Where Are We Going?

2016

In 1999 Time magazine named Albert Einstein the Person of the Century. They considered him the preeminent scientist in a century dominated by science. His name is synonymous with the word “genius.” Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket. He reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there. He looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.” Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, “Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.”

Einstein looked at him and said, “Young man, I know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.”

Where are we going? That information is important to know. As the old proverb says, if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.

We want to be intentional about where Salem is going. So our goals for 2016 were shared at our annual Church Conference on November 2. All but the last one continue to come from the prescriptions we received at our Healthy Church Initiative consultation. This next year we intend to:

1. Develop a process for participation in ministry and mission so that everyone engages in the life of the church.

2. Continue to work on designing a comprehensive, lay caring and accountability system to meet the needs of all who are a part of Salem as well as a system to connect new guests fully into the life of the congregation.

3. Continue to hold "bridge events" outside the building to reach out to our community.

4. Increase the payment of our apportionments from 40% to 50% and then increase another 10% or more each year until we are back to paying 100% of our apportionments.

While our giving has increased over the past year, we will need to be intentional about this last goal. We offered our Salem Rising 3.0 financial commitments to God during worship on November 22. Through November 27, we received 55 commitment cards for a total of $154,072 for Annual Giving. 

We also received 8 new Building Fund pledges totaling $5,290 (well over $400,000 for the three years).

Thanks to your generosity, we continue to be on track and even a little ahead in our Building Fund. This year we also continue to be mostly on track in our Annual Giving, supporting the mission and ministry of Salem with about $230,000. Interestingly, the 55 giving units that made a commitment for next year, however, represents only 55% of those that who participated when we began the Salem Rising campaign in 2013. Perhaps we will still receive more commitments. Or maybe some of us will give regularly without filling out a commitment card.

In the end, we know where we are going, and our goals will help us get there.