that the Episcopal Fund is in dire straits. Only twenty-one conferences remitted 100% of their Episcopal Fund apportionments in 2005. That’s only one-third of the whole Connection.

The good news is that twenty-two conferences remitted 100% of their Episcopal Fund apportionment in 2006. The bad news? According to the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCF&A), the Episcopal Fund may experience an increase of at least 30% for 2009-2012. Reasons for this include:

• economics of health insurance for active and retired bishops
• impact of early retirements
• salaries and benefits of the bishops
• the fact that no jurisdiction reduced the number of episcopal areas

What this means is other funds will necessarily have to be reduced, even our World Service funding. And if the Côte d’Ivoire and other global members of our Connection join us in 2012 - increasing our role as a truly global church - we will face even greater budgetary challenges. Complicating this is the fact that we have decreasing membership and attendance.

As they say, this is not good.

Where I think we are challenged is to show faithful United Methodists that our bishops are worth the funds. I think what that means is that the Study on the Episcopacy is going to have to make a very strong case for bishops AND define their role, both theologically and practically.

In summary, the Episcopal Fund:

• Pays bishops' salaries
• Pays episcopal office expenses, subject to approval by the General Council on Finance and Administration
• Reimburses 67 percent of the costs for episcopal residences
• Provides pension and health benefit coverage for bishops and their families and disability coverage for bishops
• Covers the cost of episcopal travel
• Defrays moving expenses
• Provides pensions for retired bishops and surviving spouses, and minor children of deceased bishops


It’s an old fable: the donkey in the well. A donkey falls down into a well. Everyone tries to figure out what to do. It’s decided that the donkey is old, the well needs to be covered up anyway, it just isn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. Everyone grabs a shovel and shovels dirt into the well.

The donkey figures out what’s happening, shakes off the dirt with each shovel load, and take a step up. Pretty soon, there is enough dirt for the donkey to step up over the edge of the well, and the donkey trots off.

When I heard the fable the first time, I heard the pithy moral afterwards: “Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up. Shake it off, and take a step up.”

But I heard a different take on the moral of the story the other day. It’s this one: When you try to cover your ass, it always comes back to get you.

I heard Sandra Lackore, GCF&A treasurer, say at the last General Conference: “We have a structure that we can no longer afford.” She warned us. Where the Episcopal Fund was concerned, we were advised to cut one Episcopal Area. No one did. And the Church continued to add off-line expenses and increase budgets. We covered ourselves by saying “We don’t want to cut ministry.” But in essence, we are cutting ministry if we are spending less on evangelism and mission and more on ourselves.

We need to give our leadership the ability to lead. We need to elect our very best to be our episcopal leaders. Not the ones who have paid their dues and bided their time. Not the ones who will satisfy whatever caucus needs to be represented. And not the ones who are elected from a sense of entitlement. We need our best and brightest. And we need them soon.

Pax,
Sky+

Communications 101: Clothing Does NOT Make the Man (or Woman)

"Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” – Matthew 25:44-45

Our society places an inordinate emphasis upon attractiveness, attire, and economic prosperity. Studies have shown that men who wear business suits are perceived as more attractive than men in casual attire. Nice for the secular world, but I wonder if Jesus would approve?

Some people bemoan that people dress more casually for church. My response is: since fewer and fewer people are even bothering to come to church, we should welcome folks with open arms, no matter how they are dressed.

I think we have to be very careful with the first impressions we give our visitors: we only get one chance at a first impression. If we betray our thoughts with a glance at manner of dress, an earring on a man, or a body piercing – we may give ourselves away. We are to welcome everyone, regardless of manner of dress.

This story from “One Tip on How Not to Welcome a Church Visitor” makes a good point:

One of our first time visitors had only been in America for three days. She had never ever been in a church on the globe. Her shorts redefined “mini-shorts.” The curves of her butt cheeks were visible. Her shorts were so tight her thong was visible. Her choice of plunge cut and tight fitting blouse was what we see outside of the nightclubs across the street from our residence in Panama. Instead of being welcomed, she was practically shunned. People didn't approach her, or talk with her (I did, which is how I found out about her story). They stared, stealing secret glances, and trying not to get caught. Let's just say it was a socially awkward morning. Five years later, that visitor is still remembered by the men – only because they remember how much skin they saw. They didn’t see the immigrant searching for God. – from the blog Evangelism Coach, June 12, 2007

The author leaves us with some very good questions. Be honest when you answer:

• How does your church react to visitors who dress or look differently than you?
• Can you still engage visitors in conversation when you can’t stop looking at their nose piercing?
• Do you secretly stare at their interesting haircut or choice of hair color?
• How do you react to twenty something in ripped blue jeans?
• Do you secretly wonder if the foreign visitor is legal?

