“Church Chat”
1 Corinthians 12:12-31b
January 21, 2007
Saint Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
Reverend Mark Trotter, now retired, tells a story in one of his Pentecost Day sermons about a man who stopped him and asked him if he could have a ride to the airport. The man was from Hamburg, Germany, and had lost his wallet. Mark says that he really didn’t have the time. He had a meeting back at the church, but something inside of him said yes to the request.
The man told a bit of his story. When he lost his wallet, he went to a church of his denomination. They told him that they could not help him. They sent him to a place they were sure could help him. He had to walk there and by the time he arrived, the shelter was closing. They told him that they could not help him and that he could go to the church next to them. He did that. They wouldn’t help him either. All he really wanted was a ride to the airport.
Mark says that the longer the man talked, the angrier he became. Who he was really mad at was the church. He talked about lip services churches give. He talked about pastors. He said, “I always help people in my home town. No one here would help me.” He turned back to the subject of pastors. He said, “Pastors are as phony as they come. When you need one, they are no where to be found.” He was quiet for a minute. Then he asked Mark Trotter, “You’re not a preacher, are you?” Mark says that he was afraid to say yes.
When they arrived at the airport, Mark apologized for the way the people of San Diego had treated him. He apologized for the churches and the pastors who had treated him less than he deserved. Then Mark said, “You lost your wallet. That probably means that you don’t have any money. Let me give you some money.” Mark opened his wallet and gave the man all the cash he had. The man did not want to take it, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He agreed to take the cash, but then he said, “When I get back home, I want to send you some money back.” Mark said, “You don’t have to do that.” The man said, “I insist. Do you have a card?” Us United Methodist preachers have similar cards. On them is the logo of our church, the cross and the flame. The particulars of the church Mark served were on his card. The man looked at the card and asked, “You are a pastor, aren’t you?” Mark answered, “Yes I am.” The man was frozen. Mark had to open the car door for him. As Mark drove away, he felt good about what he had done. He felt good about the church. Still, he could not help but to think that the man was right about the church. The church ought to be a caring, compassionate community. The church ought to try to make a difference in people, to people, in the world. That is the kind of thing that I want to say to you in our sermon this morning.
Now if you are going to talk about the church, if you are going to preach about her, it would be hard to find a better scripture lesson than today’s lectionary lesson from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church.
Being a pastor in the city of Corinth would not have been easy. And being the pastor of this particular congregation was no walk in the park. Christianity was not the only game in town of Corinth. When you went inside the doors of the church, things didn’t get remarkably better.
Someone has said that the Corinthians favorite past time was fighting. One of their greatest arguments was about their spiritual gifts. I am still waiting for a church where that argument happens. It seems that the Christians there thought that there was a rank and order to the gifts. If you could do a certain thing, if you had a certain gift, it meant you were closer to God.
Evidently the argument was bad enough that the church leaders sought the counsel and advice of their founding pastor, the Apostle, Paul. Paul was quick to say that everyone’s gift is necessary for the common good of the congregation. He also said that the gifts were made possible by God’s Holy Spirit. Paul went further than that. He said that when the members work together, the church functions as it is supposed to function and divisions do not happen.
Paul must have been concerned about divisions. He wrote this line, “Now you are the body of Christ.” Paul does not write that we are like the body of Christ. He did not write, “One day you might be the body of Christ. Paul says, “You are the body of Christ.” This insight may be the greatest in all of Paul’s writings. The great preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “The day Paul was inspired to compare the church to a human body, he gave us an image of ourselves that we are still growing into.” No doubt it is a strong image.
The image says, in part, that the only Jesus people will see and know is the one they see and know in us. We could put it this way, “God relies on us to be Christ in the world.”
Well, with the issue of the hands and the feet and the eyes and the ears working together, Paul moves on and gives us a listing of spiritual gifts. This is not Paul’s only listing. He lists spiritual gifts in other letters to other churches. Here Paul mentions everything from preaching and prophesies to those who are able to help others. Here is the danger of listing spiritual gifts. Many opt out. Many say, “What I am good at is not on that list. I must not have a spiritual gift!” Not true. Paul does not mention some of our greatest gifts. Paul does not say anything about the gift of prayer. The apostle does not mention the gift of a kind word, or the gift of answering the phone. No where in his listing does Paul mention changing air conditioning filters or light bulbs. Paul does not say a word about volunteering at the Rice Depot. Bryan Gray pointed this out to us at our staff meeting the other day. “Nowhere does Paul mention the gift of music.” Aren’t we grateful to our chancel and bell choirs? What would our worship services be like without them?
So today is the day that I wanted to talk to you about how this body of Christ, this church, is doing with the gifts that God has given us. I want to say a word about where we have been. I also want to say a word about where I hope we are heading in 2007. But let me quickly say this. I want you to know that I believe that Saint Paul is one of the healthiest churches I have ever been a part of. It is a joy to be your pastor.
So let me tell you where we have been. Let me give you the numbers. In 2006, our worship attendance decreased slightly for the first time in my tenure. The average in 2005 was 245 persons in weekly worship services. In 2006 the number was 243. It is just two persons but we need to head the other way. That is why I want to set a goal for us of an average worship attendance in 2007 of 250 persons. We can achieve that. Two different years in my tenure, our average worship attendance has risen by nineteen and sixteen persons. You have a part. Invite someone to church.
