A Post-Modern Dilemma

For Lutherans, especially in the Metro New York area, the gradual demise of Christendom has had a seriously debilitating effect on churches. Lutherans once numbered some 10% of the population in this area, but now the numbers have diminished greatly, resulting in many churches being closed and great anxiety among clergy and parishioners who are stuck in old patterns they once relied upon quite heavily.

 

I just got home from a Ministerium gathering at a beautiful ELCA church located in Times Square. Over 120 clergy of our synod gathered to talk about the impending election of a new bishop to follow one who served eleven years before moving up to our church headquarters in Chicago where he now serves as Director of the Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission unit, a unit that controls 30% of the budget of the ELCA.

 

At the meeting, pastors were lamenting the fact that so many churches are in peril of closing, (roughly 35% of the 210 churches in Metro New York Synod.) Some churches are staying alive with attendance of 4-10 on any given Sunday, supported by endowment funds provided by previous generations. The anxiety level is high, and yet there is great resistance to doing things like evangelism or disciple-making because "Lutherans don't do that sort of thing." Many clergy would prefer to simply continue doing the Lutheran liturgy, "preaching Law and Gospel," being "faithful to the Lutheran Confessions," and "speaking out for social justice." There is very little creative thinking about how churches could do anything to deal with their situations differently, and even less openness to experimenting with new forms and approaches to developing collaborative relationships between nearby churches.

 

At the same time, many lack any understanding about how to even speak to a post-modern society (if there were anyone out there willing to come into the churches to listen to them.) Reaching out intentionally to unchurched people or to a younger-than-70-year-old generation, is something we were not trained for, and something which many show little inclination for.

 

Reading this, I realize how pessimistic this sounds. Perhaps I am just venting a bit from the session we had. But it is not helpful to talk about what kind of bishop we need unless we can talk about what sort of new leadership system we would need in order to begin converting the thinking of clergy and empowering the gifts of laity. Such reluctance seems to me to be simply sticking our heads in the sand.

 

How the changes in society cause by the demise of Christendom and the advent of post-modernism influence the way I do ministry is that I have learned that a different kind of pastoral leadership is needed in the congregation I have served for 25 years. For the past few years, especially since the attack of 9/11, I have been focusing on developing empowering leadership, identifying and using the spiritual gifts of the baptized community, and encouraging the free exchange of ideas and creative new approaches to ministering to the congregation and the community. At Hope we developed what we call "Total Life Caring Ministry," a new way of being church. As a result of this approach to ministry, I have seen many people taking greater responsibility for their ministries in the congregation, and there is a growing sense of empowerment among people in their daily lives, at work, at school, and in their families.

 

On a week-by-week basis, I am seeing more people actually bringing people with them to worship and to other activities of the congregation. They have a greater awareness of and appreciation for the gift they have received in the gospel, and they are growing out of their reluctance to take the risk of inviting others to share in their "experience of church."

 

They sense the impact of the changes taking place in society and they look to their church to help them keep a clear vision of a better world and to enable them to help make that vision happen in whatever way they can.

 

This is not easy. Leaders still need to grow into their roles as leaders, and newcomers need nurturing and support from others in order to find a home in the Christian community. As the only ordained pastor for some 1,600+ people, I find this rather daunting. I rely heavily on the support of gifted lay members and part-time staff members to keep the church growing spiritually and in numbers.

The Elephant

Last week when I gave my February Pastor's Report to the Congregation Council, I ended the list of items with the words "The Elephant."

I'm not sure anyone really noticed the item until I reached it as I went down the list. No one asked me what it meant, and no one knew what it meant either.

What I was referring to was the informal discussion that has been going on between members of the Council and even among staff members about my future as pastor of Hope. What caused the discussion to arise is the fact that this spring, at our Metro NY Synod Assembly, we will elect a new bishop for our synod after having Steve Bouman serve in that office for nearly twelve years, the longest term of any bishop of our synod since the 1988 merger that formed the ELCA.

Why were church members talking about me? Those who know me best know that I have been very active in leadership roles over the 25 years I've served as pastor at Hope. I was Conference President for the Long Island Conference of the Eastern District of the ALC prior to the merger. I was also active in the work of the Lutherans Cooperating in Metro New York Evangelism Committee for several years, in which role I organized several large scale evangelism events for the churches of Long Island and offered evangelism workshops as well.

