{Editorial note from Jane: Have you ever read something that helps you see your situation with new eyes? Ellen Beidler's reflection (technically, her yearly report as Moderator) did that for me. With our bridge co-pastors' encouragement, I share it with you below. Thank you, Ellen.}
Annual reports are meant to convey to the congregation a synopsis of the major events in our congregational life over the past year. At its best, writing annual reports is an exercise in reflection, celebration, and repentance. I hope that our members and friends will read the reports of our Ministries and Committees and celebrate all we have done together in 2019.
It is a bit tricky for the Moderator to write such a report: the activities and accomplishments belong to the Ministries. The Moderator’s job is mainly to organize the Council meetings, facilitating communication and collaboration between the Ministries. We don’t do the work but we do get to watch it being done. It has been a privilege to watch this Council at work as its members all exemplify servant leadership and unselfish team play.
Looking back on 2019, I recall that I began the year with the realization that CUCC was not invulnerable to the many social and economic changes impacting traditional churches: I should expect the unexpected. (And my expectations were realized.)
I also formed an intention—a somewhat shaky and vague intention, to be sure—that the Council would begin a real strategic planning process in 2019. I wasn’t sure what the process would look like or how we’d get started. It seemed to have something to do with hiring a consultant and finding money we didn’t have in the budget. I doubted I had the skills to pull it off.
But I’d gotten a sense for its urgency. In particular, I felt challenged by the presentation Nick Carter made to us in February. He threw out a question inspired by I Corinthians 14 that left me breathless: “What is the point of an instrument that makes an uncertain sound?”
In the passage Carter referenced (not one I’d ever really pondered before), Paul contrasts the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues with that of prophesy. He makes it abundantly clear that speaking in tongues is a good to do but prophesy is much more to be prized. The difference is that those who speak in tongues speak mysteries intelligible only to God; in so doing, they build up themselves by attending to their spiritual life. But “those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.” Their speech builds up the church. (I will come back to this insight.)
You might remember that Nick Carter encouraged us to develop our “brand”—a term I don’t really like—but by it he meant the unique and compelling message we offer the world. Now, there’s a goal I can embrace even if I am not sure what it means. Furthermore, he made the audacious claim that if we were to deliver our message clearly and authentically, everything else would practically fall into place: our financial sustainability, our leadership, even our membership rolls. (If that sounds naïve and overly optimistic, keep in mind that we profess to believe the promises of Jesus which are much more audacious.) You might see why I embraced the urgency of thinking strategically and getting those thoughts written down somehow.
The short version of what happened to my bold intention is that a few weeks later, Pastor Jenny Schultz-Thomas told us that she was resigning. (Expect the unexpected!) Instead of working on articulating our “brand” or writing a strategic plan, we needed to focus our energies on more immediate and urgent tasks.
Another way of looking at our year is that we have been a church. A church is God’s training school for imperfect people, trying to figure out what Jesus meant by those puzzling, koan-like parables through the shared work of living with uncertainty and coping with pesky material concerns like maintaining an aging building and filling the pulpit.
While we didn’t pursue a formal process of strategic planning, though,we may yet have learned more about our “brand.” To paraphrase Parker Palmer, we can “listen to our [shared] life” for this year’s lessons. What has life taught us about who we are, what we value most, and the unique and compelling message God is calling us to offer the world? In looking back on the events of the year, I have taken to heart some particular messages. And I hope you can help me hear those I’ve missed.
First, in the wake of Pastor Jenny’s announcement, we got busy. People really mobilized. She made her announcement to the congregation a few weeks before Easter. In the midst of our most important season, the Deacons began to organize the Search and Call process. Remarkably, the Search Committee for the settled pastor was commissioned in the May 5th worship service. The Deacons formed a second search committee, as well, to find us a bridge pastor. (In fact, they found a team of two!) One of the most striking things about these committees is how fresh the faces on them have been. Notice two miracles happened: new congregational leaders emerged and they were embraced by the rest of us.
In addition to emerging leaders breaking through, the mobilization of our people seems to me to be related to an exceptionally creative spirit blowing through our doors. In big and small ways, we are innovating.