Remember: communications is more than just talking. Our body language and facial expressions tell as much about ourselves as our words. How do we welcome the stranger - or even those known to us who dress or look differently? Do we welcome them as we would Jesus?

Jesus had long hair and didn't wear underwear, by the way.

Pax,
Sky+

Communications 101: Failure to Communicate

One of the biggest myths in the church: Lack of money prevents a lack of excellence in church communications and hospitality. To be honest, that’s not a reason – it’s an excuse. Budgets do not, and never have, prevented progress in communications nor in how we welcome church visitors.

Why is this important? The stakes are high! A church is a living organism. If one leg is not communicating with the other, walking will be difficult and running impossible. Hospitality is important too, to friends and strangers alike. People who come through our doors aren’t made to be here – they come on their own. If we don’t welcome them into the faith and into our fellowship, there may be nothing else to keep them here initially. We don’t meet folks halfway… we meet them all the way. Guests are expected to do nothing; we invite them into fellowship.

Fact: How often have we heard or said, “I didn’t know about that.” Did we read our newsletter? Bulletin announcements? Our emails? And if we chair or serve as secretary of a committee, did we send our minutes to other church entities? The church office? We are considering printing the minutes of all committee meetings so that we can all be in the know. No church meeting (other than personnel matters) is a “secret” meeting – and if we don’t communicate, as a body we will not function well.

Fact: The church calls us to, as well as depends upon, hospitality. Thom Rainer of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary predicts, based on data, that 50,000 American churches will close by the end of 2010. Worse, further analysis shows that most churches are on “life support” – living off previous generations’ work, money, and energy. 80% of the money presently given to congregations comes from people aged 55 years and older. Some of the best givers are widowed men and women! Anyone that is knowledgeable in finance or actuaries knows that we cannot be sustained on inherited faithfulness or inherited money. We must always be creating a new generation of disciples who are faithful in much.

We have to talk and listen. We have to be knowledgeable about our church. And we have to welcome each person who comes through our doors as a fellow sinner in need of grace, redemption, and forgiveness. We are the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Pax,
Sky+

Communications 101 - What A Pastor Does During the Week

I’ve heard the line probably more times than any of you – “Hey preacher, where have you been? You only work one day a week.” Most preacher jokes are like lawyer jokes – probably well deserved for some, unfair to others. The reality is that pastoral work is a very strange critter that often defies description, calendars, and schedules.

I used to try to keep office hours in my ministry; that quickly got frustrated with the reality that hospital emergencies happen, surgeries get scheduled, family crises happen – and a number of other things that you never think about. That frustrated me, and frustrated people who came to see me during office hours I tried to keep but had to be away because of pastoral needs. So I’ve found keeping set office hours usually doesn’t work.

Expectations, I know, are high. Besides preaching, presiding over worship, and providing pastoral care, churches also expect their pastors to be conflict managers, evangelists who bring in new members, and the chief administrator of the church (the Book of Discipline now says “Administrative Officer”). In the midst of that, churches rightly expect inspiring sermons and want close attention paid to the personal needs of the congregation.

Sermon preparation takes time. My preaching professor said that for every minute spent in the pulpit, one should spend an hour in preparation. I’ve never been able to spend 15-20 hours a week in sermon preparation. But it does take some time – time where I have to listen to the congregation’s needs, and to discern what the Word of God might be saying to us. I’ve found that studying in the office rarely allows for that; if I’m in the office, I need to be available to staff and those of you who need to talk with me, or just want to chat. And I like doing those things.

Communications in this area is important. So I want you to know that I am almost always available to you – I have a cell phone that I carry at all times, and it is also equipped with Caller ID, text messaging, and email. Should you call and I am counseling or in pastoral conversation or a meeting, I may let the voice mail pick it up and call you back. In short – I am only a phone call away. Sometimes, pastoral work takes me outside the office. That doesn’t mean you can’t call me. In fact, I want you too.

Pastoral work also doesn’t respect the clock; being available to you as a congregation sometimes means meeting with people after working hours, even late into the night. Sometimes, my time off and my “weekends” are a little different from the norm. So I have to be mature enough to know when to work and when to take Sabbath. However, I knew all of those things when I accepted the call to ministry.

I just want you to know that the lines of communication are always open.

Pax,
Sky+

Possible Master SIte Plans

Here are the initial and ultimate plans that our church will be wrestling with in the months to come with the closing of one highway and the new avenue of contiguous property (for those of you unfamiliar with the situation: we are designing new parking and campus property. We already have all of our buildings built). Keep in prayer!

Click on this image for the initial stage.



Click on this image for the ultimate stage.

