Dear Church Family, This week's e-note covers the following topics: Letting Laity Lead 2012 Stewardship Update Bad News with Some Good News Letting Laity Lead: Two weeks ago, I "fired" our entire staff. Not from their job. But from the Church Council. This decision was made with the blessing of our Church Council chairperson, our Lay Leader, and the staff themselves. Before this decision, the Church Council was made up of about half staff members. Although this arrangement had some positive benefits, it diminished the voice of our laity. One of my goals at BUMC is to get substantial input and guidance from the many intelligent and gifted laypersons in our church. Making the Church Council an exclusive lay group (other than the senior pastor) is an important step in moving BUMC toward a more lay led congregation. I'm also working with key lay leaders to create a senior pastor lay advisory team to provide me with regular and ongoing lay input. By necessity, churches our size will always have significant staff leadership, including running the day-to-day operations of the church. But we can-and will-involve more laypersons in leading BUMC.
2012 Stewardship Update: To date we have received 816 pledge cards totaling $3,586,794 in pledges, for an average pledge of $4,396. We are expecting over 1,200 pledges by January, so we have plenty of work left to do. Since our finance committee uses this information to plan next year's budget, it would be extremely helpful for you to bring your pledge to church this weekend, or mail it in this week, or pledge online right now by clicking here. If you prefer, you can call in your pledge to our Director of Finance, Lisa Gray, at 324-8201 or our Financial Secretary, Joyce Brown, at 324-7246. All the ministries of BUMC depend on your faithfulness, so if you have not yet made your 2012 commitment, please do so right away. Bad News with Some Good News: The past decade was not kind to American churches. The median worship attendance at a typical congregation decreased from 130 to 108, a 17% decline. (By the way, small churches are the norm in America. 50% of American churches average 100 or less in worship. Churches our size are an anomaly. Congregations like BUMC that average more than 2,000 in worship represent less than one half of one percent of American churches.) Anyway, the bad news is that American congregations of all denominations are getting smaller every year. The reasons for this decline are numerous, complex, and beyond the scope of this e-note. But the good news is that some churches are bucking the overall trend. A small number of churches in every denomination and in every geographical region, representing every theological persuasion and congregational size, are thriving. So in spite of the overall decline of American Christianity, it's possible for churches in the 21st century to be vibrant and fruitful. That has been true of BUMC for most of its past, and I'm convinced it will also be true for our future. Before concluding, I want to thank our children and youth and their leaders for a powerful and inspirational concert in the
Narthex on Sunday afternoon and evening. It deeply moved me to see so many young people sharing the message of Advent and Christmas through music. I hope to see you this weekend as we observe the second Sunday of Advent. My message, based on Luke 3:2-11, will be called, "Are you Ready for Christmas?" Finally, it was good to receive Dane Kepley as a new member. Welcome to our church family. In Christ's Love and Service, Martin