John Louk

How are we doing at making disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world? In assessing the state of Salem, there are some benchmark statistics to which we want to pay attention. Salem’s membership includes 231 people. This is significantly less than previous years as our Charge Conference in November removed 79 members who had become inactive. This past year 7 members died and 5 were transferred to other congregations. We received 24 new members the previous year, and in 2012 we received another 19 new members (15 by transfer from other congregations and 4 by profession of faith). We continue to grow! Our worship attendance decreased a little. We now average 175. With our membership at 231, however, we are getting healthier. Whereas many congregations see about 30% of their members in attendance, Salem has 75%! The healthiest congregations, though, have greater attendance than membership. Not only are all the members present but several new people are visiting, too. That i...

“ I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” John Wesley There is an old story about a young man who approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. The foreman said, “That depends. Let’s see you fell this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “You can start Monday.” Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday rolled by. Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.” Startled, the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.” “Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.” “But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first and leave last. I even worked through my coffee breaks!” The foreman, sensing the young man’...

“Christians are made, not born.” Tertullian (c.160-c.225) How do we live as the church? The Early Church Father, Tertullian, said “Christians are made, not born.” That means, living as the church doesn’t come naturally. It takes work and dedication. The kind of people we become is directly related to the habits we practice in life. Our founder, John Wesley, taught us to order our lives with habits. Wesley called these practices the Means of Grace and said they fall into two categories: "works of piety" (spiritual disciplines) and "works of mercy" (doing good to others). Today, the church teaches us many practices for our lives so that we will live as the body of Jesus in the world. The General Board of Discipleship has helpfully defined and expanded on these practices we teach in the church here . I offer this helpful description in its entirety, hoping that we will obey what the Apostle Paul told the church at Philippi, “Keep putting into practice all you l...

The earth is the LORD'S and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it. Psalm 24:1 Being stewards means that we are like managers of the household. The word “steward” comes from an Olde English word that referred to the ward, i.e. the keeper, of the pig sty. The steward didn’t own the pigs but was a responsible farm hand with oversight of the entire hog farming operation. The extended farm family, including all the hired help, had enough to eat and a decent livelihood if the steward did his job well. “Steward” translated from the Greek New Testament word oikonomous , literally means “manager of the household.” We are all stewards of God’s household, the divine reign over all creation which Jesus described as “the kingdom of God.” ( Stewardship 2009-2012 . Copyright © 2008 by Cokesbury.) As stewards we manage God’s household, not ours. God, the Creator and owner of all that is, says, “Here, I’m giving you all that I have. Take care of it. Manage it. Be fruitfu...

Two years ago Salem's Leadership Board accepted an invitation to participate in the Healthy Church Initiative (HCI), a process of renewal for growing healthy and fruitful congregations in the Iowa Annual Conference. Initially, only a handful of congregations were recommended for this opportunity. We completed the first steps (a clergy group and a lay group) and are now ready to prepare for a church consultation. I have begun meeting with the Peer Mentor group, the continuous learning community that leads us into and supports us through the consultation process of HCI. The ultimate purpose for consulting is to help a congregation more effectively join God in God’s mission for the Church. We have a clear process to follow as we prepare for the consultation. We need to create a Prayer Team that will commit to pray regularly for the church and for changes. We also need a vision team to help develop urgency and create vision. Our Leadership Board will oversee the process and...

The week of September 4, 2012, the old Salem United Methodist Church building was torn down. It had been destroyed in the flood of 2008 and sold to the city in the "voluntary buyout" in early 2011. Much of the building was torn down when work began on the morning of Tuesday, September 4. At one point, most of the building was down except for the sanctuary and bell tower. The workers removed their equipment and took a break. In the stillness of the morning, the roof over the sanctuary collapsed on its own and brought the rest of the building down except for the bell tower and front facing. The bell tower finally came down on Friday, September 7. It was an emotional week for many of the Salem people and for many who were connected in other ways, such as through the Walk to Emmaus. We showed this video of the church building being torn down during worship on Sunday, September 9.

Over the last couple of months I posed a question to the Leadership Board. Since giving continues to grow, should Salem try to pay our apportionments in full this year? Or should we be careful about paying in full too quickly and instead use the money first to do what’s necessary to grow and be more healthy? If you don’t know, apportionments are the way we United Methodists give financial support throughout the world to things like new churches, missionaries, Africa University, ministerial education, and the cost of bishops. Bishop Lindsey Davis says “Apportionment giving financially underwrites United Methodist ministry and mission beyond the local church.” Currently, Salem’s apportionments are a little under $4,200 each month. Until the last two years, Salem has always paid its apportionments. They were paid fully in 2008 and 2009 after the flood, but it hurt the church. We used $29,000 in cash reserves to pay our apportionments and it left us in a very difficult situation. A c...