God’s Critters

My first paragraph just changed. A very brave squirrel is watching me from 3 feet away. Or perhaps he knows a wimp when he sees one. I’m not the greatest fan of animals.

Pets were forbidden in the McCracken household when I was growing up, so I was never around many animals to begin with. In high school, I worked on a couple of farms – hogs and cattle, however, don’t (usually) qualify as pets. And beautiful creatures that they are, I am terrified of horses. I note, however, that when my brother and I moved out of our house in college, my mother adopted a kitten that showed up one night - to the amazement of everyone that knew her (Mom was NOT a pet fan). Duchess was a beautiful, long-haired tortoise-shell cat. She died not long before my mother died. I think a part of my mom died with her.

In our house over 20 years, we’ve had a cat and a dog. Both were short-lived disasters. I thought we were out of the pet business forever until a little furry critter came home with my wife a couple of weeks ago. “She was orphaned; her mother got hit in front of my office,” she said. It was a tortoise-shell colored kitten that couldn’t be four weeks old, barely eating solid food. I didn’t realize it was coming to our home to live until I saw a litter box and food dish. I wasn’t real happy about it.

I can admittedly be a grouch, and my demeanor doesn’t always appear pleasant even when I’m in a good mood; it’s something I’ve had to work on all of my life. My wife and my teenage daughter love the cat, and moreover, they take care of most of its needs. However, I am keenly aware that my daughter watches me when the cat is around. And I am haunted by the words of Immanuel Kant that I heard several years ago:

"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." – Immanuel Kant

I am afraid that I have to agree. The way we treat animals is a measure of our humanity. God did give us dominion over the critters (I mean creatures, my Kentuckyian is showing), and our kindness to animals is probably good practice for the way we as Christians should show hospitality to friends and strangers alike. The burden of hospitality and kindness is always on us.

My daughter named her “Pandora,” meaning “all gifted.” The myth of Pandora’s Box is certainly apt for Christians when we deal with theodicy – the problem of evil. Perhaps living with Pandora will teach me how to face and endure evil with goodness. And maybe, more simply, teach me to smile a little more at the antics of a small kitten learning how to function in this world.

Maybe I have a glimpse of how much fun God has watching me.

Sky+

Construction Is Happening Quickly

I am writing this from the deck of a rental house at I have at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. The view of the lake is spectacular, the humidity is low, and it’s 79° at 4 PM. It is calm, serene, and very peaceful.

The world hasn’t stopped, though. I am well aware of the construction beginnings at Reidland. Things in the “Y” are about to get busy. The post office has informed us that our mailbox has to be moved. KY DOT is making changes to help us with drainage problems. The small committee appointed by the Master Site Planning committee is getting things ready for temporary parking that can transition into more permanent solutions that don’t jeopardize future possible expansion. U.S Bank is being very helpful in our transitional needs, and there are things we can do to help each other. Land surveys are being done to develop accurate plans. Finance and trustees are meeting to shore up details. The preschool playground is taking shape and getting ready for school.


All of this is happening very quickly. Yet prayers and listening to God’s promptings have been blessings. I am amazed at all of the things that have fallen into place in so short a time and so smoothly.

This Sunday is a pivotal one. In addition to having our district superintendent preach and preside at the communion table, we will have a presentation of temporary plans that can easily phase into permanent plans. These plans will be available for all of us to look over and approve – this is not a plan asking for a rubber stamp, but a proposal asking for your blessing.

I hope you will join me on Sunday and be present as we meet to prepare for change, and to grow as a church family from it!

Sky+

Vacation, Holiday, and Sabbath-Keeping

I am the world’s worst about taking vacation. Not working and sitting idle seems lazy to me. I am a workaholic. Some people praise me for that. Unfortunately, avoiding Sabbath is breaking a commandment. Not good.

I am allowed four weeks of vacation. I’ve never taken it all; I used to think it a sign of my “good” work ethic and devotion. But I am slowly realizing that not only is that flawed; it is possibly sinful.

In some ways, this is an American phenomenon. Most Americans are allowed two weeks of vacation. Brits average four weeks. Germans average 27 days. The French average eight weeks. Yet a third of Americans don’t even use all of their vacation time. Why are Americans reticent to take vacation? Here are a few of the reasons given:

(1) Job security: “My boss won’t like it.” However, studies have proven that Europeans are more productive in their work environments than Americans. Maybe if bosses knew that they’d encourage vacation rather than frown on it.
(2) Stress: Some people don’t know how to deal with down time, and the stress they carry from work into vacation. They also worry about the pile-up of email, messages, and to-do lists when they return.

Here is the catch: if we catch ourselves saying "I'm so busy... I just don't have enough time to complete all my work,” what we have just done is say that God didn’t make the day long enough! Now, are we wiser than God? Or are we defying the God of creation… who took a day off, too, and called it holy?