Then as the ELCA was being formed, I was drawn into the work of the "Transition Team" that formed the Metro New York Synod. I was eventually chosen to serve on the Synod Council for several years, and that was followed by an appointment to serve as the Metro NY Synod representative to the Region 7 Coordinating Council for a four-year term that lasted five years.

Along the way I also served for two 2-year terms as Dean of the Peconic Conference after which I was selected to serve for two years as chair of the Synod Re-organization Task Force. Now I am serving the second half of my second 4-year term as Dean of the conference (a total so far of ten years as Dean), and I am a Coordinator for and chair of the Commission for Evangelical Outreach and chair of the synod's Mission Planning Team.

All these things have been uncompensated volunteer responsibilities (except for a small stipend I receive as one of the three coordinators for the Commission for Evangelical Outreach.)

So again, why are members talking about me? I think it's because when they look at this synod resume, they think my name will be on the list of potential candidates for the office of bishop.

It's flattering to be thought so highly of by members of our congregation and staff. I am honored just by the thought that I could serve in such an important role in the church. But I think that with respect to our synod, I have probably reached my "peak" of responsibility. We have a very liberal synod, even for the ELCA, and from the very beginning our synod's bias has been clearly focused on the urban character of this great Metropolis in which we live. I am a native Long Islander who is still impressed by the huge buildings in Manhattan and goes into the city mainly for meetings. I am used to spending hours on the LIE and the LIRR just to get places, and I still think of everything beyond the bridges as "upstate."

The reason I put this item on the list for the Pastor's Report is that the discussion that was going on made me realize that as a congregation we all need to be thinking about what the future holds for us. Now that I am getting to the age when people start asking, "Are you thinking about retirement?" I realize that I need to be thinking about what our future as a church should be.

What does our future have in store for us at Hope? What should we be striving towards during the next six or seven years before I reach the traditional "retirement age?" How am I going to continue to provide helpful and useful leadership for Hope during the remaining years God gives me to serve here?

As important as these questions are to me personally, I know that I cannot answer them on my own. We need to be asking these questions together and working to develop a strategic plan for the foreseeable future. That's why I proposed to the Council that this spring we should select people who have the gifts we need to provide leadership in planning our church's future. Who should be on this team? I think that 4 or 5 really gifted people are enough to get the ball rolling if we empower them to do so. If we organize our efforts carefully, a small group can stimulate a response from many of our members. That way the end product will be the result of a large-scale collaborative effort rather than just a collection of the exotic ideas of a select few.

In my mind THAT'S the elephant we need to talk about. Let's pray and think together about how God can carry out His mission here through us in the years we still have together. I am confident that if we get started on that now, the future will be full of exciting outcomes and miraculous results.

GREETINGS METRO NY SYNOD “CYBER-FRIENDS”

Today, when I went to the church , I discovered that the shipment of the Christmas Lutheran New Yorker had arrived. I was eager to see it because I was interviewed a few weeks ago by Wendy Healy, and she told me that the article would come out in this issue.

Right in the middle of the issue is the article she wrote. Three pastors are highlighted—Pastor Many Derr from St. Peter's in Manhattan (Citicorp), Paul Milholland from St. John's Lindenhurst, and me.

    The article was written to encourage pastors and congregations to make a serious effort to use the internet as a means for contacting the "outside world," as well as keeping in touch with church members and supporters. Perhaps you are one of those who read the article and are reading this as a way of figuring out what is possible for you to accomplish.

    I give credit to Pastor Derr for the idea of publishing the ANCHOR NOTES weekly (more-or-less) electronic newsletter. Pastor Derr shared with the internship cluster (pastors and seminary interns) last spring about what he was doing. I looked at Microsoft Publisher and found templates for publishing e-mail newsletters and used the mailing list I had accumulated in my Microsoft Outlook program as a starting point. ANCHOR NOTES goes out to those who request it, as a form of e-mail, but it can be viewed by interested people on our church's website (www.hopeluth.com) where it is displayed as a pdf file each week. Its name is derived from the monthly newsletter we publish at Hope, the "ANCHOR" and from the weekly 4-page newsletter we hand out on weekends called "ANCHOR LINES." All of these have the goal of keeping people connected (anchored) to their church.