One of our tasks in 2020 must be revising our Constitution and By-Laws. Understandably, we want to wait until we have a new settled pastor to assess our organizational structure and make definitive changes. But I am encouraged that the congregation seems not just willing to roll with change but enthusiastic about it. I haven’t heard much “we’ve always done things this way” lately.
In June, Gary Smith and I attended the Southern Conference Gathering. In my opinion, we can be proud of being part of the most diverse conference in the UCC. The Southern Conference embodies some of the challenges of diversity: its leadership struggles to meet the multiple and conflicting needs of its member congregations. But in challenge is great opportunity. I hope CUCC can engage whole-heartedly in addressing those challenges and taking advantage of the opportunity to be in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ whose experience is very different from ours.
Despite the diversity in the Conference, I heard concerns from other congregations much like those I hear at CUCC:
It strikes me that we and our sisters churches need to heed Paul’s admonishments to the church at Corinth. We must decide whether we are going to place our priority on speaking in tongues or on prophesying. Remember that Paul says there is nothing wrong with speaking in tongues; it is talking to God; it engages Spirit. But Paul emphasizes that it is better to speak in words that other people—especially people outside our community—can understand.
This insight seems on its face almost too obvious. But what if our traditional ways of being church are the cultural equivalent of speaking in tongues? What if how we’ve organized ourselves, built our institutions, and do church make us unintelligible to everyone but God? What if we need to learn unfamiliar words (like “brand,” for example) to build up, encourage, and console our neighbors? What if choosing to be prophetic necessitates imagination and courage? What if we have to change, not just our words, but how we think?
Listening to our congregational life in 2019, I hear your willingness to consider these questions in 2020. We are on our way, walking further down the path God has prepared for us.
2019 Yearly Report submitted to the congregation by Ellen Beidler, Moderator
Annual reports are meant to convey to the congregation a synopsis of the major events in our congregational life over the past year. At its best, writing annual reports is an exercise in reflection, celebration, and repentance. I hope that our members and friends will read the reports of our Ministries and Committees and celebrate all we have done together in 2019.
It is a bit tricky for the Moderator to write such a report: the activities and accomplishments belong to the Ministries. The Moderator’s job is mainly to organize the Council meetings, facilitating communication and collaboration between the Ministries. We don’t do the work but we do get to watch it being done. It has been a privilege to watch this Council at work as its members all exemplify servant leadership and unselfish team play.
Looking back on 2019, I recall that I began the year with the realization that CUCC was not invulnerable to the many social and economic changes impacting traditional churches: I should expect the unexpected. (And my expectations were realized.)
I also formed an intention—a somewhat shaky and vague intention, to be sure—that the Council would begin a real strategic planning process in 2019. I wasn’t sure what the process would look like or how we’d get started. It seemed to have something to do with hiring a consultant and finding money we didn’t have in the budget. I doubted I had the skills to pull it off.
But I’d gotten a sense for its urgency. In particular, I felt challenged by the presentation Nick Carter made to us in February. He threw out a question inspired by I Corinthians 14 that left me breathless: “What is the point of an instrument that makes an uncertain sound?”
In the passage Carter referenced (not one I’d ever really pondered before), Paul contrasts the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues with that of prophesy. He makes it abundantly clear that speaking in tongues is a good to do but prophesy is much more to be prized. The difference is that those who speak in tongues speak mysteries intelligible only to God; in so doing, they build up themselves by attending to their spiritual life. But “those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.” Their speech builds up the church. (I will come back to this insight.)
You might remember that Nick Carter encouraged us to develop our “brand”—a term I don’t really like—but by it he meant the unique and compelling message we offer the world. Now, there’s a goal I can embrace even if I am not sure what it means. Furthermore, he made the audacious claim that if we were to deliver our message clearly and authentically, everything else would practically fall into place: our financial sustainability, our leadership, even our membership rolls. (If that sounds naïve and overly optimistic, keep in mind that we profess to believe the promises of Jesus which are much more audacious.) You might see why I embraced the urgency of thinking strategically and getting those thoughts written down somehow.
The short version of what happened to my bold intention is that a few weeks later, Pastor Jenny Schultz-Thomas told us that she was resigning. (Expect the unexpected!) Instead of working on articulating our “brand” or writing a strategic plan, we needed to focus our energies on more immediate and urgent tasks.
