Pastoral ponderings

We’ve come to the end of an amazing year. We adopted the new vision for the church, done some amazing work redesigning and rebuilding our worship space, put on a wonderful children’s Christmas Pageant, and so much more. It’s hard to thank everyone properly in the space I have here, so I’ll leave that for my annual report. What I will say is that we are blessed to have the leadership, the staff and the many volunteers who have come forward this year.

I hope the same will be true with 2010, and I think it will be. We’re starting the New Year with a great deal of excitement, and successes to build on. If you would have a bigger part in all that is going on in our church, there are many, many opportunities.

Some of the most obvious ways to serve include the ministry teams and committees of the church. We would love to have new people in many places. If you feel you have the gifts, the skills, and the interest to help out in any of these areas, please let me or Jan Bartlett know.

Spiritual Life is the ministry that makes sure all of our worship services go smoothly. They recruit and train ushers, candle lighters, communion servers and others who help in both ordinary and special worship. They also take care of supplies and planning for all our special worship.

Stewardship is the ministry that cares for the finances and property of the church. If you are good with figures, or handy with repairs, this ministry is always busy keeping the church building up and running.

Christian Education recruits and trains our Sunday school teachers, and comes up with wonderful, creative directions for education both children and adults. They work with Vacation Bible School, the Christmas Pageant and much more.

Mission channels our church offerings and pledges into places outside our church where it can do the most good. This team connects us to the wider United Church of Christ efforts to feed, to clothe, to shelter, to comfort, to heal and to do whatever is needed for the hurting people in our community, our nation and our world.

Caring and Outreach does something similar to mission, but is focused on shut in or otherwise hurting members of our own church family. They visit, send cards, bring communion and otherwise share love and support where it is most needed.

Hospitality plans the Wednesday Fellowship Potlucks, the Sunday morning Coffee Hour and other special events as asked. They help to make the churc h as warm and inviting a place as possible.

Personnel is the group that helps the paid staff of the church function as well as possible. They set up the employee policies and handle issues that come up with any of our staff. It is a job that calls for sensitive and knowledgeable members. Right now we have a specific need for at least 2-3 more members on this committee.

Nominating is the committee that helps to ensure that the other ministries and teams in the church are functioning at peak efficiency. This job calls for some discernment as we try to match people’s gifts and personalities with needs to place them where they will have the greatest effect and the greatest fulfillment in serving. We have a specific need of 3 new members here as well.

Evangelism is the group charged with getting the news about our church out into the community. They get out news about our worship, our programs, our fellowship and our identity as followers of Christ and members of the United Church of Christ into the community. It’s a job that calls for creativity and communication skills.

Delegates are people who represent our church at the Eastern Association and Illinois Conference meetings. These are meetings of the local and regional churches in our denomination. The delegates represent us when there are votes to be taken and connect us to the joys, concerns and opportunities that come from being part of the larger church.

I’ve saved the Stephen Ministry for last because we are making a special push this spring. Stephen Ministers are members who are given extensive training in ministering one-to-one with people who are going through a crisis or a difficult time in their lives. This calls for patient, compassionate people who can listen well and offer compassionate support in difficult times.

The last thing I’d like to mention is the Annual meeting, which is something that everyone can participate in. This is a gathering of all of our members to catch up on the state of the church and to vote on matters important to our life together. This year we have a change in the date. Normally the meeting would be held January 24, but we have moved it to January 31. We will be having a special combined worship service at 10:00 a.m. that day and the meeting will follow immediately. I hope that everyone will be able to attend.

If you’re not a board and committee person, don’t despair. There are an unending number of ways you can help in the church. If you have any place like to help out that isn’t mentioned here, please talk to me or Jan and we’ll see if we can find a way to make it happen.

Blessings and Peace for the New Year,

Matthew