    The blog came about as a result of signing up on blogspot.com. They provide the basic elements of putting a Blog together. I recently added a new one for our Peconic Conference called "Peconic Postings," (www.peconic.blogspot.com). Our goal is to open up a channel for pastors and laity to share information about their churches and the activities and programs that may be of interest to others. Now since our conference is very large, it is not likely that there will be many who will travel to another parish for a local event, but the principle is sound. Conferences that are more geographically compact should discuss how they could use this means of communication to advance their mission.

    As for websites, there are many ways to get started. Often an Internet Service Provider will offer free website space and provide templates to get going with. Verizon does that and others do too. I use Go-Daddy because they are a bit outlandish in their approach to the internet. And they're cheap. They also provide templates for a small fee. The Total ministry concept is at the heart of the site: www.totalministry.net. On that site I am able to add photos and papers I've written as well as resources from others. Another site I am working on is for the Commission for Evangelical Outreach, www.mnysceo.net .

    Anyway, I don't spend a lot of time of this work, but I've been very encouraged when people visit our church and tell me that they checked out our church website before coming. Thanks to Art Stahl, who is a retired Math teacher, we have been able to keep the site up to date and make improvements to the site as we learn more and more about what we can do online. Nearly every new family that has come to Hope in the past couple of years checked us out on the internet first.

    If you have any comments, you can add them on this blog site or you can mail them directly to me at rohill@optonline.net. If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer them or point you in the right direction. Happy surfing.

BISHOP BOUMAN ACCEPTS NEW CALL

BISHOP BOUMAN TO LEAD ELCA EVANGELICAL OUTREACH AND CONGREGATIONAL MISSION

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was elected Nov. 11 by the ELCA Church Council to a four-year appointment as executive director of ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission (EOCM) beginning Jan. 1, 2008. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 9-11. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 17-23, 2009, in Minneapolis.

"Saying good-bye is so incredibly difficult. I have shared so much of my life with the wonderful lives of the people of this synod and this metropolis. We went through Ground Zero together. We buried our dead and re-imagined the church in the wake of that tragedy," Bouman said. "We have planted so many new ministries among people who are 'the road not taken' by traditional Lutheranism."

"In some ways mission and ministry in the Metropolitan New York Synod has been 'going to school' on what mission and ministry are going to be like all across our country in the coming decades," Bouman said. "I've learned some things, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with the wider church," he said. "We have a lot to learn from each other, and it will be my joy to advocate and agitate for the missional heart of this church as the director of EOCM. I look forward to getting on the road with my many new colleagues who will share with me the ministries to which God has called them," Bouman said.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, announced the council's unanimous election of Bouman here Nov. 13. "Bishop Bouman has exemplified in his parish and synodical ministries leadership that is Christ centered, Spirit gifted, biblically engaged, theologically formed and contextually shaped," Hanson said in a prepared statement. "He has a passion to proclaim Christ, make disciples and build up the church for the sake of the world." "Bishop Bouman developed a Diakonia program with over 800 graduates, some of whom are serving as pastors," Hanson said.

"Under his leadership over 35 new ministries have been initiated. Worship occurs in over 25 languages in the synod," he said. Hanson recalled that Bouman saw the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod through the challenges of dealing with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He listed other "hallmarks" of Bouman's leadership as bishop: "accompanying those who live in poverty, working together for a more just society, extending hospitality to the immigrant, striving to become a multicultural, diverse church while building upon our strong global and ecumenical partnerships."

Bouman will succeed the Rev. Richard A. Magnus, who will retire Dec. 31. EOCM is a program unit of the ELCA. Its 149-member staff facilitates "the efforts of congregations, synods, and related institutions and agencies in reaching out in witness to the gospel to people in all contexts and cultures" across the United States and Caribbean. It works to develop new congregations and ministries, and to renew and equip existing ELCA ministries in evangelical outreach.

Born April 14, 1947, in Melrose Park, Ill., Bouman is a graduate of Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He earned a master of sacred theology degree and a doctorate in ministry from New York Theological Seminary, New York. General Theological Seminary, New York, awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 2001.

