A New Year at Grace United Methodist Church
It might seem strange to mark the start of July as a ‘new year’ at Grace UMC, but in many ways…it is! The pastoral appointment from the Bishop runs from July 1st to June 30th, our contracts with outside organizations runs on the same schedule, and the Sunday School program follows that of the school year - September to June. July marks many new starts, so it is time to share some of what we are looking at here at Grace for this new year.
We are looking to hire a new Sunday School Superintendent
We are starting a new program with the Annual Conference called ‘Pathways to Congregational Development’
We are working on our worship services this summer to get the right feel, and we could use your help on stories from you in some sermon series this year!
Details on the covenant from the Special Church Conference
Keep reading for more information or to get in touch with us!
A New Sunday School Superintendent
A few years ago the church had an Associate Pastor that was in charge of overseeing our Sunday School program. Because of the financial deficit of the church that position was removed just as I came on board at Grace in July of 2020. We’ve had a couple of volunteers running the program since then, and they’ve done an admirable job, but even they agree its time to have a hired person running the program again. Let me pause to say thank you to Chris and Patricia, who ran that program the last two years. I deeply appreciate their work, especially while we were dealing with the pandemic and I was still new to the church. They kept our program alive in difficult times, so thanks to both of them. If you see them, be sure to share your thanks for their work, as well.
We have posted the Sunday School Superintendent job description in a number of places: indeed.com, our facebook page, our website, with the Annual Conference and at several universities, including Drew University. We’ve received a few applications, but perhaps the most important advertising is word of mouth. Maybe you know our next great employee at Grace UMC, so if you know someone who might be a good fit, be sure to share the job description. You can find it attached to the button below.
You might also wish to give an additional gift to the church in support of this move. The Church Council talked a lot about whether we had the financial reserves to hire this new person. In the end we decided to take a step of faith, hoping that putting together a great program would lead to more families connecting here at Grace. Eventually we expect the position to pay for itself, but in the meantime money given above your tithes and offerings would go a long way to help us jump start this position and move us in the right direction. You can give online here.
Pathways for Congregational Development
Grace UMC has many rich traditions, but the combined problems of decreased attendance over 30+ years and the pandemic have put our church in a new place. What is the way forward? How can we restore the traditions of Grace and grow as a community? The answers aren’t always clear, and having my first year here with online worship and much of the congregation avoiding public gatherings didn’t help! Our Annual Conference is offering a new program called Pathways for Congregational Development where we can work with a facilitator to assess where we are, consider a plan to move us forward and engage in new and revived ministries. There is no better way to help our church thrive than to do the tough work of evaluating our ministries and deciding where it is that we need to go next, together, as the Grace community doing God’s work. If you are interested in being a part of the team email Pastor Brian Neville at pastor.brian@gumc.org.
Worship in 2022-2023
One last important item we are looking at for this next year are changes to our worship service. I asked the congregation to share with me some of their suggestions for sermon ideas and there were many excellent ones! I took those suggestions to our planning meet from a few weeks ago and asked the group gathered what was most important to them? What suggestions seemed to resonate? I’m happy to say many of the congregations ideas were included in the series we have planned starting in September. Over 60% of sermon suggestions fit in 7 topics. We couldn’t fit all of them into one year, but I look forward to preaching on these great topics!
We also have a few special series we’ll be doing that with which we need your help! In November we are doing a series on those special collections people hold onto. Perhaps you have one? A collection of fine china or special ornaments. Maybe you make art or collect coins? Whatever it is, tell us about it! We want to feature your collections as we share the series in church.
A second series we need help with is in January on fraud. Ever get a phone call from someone offering you a warranty on a car or computer you don’t own? Perhaps you have been defrauded? Maybe someone tricked you into thinking they were someone they were not. If so, tell us your story as we try and encourage others by 1. raising awareness of these schemes and frauds and 2. discern our true identity in Jesus Christ.
We are also spending this summer tinkering with our Sunday morning worship service. We are trying to strike the right balance between contemporary and traditional. We’ve switched to singing hymns for the congregational songs, but keeping contemporary music in other parts of the service (with lyrics so you can sing along). We hear that people enjoy hearing others sing familiar songs in the combined service! People are overjoyed to have the outdoor reception again and that our sound system is working properly (after a significant investment from our Trustees. Thank you Trustees!). We are working on some of the critiques people have offered, such as the song leader being too loud, not having a choir, bringing back the passing of the peace and communion offered in different modes. These are all good suggestions and we’ll work toward answers that satisfy as many people as possible, but know that our goal, ultimately, is not to satisfy people, but to satisfy God. As long as our worship is genuine and we keep loving one another at the core of how we treat one another, I think we’ll be able to get through any differences in worship in a way that pleases God and helps our church grow.
If you’d like to share your stories with the pastor or any other thoughts regarding worship at Grace, feel free to send an email to me at pastor.brian@gumc.org or use the button below.
The Covenant from the Special Church Conference
There was much good discussion regarding the Special Church Conference held June 26th after church. After lunch, discussing the biblical history and meaning of covenants, and sharing the stories of those gathered together, the church voted on the covenant proposed by the Gracious Reconcilers. I sensed many people aiming for a certain kind of church - that Grace UMC is welcoming to all people and that we stay committed to our primary goal of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. I appreciate all those who joined us for the Special Church Conference, and especially those who shared their thoughts and opinions with the gathered group. You can see the policy stemming from the meeting in the church office.
God bless and thanks for your support at Grace UMC, an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ!
In Christ,
Pastor Brian Neville