State of the Church 2017

Each year, in assessing the state of Salem, we take a look at some benchmark statistics. Our membership now includes 254 professing adults. We also have 40 baptized infants and children— so 294 total. That’s an increase of 21 members.

This past year 7 members died and 2 withdrew their membership. We received 28 new members. That means we have received 109 new members since arriving at our current location a little over six years ago!

Our weekly worship attendance averaged 210 this past year, a very slight increase from 209 the previous year. This is an area that needs some attention and intention. Gathering weekly for worship is a central action for followers of Jesus. 254 professing members have vowed to be present. Of those, some will be sick or out of town, but we also have 40 baptized children. Their parents vowed to raise them in the church. We also have a significant number of active non-members who regularly worship, and guests join us frequently, too. We could potentially have 300-350 any given week. Therefore, it’s not that remarkable to suggest our average weekly worship attendance should be 250, at least. A vital practice for us is gathering each week to worship our God and to be formed as God’s people in the way of Jesus.

Baptisms and professions of faith are also key indicators, showing us how many new Christians we are reaching. Last year we celebrated 2 baptisms (1 infant and 1 youth). Of our 28 new members, 8 were by profession of faith (4 of those were Confirmations).

How are we doing at making disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world?

So how did we engage our people? In our discipleship pathway, 38 people participated in Connecting Point and 24 of those attended at least one follow up Connect session.

We recorded 20 youth on Wednesday evenings, 17 children in Sunday school, 39 children in VBS, and 130 adults in special Lent small groups, Sunday school, and regular small groups. Therefore, we have engaged 206 children, youth, and adults in learning, growing, and practicing following Jesus.

Financially, our giving continues to increase, including the use of electronic giving through our website. We received $280,000 from giving income while our expenses were $253,000, ending the year with a surplus of $27,000! This is fantastic! By comparison, giving the previous year was $253,000 and we ended $1,600 ahead.

We ended our first three-year capital campaign, Salem Rising, receiving $419,000. Incredibly, this is $14,000 more than was pledged originally! Financial consultants say churches rarely receive the full amount pledged and never receive more. Salem, you are exceptional! Pledging in the fall for our new debt reduction campaign, Generation to Generation, is keeping us on track to meet our responsibilities.

Regarding apportionments, we paid 50% of Conference Missions and Ministries as well as 100% of General Church apportionments (about $25,000). Our goal is to increase again to 60% in 2017. We are working our way back to paying our apportionments in full, supporting the ministry and mission of The United Methodist Church locally and throughout the world.

We make a difference in the world, supporting mission locally and globally. Locally, we support jail ministry (chaplaincy), Green Square Meals (feeding the hungry), the Ecumenical Center (care and services), Helping Hands (for emergency needs), the food bank (feeding the hungry), Change a Child’s Story (giving books to local school children and reading with them), and shelters (Willis Dady, Mission of Hope, Madge Phillips) with both money and our “blessing bags” (hygiene needs). We also gave 481 scarves, hats, gloves, and mittens to 8 grade schools, 3 middle schools, and the Madge Phillips Center.

In Iowa we support Justice for Our Neighbors (free legal services for low income immigrants), Women at the Well (a church in the women’s prison), and the Builder’s Call (helping other congregations with a building project – Salem received this too).

Globally, we help transform the world by supporting African missionaries Larry and Jane Kies, our own Momodu Kamara and Books without Borders (books sent to Sierra Leone), UMCOR health and school kits, Personal Energy Transportation (PET) carts, the Crop Walk (feeding hungry), Heifer International (livestock for farmers and families), and Church World Service (blankets for shelter).

Besides our apportionment giving ($25,000), our mission giving is over $12,000, plus 758 pounds of food, plus tons of books, plus time reading, plus 144 blessing bags, plus 160 school and health kits, plus 3 PET carts! Way to go, Salem!

We also intentionally reached out to the people of our neighborhoods and city. We connected with hundreds and hundreds of people at our Easter Egg Hunt, the Cleaning Up Cancer Carnival, and our Trunk or Treat. We also reached out through our Valentine’s Project (special treats for kids in the hospital), Vacation Bible School, Veteran’s Project (blessing bags for local veterans), Project Linus (hand-made blankets for ill children), and Cocoa and Carols (caroling for neighbors and homebound). All of this is excellent. As we move forward, however, it is essential we determine and implement how best to reach out and engage the unchurched world around us.

After being in our new facility for a year, we completed four more big projects: the new kitchen renovation, housing the bell from downtown, interior decorating, and tuning the audio system in the sanctuary.

We had some big staff changes. Bill Heald (Traditional Music Director) and Louis Busch (Building Superintendent) each retired after serving on staff for twenty years. We had a great traditional music transition with Linda Curson taking over as our new choir director and Julia Titus as our new organist. We also hired a new Administrative Assistant, Julie Lefebure, who did a phenomenal job this past year.

Obviously, 2016 was another fruitful year for us. I’m grateful to be able to present a State of the Church report filled with Good News. Thank you for being a part of Salem!