State of the Church 2012
In assessing the state of Salem, besides the anecdotal evidence there are some benchmark statistics to which we want to pay attention. They include membership, worship attendance, baptisms, professions of faith and participation in connectional giving (apportionments).
Salem’s membership includes 315 people. This past year 8 members died and 6 were transferred to other congregations. We received 24 new members (20 by transfer from other congregations and 4 by profession of faith). That is significant growth!
Our worship attendance continues to grow. Last year we averaged 190 in two services, up from 180 the year before. When we first began gathering in our new location, the 11:00 am traditional service was usually larger. More recently, that has switched and the 9:00 am contemporary service is usually the larger service. They are both vital worship experiences.
Other key indicators are baptisms and professions of faith. Since the earliest times, the vows of Christian baptism have consisted first of the renunciation of all that is evil and then the profession of faith and loyalty to Jesus Christ. Last year we celebrated 4 baptisms (2 adult and 2 infant). Of our 24 new members, 4 were by profession of faith. Baptisms and professions of faith show us how many new Christians we are reaching.
Our giving has definitely increased. We ended the year with over $12,000. We did not pay our apportionments in full, but we did pay 40% of our apportionments for both 2010 and 2011. We did that intentionally because if we pay them fully in 2012 we will be eligible to seek forgiveness for the remaining 60% for those two years. We are part of an amazing turn around financially! We have also continued our mission giving throughout all of this with the support and encouragement of our Mission Committee. On a side note, our treasurers and financial secretary are doing a fantastic job keeping us organized, responsible, and professional with our finances.
Besides these statistical benchmarks, some other wonderful things have happened this past year. We hired two unpaid staff and began bringing the full staff together weekly. We are blessed with good, gifted, responsible leaders. They are leading the ministry of the church, and we are just getting started!
We also tweaked the Leadership Board so those leaders could focus on the administrative tasks of the congregation (Trustees, Stewardship, and Staff-Parish Relations Committee). We changed the focus from “finance” to “stewardship” and have a plan for each quarter of 2012. This first quarter we began Financial Peace University and have 25 people participating. In the second quarter we will focus on Salem’s endowment and planned giving. In the third and fourth quarters we will examine the church finances and personal giving. Again we are blessed with wonderful leaders, those who have led us through the last few years and those who are just beginning to serve on the Leadership Board.
Our Study Committee did a tremendous job analyzing the congregation and the community and the opportunities we have to bring Salem/shalom to our community. At the conclusion of that process, our leaders determined that Salem’s three greatest strengths are our warm welcoming of others, our mission focus, and our teaching. Salem’s three most significant weaknesses are lack of space, lack of youth and youth ministries, and lack of outreach (i.e. hands on mission work transforming the world). The three changes we would like to see happen are a building project, the development of outreach (hands on mission work), and more people engaged fully in the life of the church.
One big task this year will be for our Charge Conference to authorize a building project and elect a Building Committee. The Building Committee will use the Study Committee report and work with an architect to develop preliminary plans. Salem has nearly $500,000 from the buyout. This is good seed money. We will need a capital campaign to raise money for construction and will most likely need to build in phases.
So how are we doing with our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world? We are doing well! As the pastor of this congregation, I am excited and encouraged. We are growing and giving. We are worshiping, reading the Bible and having Christian conversation. We are serving in the church and in the community. We have strong relationships with one another and our neighbors. We engage the world locally and globally. Yes, we do have some have some work to do. For instance, we need to work on defining and implementing this process for making disciples and getting people out transforming the world (the outreach, hands on mission work). But it is happening. God is good and we are having an adventure following the Lord.
I want to share some beautiful and compelling words written to our brothers and sisters in Christ in the latter part of the first century. They speak to us, too. “Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God” (1 Peter 1: 3-4, 14, 18 The Message).
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