Ordained in 1973 by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Bouman served as pastor of Christ and St. Jacobus Lutheran Church, Woodside, Queens, N.Y., and Atonement Lutheran Church, Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y. His pastoral call was transferred to the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) in 1977, and he served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Bogota, N.J., from 1982 to 1992. The AELC, American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church in America formed the ELCA in 1988. In 1992 Bouman became an assistant to the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Metropolitan New York Synod and in 1996 was elected to succeed the Rev. James E. Sudbrock as bishop. The synod elected Bouman to a second six-year term as bishop in 2002.

Bouman is author of several articles, curricula, devotionals and books, including "From the Parish for the Life of the World," published in 2000 by Augsburg Fortress, and "Grace All Around Us," published in 2007 by Augsburg Books. Augsburg Fortress is the publishing ministry of the ELCA. Bouman and his wife Janet are the parents of three adult children.


VISION OF HOPE
“Preparing for a new bishop”

On Monday, November 11, I received the announcement from Synod headquarters that our bishop, Stephen Bouman, accepted the call to serve as executive director of ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission Unit in Chicago beginning January 1, 2008.

I was not “shocked” by the news, but it has had an effect on my thinking ever since, especially as I reflect on my role in providing leadership for our synod’s Commission for Evangelical Outreach. Over the past five years I have been actively engaged in the task of helping our bishop to make the Metropolitan New York Synod a “Great Commission Synod,” and I have been encouraged by the support given by our bishop to the ambitious agenda we were undertaking. We are seeking to bring about nothing less than a total transformation of our synod, the second oldest synod in what is now the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

We’ve worked hard to change from a synod that has was declining in numbers and spirit into an innovative, forward-looking, missionally-oriented, ground-breaking leader in the overall ministry of the ELCA. Now we face an uncertain future once more.

For Lutherans in the United States, the office of bishop is not a very powerful one. One person recently opined that the main power that a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has is to approve letters of call issued by congregations seeking a new pastor.

I don’t know if that is really true, but I do believe that a bishop has enormous power that can be exercised in a very significant way if the bishop has the courage to use it. That power is in the area of providing leadership in setting the course for a synod. The bishop can influence many by making a case for moving in a particular direction because there are many who seek that kind of leadership. James MacGregor Burns in his book called Leadership described that sort of power as “transformational power.” Translated into our setting, that kind of power is able to set the course for the entire synod and summon our greatest and most passionate efforts to see the vision become a reality.

While our bishop has been criticized by some for taking politically-charged stands on issues such as the ordination of gay clergy and immigration, I believe he has done a good job at supporting and encouraging all our clergy and laity to focus on the true center of the church’s mission in the world. He has lifted up the challenge to reclaim the Great Commission as the main agenda for our efforts as a synod, and many of us have stepped forward to meet it.

I hope and I pray that the new bishop we elect next February will be more than just a “maintenance bishop” elected to take over as Captain of the “M.N.Y.S. Titanic.” Our synod may at times have looked a lot like a sinking ship, but I believe that God still has plans for us in Metro New York. I am convinced that our efforts can make an enormous difference not just for the Lutheran churches in Metro New York but throughout the United States. Under Bishop Bouman’s leadership in his new post, we will have a strong ally in our work of making the Great Commission a reality. May God bless him and us through him.

With Love,
Pastor Hill

SHARING OUR GIFTS

On Sunday I gave a brief presentation about a new emphasis we are launching at Hope called "Sharing Our Gifts." This came about as a result of discussion we had in our Natural Church Development Church Health Team in recent weeks.

Our Church Health Team set three goals for our efforts. We will encourage fellow members of Hope to grow in their ability to: (1) Share information; (2) Share ourselves; and (3) Share responsibility. Each of these goals on their own may not sound like much, but when taken together, we believe that they will result in a much richer spiritual life among our members at Hope.

Sharing information is important to the health of our congregation for many reasons. First, we are a large congregation (even though church attendance may appear low to many.) We have over 400 households enrolled as members of Hope, some much more active than others, but they are on the rolls because, as far as we can determine, almost all of them are still living in our community. We don't "write off" families from the church's rolls when they are still living nearby and are not attending another church. In fact, over the past 25 years, I have seen many people come and go and come back into the mainstream of our church's life. I wish they would ALL be active, but that's just not the way things are, so since they're still around, we try to keep some line of communication open to them—the monthly ANCHOR, special mailings, and, if possible, the ANCHOR NOTES e-mail newsletter.