Sabbath-keeping just isn’t a nice idea. It’s one of the Ten Commandments. How can we get around not keeping it?

A fellow sinner,

Sky+

Older Adult Sunday

At the 10:45 service this Sunday, we will celebrate the ministry and presence of our older adult church members. As the planning for the worship service took place, those working on the service learned several facts:

• In the past 100 years, our life expectancy in the United States has increased by about 27 years.
• We not only live longer, but we are more active in our later years.
• Older people today enjoy learning and continue to grow in their knowledge and spirituality. Although our physical bodies decline, our spiritual selves will mature.
• Christ's death set an example of how suffering can be reconciling, even though it is painful.
• The experiences of older people bring wisdom and insight to our congregation. There is joy in the harvest of a life-lived spiritual treasure.
• There are opportunities for all generations within our church to worship, work, and play together.
• Mature years bring a special opportunity to redefine our goals.

Unfortunately, we also learned that:
• Many older people have incomes below a subsistence poverty level.
• Many have no medical insurance or very poor medical coverage that pays less than 50% of their medical needs.
• Older people sometimes must be dependent on others for life's necessities.
• Lifestyles today often result in older people having to live a distance from other family members.

Just as we lift up children and youth in our congregation, we also should lift up our older adults. They contribute to the life of our church, and we stand tall upon their shoulders. This Sunday gives us an opportunity to celebrate their wisdom, guidance, and presence in our community of faith.

Won’t you join us?

Sky+

Change and Vision

Dr. Lovett Weems was a professor at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City when I was in seminary at Emory. I was part of an interview team that interviewed him for Dean of the seminary at Emory, and I really liked him. He wasn’t hired, but he has made an indelible mark on the United Methodist Church.

He wrote a book a few years ago, entitled Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church. In his book, he makes some very keen observations.

One observation is about change; he suggests that there are seven unchangeable rules of change. They are:

1. People do what they perceive to be in their best interest.
2. The change must have positive meaning for them.
3. People thrive with creative challenge, but wilt under negative stress.
4. People are different, there is not one single key to all change.
5. People believe what they see and previous deceptions can lead to present suspicions.
6. The way to make effective long-term change is first to visualize where you want to go, and then go ahead and inhabit that vision till it comes true.
7. Change is always an act of imagination.

No one likes change – unless, of course, it’s his or her idea! One of our prayers might be, “God, I pray that your will might be done, instead of ours.” Sometime, change may be God’s idea.

What I am learning as a leader is that change, vision, and leadership take time. Change takes time and imagination. Visions are never invented; they are discerned from prayer and active listening. And leadership takes perseverance. One of the reasons that leaders often don’t stay more than 3-4 years in leadership is that the years following are often difficult.

How much can we imagine? What can we discern from what God might be saying to us? And are we willing to persevere?

Sky+

note: I've read a lot of articles and blogs on this subject - my apologies if I've failed to cite a source I should have.

Worship Matters

Several of you have asked me about why I don’t always recognize secular holidays in worship. My immediate answer is because they are secular holidays, not church holidays. But let me give a few more reasons.

My vows as a United Methodist pastor are similar to a physician’s; I took a vow to do no harm. Being a pastor to over 425 people can sometimes make that task difficult. Keeping everyone happy is impossible; I quit trying to do that years ago. I have made some pastoral mistakes over the years, and even after 20 years I continue to make mistakes. Some of the worst of them have been over the celebrations of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. There are a lot of variables when it comes to families and celebrations of those days. Some people don’t have the fondest of memories when it comes to their parents. Some have recently lost parents. These days and the resulting celebrations can end up sending mixed messages.

I once served a church where awards were given for the youngest father/mother, the oldest father/mother, the father/mother with the most children, the newest father/mother, etc. I thought it was pretty cool… until I had a young couple come to my office to tell me how painful those Sunday mornings were for them. They had been trying to have children for several years and were finally told by a physician that they would never be able to have children. All of the Mother’s and Father’s Day awards made them feel that they had nothing to celebrate. I realized that I had done harm.

I tend not to make a big deal about patriotic occasions in church. I love my country as much as anyone; I have an American and Kentucky State flag that hang prominently in my garage. However, I do not worship or adore my country as I do Almighty God. So, for one hour a week, I think God and Jesus Christ deserve our total worship. In light of this, I am very careful to separate the worship of Almighty God and patriotic occasions. God always comes first.

I don’t try to avoid such things altogether, but I am very sure not to make the focal points of worship. God is always central to our worship. To quote the UMC Book of Worship: “Our worship in both its diversity and its unity is an encounter with the living God through the risen Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

That’s what we as a worship committee try to do each Sunday.

Sky+