Our membership is now 456. We baptized eight children, took in a confirmation class and had another profession of faith. Eleven of our number died last year. We lost another to another United Methodist congregation and four to other churches. Twenty-nine persons joined our church in 2006. That means we had a net gain in membership of thirteen persons. That means that on the average, one person joined our church every month. We also can do better than that. You have a part. Invite someone to church.
In 2006 our Sunday School attendance rose for the first time in several years. In 2005, our average was 130. In 2006 the average was 137. We can attribute the rise in the beginning of Rotation Sunday School. Look at the children. Prior to the beginning of this new way of doing education, the highest Sunday School attendance was thirty-four. The lowest was eight. Since September, the highest number is sixty-five and the lowest is thirty. We averaged fifty-two children each week during the months of September through December. More adults are involved in teaching in this model, too. Twenty-three different people have led in class rooms. There are twenty-eight people who are actively involved in these classes as opposed to the once ten or eleven. At our board meeting, Karen Branton said, “If you haven’t led a rotation, you are missing something!”
In 2006, we began a way of doing ministry called Every Member in Ministry. Talk about your hands and your feet and your ears and your eyes. We made some mistakes in 2006. We will not make the same ones in 2007. So far we have received two hundred and forty-four (244) pledge cards committing to one thousand and sixteen (1016) ministries. When we join the church, we pledge our prayers, our presence, our gifts, AND our service. We call it stewardship. I’ll return to that subject in just a minute.
In 2006 we said good-bye to three staff members, an unusually high turnover for our small staff. Margaret Srygley completed her master’s degree and entered the work force. Stephanie Stone left our finance office and Helen Stegall left our church office. We realigned one staff position and welcomed Missy Goucher as our new Administrative and Financial Assistant. In the fall we asked Suzie Van Patten and Mike Smith to join our staff. Suzie is doing a great job. She visits in the homes of our homebound members and helps with older adult ministries. Mike Smith came on as our Minister of Discipleship and also is doing a great job. On Friday Mike enrolled in seminary and begins classes this week. We are proud of his commitment and leap of faith.
Now let me get back to the subject of stewardship. Let me talk about it in these terms. What if I said to one of our members, “Jack I know a wonderful girl. Her name is Jill. She is smart and attractive and a committed Christian. Here is her phone number and address. Give her a call and go by and see her. Oh, and on your way pick up a nice engagement ring.” If you were Jack, what would you say? If I were Jack I’d say, “Slow down, preacher! Don’t you think I should fall in love with her first?” Sure he should.
Here is what I think. I challenge people to give their prayers and presence, gifts and service to the church. We must first give our hearts to God before we commit anything else. We must look at the cross and realize the great cost of following this Jesus.
We have some things to celebrate financially in 2006. We paid off our building debt, once more than 1.2 million dollars. We paid off our debt on the rental property we own. A note burning for both will happen in February. We gave to special offerings totaling more than five thousand dollars. But, for the first time in a long time, we did not fully pledge our budget. Pledged totals for the coming year are $349,000. We put numbers in our budget in line items called loose plate and non-pledged that are based on past giving. This year we put $80,000 in those line items. Our budget for 2007, approved by Church Council, is $446,733. We have ninety-six (96%) of it pledged and accounted for. We are $17,000 short. The increase from last year’s budget is only 2.3% or $10,000. Our budget is not out of line. It is sensible.
We must do better in 2008. Wait. Let me re-phrase that. We must do better now. We are not in trouble financially, but if we want to begin new programs and add staff in 2008 and pledge at our current rate, we can’t do that! We are good about giving to special offerings and paying off debts. Let’s be good about our pledges to the church budget. If you have not made a pledge, please do so today. We have cards available for you to give and to participate in ministries.
Finally let me say where I want us to go. Obviously I want worship and Sunday School numbers to rise, for our membership to increase, and our giving to increase, looking at a percentage of your income and not a dollar amount. Those things are what all pastors want.
I also want us to pay attention to small group ministry in 2007. Small group ministry was the core of the early church. It must be our core, too. Small groups can happen in Sunday School, of course, but I’m talking about something else, small accountability groups, of no more than ten persons. The groups can focus around a number of things. Some may be Bible studies. Others may be women’s studies. A man’s group might be a good idea or those interested in book studies. We will have to start small. My hope is to have three new ones up and running by the end of the year and then go from there. Will you help me with this? Here’s the best way to do it. Say I’ll be in charge and then get nine of the people you enjoy the most (or better yet, nine people you don’t know at all) and get started. I’ll help you. We must take care of our souls this year!
Listen again to the words of Paul, “You are the body of Christ.” Let us pray.
(Thanks to the ministry of Rev. Mark Trotter. I took some liberties with the story he told some years back about the man trying to get home. Thanks to the ministry of Bryan Gray for helping me with some thoughts concerning our lesson for this morning. I dedicate this sermon to the body of Christ, this body of Christ, at St. Paul).