Second, we have four services each weekend, and most people attend a particular service every time they worship. That means that they may not see other members they know for a long time and may be out of touch with them. Add to that the sporadic worship habits of some, and it could be months before members see certain others they are close to.

Third, there are many activities, groups, and programs around the church, and they are constantly coming up with new ideas. Only a few groups like our musical groups, the XYZ Fellowship and the Men's Breakfast have "routine schedules," and even they have special events and information to share from time to time. Keeping people informed can enable people to become more active around the church.

Sharing ourselves is a second goal we are pursuing. It isn't easy, of course, given the nature of our diverse congregational community, to create the opportunities for people to share themselves with each other. One current effort is the creation of some "No Experience Necessary" groups that we hope will get people together in more intimate settings so they can become more comfortable in sharing with each other. Other things we do like the Farewell Party of Josh, the Bowling League, and the Steak Barbeque provide opportunities for people to share themselves beyond the "Hi, how are you?" level. But we still have a long way to go.

The "Sharing Our Gifts" emphasis is related to this particular goal in that it encourages people to look at themselves as "servants of God" with gifts God provides for the work of mission. Through the intimate setting of a personal or small group "interview," people have a chance to share their ideas and insights and fill out a survey of their own gifts that we can draw upon as opportunities arise. In the past, with our "Acquire the Fire" surveys, we collected a lot of detailed and useful information about people. Now, with many newer members and with the inevitable evolution of the Total Life Caring Ministry vision, the Health Team wants to make the interview process a regular part of the way we assimilate new members into our church.

Ultimately, of course, as people become better informed and develop more meaningful relationships with one another, they will be more inclined to share responsibility for the mission God has given us at Hope. Unlike churches in previous generations, Hope's "Lutheran identity" is not linked to any ethnic heritage or immigrant story. Most of our members are "first generation" members of Hope, and many are even first generation Lutherans as well.

When it comes to taking responsibility for ministry, therefore, there is no "Loyalty Button" we can push to get an automatic response to needs or crises that arise from time to time. Our members always respond well to special needs, but that says more about the kind of people that they are than anything else. We are hoping that as members form deeper roots in our congregation and community, they will feel more comfortable about taking responsibility for providing leadership and resources to advance our shared mission.

"Sharing Our Gifts" is being launched now so we can start the process of bringing more people on board for mission and ministry at Hope. As interviews are held and ideas are shared, we will see new things springing up that we can't even imagine right now. That's the way God's Spirit works in our life together.

A recent ELCA advertising emphasis uses a catchy slogan that I like: "God's Mission—Our Hands." I am convinced that "Sharing Our Gifts" is a vehicle that God will bless if we are willing to lend our hands to the effort.

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

In just a few days we will open the doors of our church to welcome children who are coming to Sunday School. This event is something of an annual ritual. We cannot take it for granted that they will be there again, however. In recent years the numbers of children have decreased rather than increased, in spite of the fact that our membership continues to grow, and we are not really sure why that is so.

I am sure that if we tried, we could identify a host of "causes" for this phenomenon, but I have a hunch that in most cases there is little or nothing we could do about them. For example, when soccer leagues schedule their games on Sunday mornings, parents often choose soccer over Sunday School. And, in some families where parents are divorced, Sunday is "Daddy's Day," and Daddy is often not a churchgoer. And, of course there is always the fact that many parents are working very hard all week and Sunday morning may be the only day in the week when parents can sleep in or get chores done.

What we are witnessing is a serious challenge to "church as usual," and it seems that we can no longer count on Sunday School as a source of growth in the church. The oft-quoted statement, "A little child shall lead them" used to be true, but times have changed, and we must also, if we want to see the church continue, much less grow

What can we do to bring about a better outcome? Perhaps we need to begin by asking, "What is Sunday School for, anyway?"

According to the website from McGill University in Canada, Robert Raikes and Thomas Stock first established a Sunday school for the poor and orphaned in Gloucester in 1780. Although there were earlier Sunday schools, Raikes and Stock have become the recognized originators. Their efforts led clergy and laypeople to establish similar schools throughout England, thus setting in motion the Sunday School Movement. By 1800, 200 000 children were enrolled in English Sunday schools, and by 1850, this number had risen to 2 million.