Another way of looking at our year is that we have been a church. A church is God’s training school for imperfect people, trying to figure out what Jesus meant by those puzzling, koan-like parables through the shared work of living with uncertainty and coping with pesky material concerns like maintaining an aging building and filling the pulpit.
While we didn’t pursue a formal process of strategic planning, though,we may yet have learned more about our “brand.” To paraphrase Parker Palmer, we can “listen to our [shared] life” for this year’s lessons. What has life taught us about who we are, what we value most, and the unique and compelling message God is calling us to offer the world? In looking back on the events of the year, I have taken to heart some particular messages. And I hope you can help me hear those I’ve missed.
First, in the wake of Pastor Jenny’s announcement, we got busy. People really mobilized. She made her announcement to the congregation a few weeks before Easter. In the midst of our most important season, the Deacons began to organize the Search and Call process. Remarkably, the Search Committee for the settled pastor was commissioned in the May 5th worship service. The Deacons formed a second search committee, as well, to find us a bridge pastor. (In fact, they found a team of two!) One of the most striking things about these committees is how fresh the faces on them have been. Notice two miracles happened: new congregational leaders emerged and they were embraced by the rest of us.
In addition to emerging leaders breaking through, the mobilization of our people seems to me to be related to an exceptionally creative spirit blowing through our doors. In big and small ways, we are innovating.
- Our amazing Bridge Pastor team has helped us see ourselves with fresh eyes. They have insights that, if we heed them, can foster better communication and relationships.
- The tremendously successful Wednesday night dinners provide a new space for us to play and have fun together.
- The repurposing of some of our rooms—a collaborative effort of the Property and Religious Education Ministries—opens possibilities for new congregational activities as well as more collaboration with neighborhood partners. We are finding ourselves even more open to being good stewards of our building and grounds.
- We are reorganizing our governing structure. To start us off the Social Justice Ministry and the Economic Justice Task Force joined forces and renamed themselves “Do Justice.”
- Other ministries experimenting with new models for their work are Community Outreach, Welcome and Fellowship, and Religious Education.
- Communications and Stewardship are learning to use our data resources more effectively.
- In response to challenges we’ve encountered this year, we are looking at our personnel and safe church policies.
One of our tasks in 2020 must be revising our Constitution and By-Laws. Understandably, we want to wait until we have a new settled pastor to assess our organizational structure and make definitive changes. But I am encouraged that the congregation seems not just willing to roll with change but enthusiastic about it. I haven’t heard much “we’ve always done things this way” lately.
In June, Gary Smith and I attended the Southern Conference Gathering. In my opinion, we can be proud of being part of the most diverse conference in the UCC. The Southern Conference embodies some of the challenges of diversity: its leadership struggles to meet the multiple and conflicting needs of its member congregations. But in challenge is great opportunity. I hope CUCC can engage whole-heartedly in addressing those challenges and taking advantage of the opportunity to be in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ whose experience is very different from ours.
Despite the diversity in the Conference, I heard concerns from other congregations much like those I hear at CUCC:
- Recognition that the membership is aging
- Strong interest in understanding and reaching young adults
- Sadness and bewilderment at the cultural changes that impact on attendance, participation, and financial support of the church
- Aging institutional infrastructure that takes a large share of budgets but may be under utilized
It strikes me that we and our sisters churches need to heed Paul’s admonishments to the church at Corinth. We must decide whether we are going to place our priority on speaking in tongues or on prophesying. Remember that Paul says there is nothing wrong with speaking in tongues; it is talking to God; it engages Spirit. But Paul emphasizes that it is better to speak in words that other people—especially people outside our community—can understand.
This insight seems on its face almost too obvious. But what if our traditional ways of being church are the cultural equivalent of speaking in tongues? What if how we’ve organized ourselves, built our institutions, and do church make us unintelligible to everyone but God? What if we need to learn unfamiliar words (like “brand,” for example) to build up, encourage, and console our neighbors? What if choosing to be prophetic necessitates imagination and courage? What if we have to change, not just our words, but how we think?
Listening to our congregational life in 2019, I hear your willingness to consider these questions in 2020. We are on our way, walking further down the path God has prepared for us.
2019 Yearly Report submitted to the congregation by Ellen Beidler, Moderator