Senior
Minister’s Annual Report 2008
Last Fall, when a group from our church attended the ordination of the
Rev. Cynthia Chertos, pastor of our UCC church in Silverton, the Rev. Co
DuToit preached a wonderful sermon called “Counting Sheep.” He reminded us
that more and more frequently, church publications of all kinds are
encouraging churches to “grow” which sounds like a good thing.
The problem is their
definition of “growth” which is always about increasing numbers of
members. Now, that’s not a bad thing to do if we want to share the UCC
faith message with more and more people. And by that standard, if we want
to compare ourselves with other churches in the Rocky Mountain Conference,
we’re doing a pretty fair job.
In our New Members’ class
in May, we added 11 new members to our rolls. We’ll have another New
Members’ class in the Fall, at which time we’ll add additional members.
How does this compare with other churches in our Conference? Last year,
for the entire year’s total, approximately half of our churches (36 out of
80) added zero – none – no new members. Another third of the churches (26
out of 80) added 10 or fewer members, most of them added between one and
four new people for the year. One church added (for the whole year) the
same number we just added in our most recent New Members’ class. And about
a fifth of the RMC churches (17 of 80) added more than 12 new members.
Friends, that means we have had more numerical growth in the past six
months than 80% of the other churches in our Conference had all year last
year – so maybe it’s time to stop beating ourselves up for not growing
“more.”
Co’s point in his sermon, however, was that “growth” in the church should
never be just about numbers. It should be about growth in faith, growth in
mission, growth in spreading the Good News. And by those standards, we are
truly excelling!
In the past few years,
our church has taken on new life and developed all kinds of new growth
opportunities. Chuck Holmgren’s and Gary Bryant’s adult classes have been
hugely popular and well-attended, our Women’s Retreats at Whitewater
continue to be deeply meaningful sources of spiritual growth, our Bagels &
Books participants share their passion for reading in spirited ways, and
this year we started a monthly Spiritual Movie Night that has been
much-enjoyed. Our children’s faith was nurtured in their Sunday School
classes, in Kids’ Times offered by both our ministers and some of our
members, and by their participation in the Souper Bowl of Caring and the
Church World Service Blanket Project mission activities. Personally, the
book I wrote while on sabbatical (and I thank you again for your support)
was published in March, and in May was listed by Christian Century as one
of the top five Best Sellers from Pilgrim Press!
Our Prayer Shawl group,
Bereavement Committee, Shepherds, Prayer Chain, and Caregivers’ Support
Group participants offer beautiful and compassionate care to our members,
their families, and people in our community. Our Fall Sukkoth-booth
collected enough food to feed dozens of families, and a group of hardy
souls traveled to the San Luis Valley to minister at La Puente. At
Christmas time, instead of a single mission project for the community,
this year we sponsored four projects! New volunteers showed up every time
to support our Respite Night ministry. People supported Homeward Bound by
baking cakes, supporting the special lasagna fundraiser dinner in January,
buying Women’s Bean Project soups, and cooking and serving meals at the
Shelter. Our members and friends gave generously of their gifts to support
One Great Hour of Sharing, Our Church’s Wider Mission, Neighbors in Need,
the Christmas Fund, Strengthen the Church, and C.R.O.P. Walk. You brought
gift cards, children’s books, and jammies for Latimer House, cans and
boxes of food for the Community Food Bank, men’s socks, razors, and towels
for the Day Shelter, eyeglasses and hearing aids for Julie Krueger’s
mission trip to Kenya, toiletries and hygiene products for the Child &
Migrant Center in Palisade, and sheets, towels, dishes, glasses,
tableware, and pans (as well as cash donations) to furnish the new
low-income apartments that Catholic Outreach is building. (Continued on
Page 5)