The Sunday schools were organized by middle-class people who found that working-class children required some form of discipline. Sunday and evening schools were established to teach reading, writing, arithmetic and catechism to the 'deserving' poor: enrollment was decided upon by visits with parents, nominations from subscribers, and individual student applications. Students were expected to attend school four to five hours per week, and this was the only schooling that most working class children ever received. The teachers (men and women) were paid, and classes were often held in a person's home, or in rented rooms. "The Sunday schools caught on quickly and were effective because they were simple, became a diversion for the children, and a means for parents to socially elevate the family as a whole. They were often also a means of education for adults, who occasionally attended the schools; children were actively encouraged to take lessons and books home to share with their parents. "The Sunday school also became an important hub of social interaction for a class of children and parents who were rapidly moving away from small, close-knit, rural communities to large, over-populated, urban centers. Lastly, the schools taught catechism to a population that, until that time, only learned it via a rote memorization system with the priest reciting the Lord's Prayer one line at a time, once a week, during the service." Compare the history of Sunday Schools with what we offer children today, and with the type of children whom we reach out to. The differences are obvious. For us, Sunday School is a brief opportunity for volunteer teachers to teach children of church members the Word of God using a variety of teaching resources. The aim of the program is not to provide a sense of community among the children of the members, much less among those who are unchurched. Parents are encouraged to bring their children regularly, but many don't. Also, we do not seek "sponsors" to provide funds to enable the program to operate. All this is not to suggest that Sunday Schools should be abolished, but as a system of making disciples, it deserves much more attention than we are giving to it. Thanks to the public school systems we have, there is no longer a need for teaching the "3 R's." But there still is a need for children to learn values, beliefs, and what it means to follow Jesus Christ in our world today. Unfortunately, because we are reluctant to give more than one hour a week (at most) to serving God, many teachers never come to worship services. Also, those who do worship often do not want to make the added sacrifice required to disciple the youngest of God's children. As a church. we need to decide not only how to disciple children, but whether we really want to disciple them. Only then will we be willing to start looking for new approaches to carrying out the main task of the church. The irony of our current situation is that in our congregation, I believe that the largest occupational group we have is that of "professional teachers." We have many members actively working as teachers, and there are many retired educators as well. They are not only highly trained as educators, but also highly experienced in the actual work of teaching, and their gifts and experience are enormous. Yet I cannot understand why, as gifted as we are, we cannot develop a solid educational program and often have to press untrained, non-professional members into serving as teachers. It's not good enough, as far as I'm concerned, for members to use "I teach children all week long" as an excuse for ignoring their need for spiritual development in the community of faith. At the risk of offending some of the best members we have in the church, I need to say that I think it's time for those who have these gifts and this experience, to step up and offer it to their Lord. What to do about Sunday School is a challenge for all of us to think about, but the greater challenge we must face is the challenge of discipling children and their parents so they can become faithful followers of Christ and productive workers in His vineyard. If we will let the needs of God's children motivate us to take a new look at what we do to disciple them, then the statement, "A little child shall lead them, will prove to be true once again. May that day come soon.

MONEY MATTERS . . . IT REALLY DOES

With permission I am posting a slightly edited version of e-mail correspondence that went back and forth today between the Finance Chair and myself.

----- Original Message -----
From: finance chair
To: Pastor Hill ; Treasurer
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:05 AM
Subject: Our First Finance Committee Meeting

Hi Pastor Hill,

Hope you are doing well.
I had to run out Sunday so I didn't have a chance to chat with you but wanted to connect before the finance meeting. The team and I will chat before the meeting, but I wanted to hear any feedback you can share or advice on structuring the meeting.

I thought maybe kick off with a prayer, introduce the team to everyone (if anyone shows up) and discuss what is going well and what isn't. Also, with the current financial situation does it make sense to address the congregation and let them know the situation we are in and see if they can help out. And, is it appropriate to do some fundraising efforts....even just short term to help things along. Should I work with outeach and other council groups to help make that happen?

As always, thanks for all your help!!
All the best,
Teresa

Reply:

Hi Teresa,

Your agenda sounds good to me. I think that the enormous list of unpaid bills we have right now will dominate the discussion, so we need to talk about that. In the past we have had such lists, but this one seems rather large.

Providing information to members during worship services helps with a short term situation, but usually when the amount we need is so large, we need a stronger approach to addressing such matters with more specific information. Soon we will be sending out a financial update on giving from members. Usually I send out a letter with that report and let people know in general how things are going.

Technically, we are not supposed to use a specifically addressed report as a means for making a specific appeal for funds. Usually specifically addressed letters (or reports) are sent by 1st class mail. In those cases the USPS doesn't care what is sent. They allow specifically addressed financial reports to be sent out bulk mail at a lower cost to us, but in such cases, because the reports are addressed to specific individual givers, they say that we should not use bulk mailed financial statements as a means for soliciting donations.

A long time ago our congregation adopted a strict policy against what is referred to as "fund-raising." This was part of the overall emphasis in the Church that Christians should give to support the mission of the church and not rely upon fund-raising activities to come up with funds for ongoing budgeted expenses we are obligated to pay.

In reality, most of these activities require a lot of work and bring in very little actual money. They also tend to create a negative climate around the churches because people begin to believe they cannot "afford" to fund their own mission.

Also, they allow leaders to gracefully avoid taking responsibility for actually talking to members and ASKING people to make some sacrifices. It also eliminates the pressure on leaders to examine their own personal giving level on a weekly basis? (How much do we as the church's leaders actually contribute each week/month?).

In 1964, when our church began, the average weekly donation was $5 per family. Several gave more than that, but that was the average per family. FORTY YEARS LATER, in spite of inflation on the income side of family finances and increased incomes, the cash average per family is still about $5.

In 1964, $5 would buy about 20 loaves of bread or two tanks of gas. How far could someone drive today on $5 worth of gas? How much does it cost for a beer or a single hot dog at Yankee Stadium these days, anyway? Can you still get into a Mets game for $5? How many Big Macs can you buy with $5?

A Finance Committee might also want to take a serious look at giving patterns over the past few years and also a specific look at our members' giving patterns during the current year.

• Have there been any changes?
• Has giving decreased?
• Are some members giving less than they used to?
• Have larger giving members moved and caused a drop in income?
• How much are the actual givers actually giving? (For example, if there are 60 families that give regularly, what is the average donation per family, and what is the median donation?)

Also it might be interesting to ask how the giving of newer members compares with the giving of long-time members. I think we would be somewhat surprised by the result of such a comparison.

Additional questions can be asked about the spending side of the situation:

• Are we spending more?
• Are we spending money for things we don't need or that could be funded by other means such as the Memorial Fund?
• Are the members of Hope really aware of what it costs to run a church like ours?

Another simple fact is that at Hope we have not worked on a financial stewardship education program or stewardship giving appeal since 2003. In the years that I have served at Hope we have had FOUR intensive programs for capital giving, each of them led by highly paid consultants who flew in from other parts of the country. They helped us back then to build our sanctuary and to build the parking lot, and the consultants were somewhat successful in helping us to increase our regular giving as well.

We need to work on an approach to our ongoing problem with finances. We certainly are not any different from any other Lutheran church in the Northeastern U.S., and we are actually doing much better at Hope than in many other ELCA churches in this part of the country. Even our synod itself is in a very difficult financial situation.

We have a tremendous church with many wonderful, deeply committed people at Hope. I WOULD NOT ASK TO SERVE ANY OTHER CONGREGATION AS PASTOR. Yet we have fear and anxiety about asking people to examine how much and why they give, and we have not yet raised up enough of a vision of what it means to be a truly giving church.

Earlier this spring one church in the Bronx received an award at our Synod Assembly from the ELCA Churchwide office because of their giving. In spite of the fact that nearly evey member of that church earns minimum wage or welfare, the number of people who give at least 10% of their income to support the Lord's work there is very large. I hope that someday we might be able to say something like that about our church as well.

Some folks say, "The Lord will provide." The truth is that the Lord already has provided for us, The issue, I believe, is how we are personally willing to use what God has provided us with. None of us can fund our church's budget by ourselves. But what could 400 or 300 or 200 or even 100 families accomplish if we tried?

With love,
Pastor Hill