St Paul's United Church of Christ
50 North Main St.
PO Box 129
Manheim, PA 17545
717-665-2447
The Reverend William J. LaSalle, Pastor
email:stpaulsucc@dejazzd.com

Pastor's Message

February 2008

The Yep/Yap Sessions appear to be a success!  Approximately 200 persons attended one of the “Your Evening with the Pastor” or “Your Afternoon with the Pastor” sessions.  These sessions provided us with an opportunity to laugh together, to begin to get to know one another, and to share some hopes and dreams for the future of St. Paul’s.  I will use this newsletter column to summarize some of my learnings with you.

 The first question asked of each group was what brought you here to St. Paul’s U.C.C.?  Most of the members were born into the church or married into the church.  St. Paul’s has many multi-generational families forming the core of the present membership.

 A fair number of current members transferred in from other churches.  There is a variety of denominational backgrounds from these folks, ranging the spectrum from Catholic/Episcopal through Lutheran/ Presbyterian/Methodist to Brethren/Mennonite, and many others.  Of those members who transferred in, many came from a local church that was experiencing conflict.  Others were invited by a friend or a pastor or a contact through one of the youth programs.  A friendly welcoming atmosphere, a good pastor and support in difficult times kept people here at St. Paul’s once they arrived.

 The second question asked of each group was what is important to you at St. Paul’s?  The most common response was traditional worship.  Traditional worship was described as being structured with a confessional liturgy, responses, and traditional hymns.  Among this group, many desired some experimentation with various forms of music.  A fair number of members at the YEP/YAP sessions desired some form of contemporary worship, but not worship that was like “entertainment.”  Many members named the Christmas Candlelight services and Totenfest as meaningful worship experiences.  The strong music program and variety of musicians was often mentioned.  Personal relationships with other members, fellowship, acceptance, strong preaching, and youth activities were often mentioned as important to members who attended these sessions with the pastor.

The third question asked of each group was what would you like to see in the future?  Several responses were very specific, such as more handicap parking spaces and an upgraded sound system.  Some participants expressed a desire to keep things the way they are and continue what we are doing.  The most frequent responses to the question about the future were the following:  mission projects and trips for youth and adults, Bible studies (morning and evening), more community outreach, a contemporary worship service (not as traditional, geared to youth/young adults), and young adult/post graduate activities.

 I took away from these YEP/YAP sessions several impressions.  First and foremost, I am very glad to be here with you at St. Paul’s.  There is a large core of committed members who love Christ and love his church here.  I believe we can have some fun as we walk together worshipping and serving Christ as he calls us toward the future.  I share many of the same hopes and dreams for the church expressed at these sessions.

The most challenging impression I have from these sessions (and my experience looking out over the worshipping congregation) is that St. Paul’s is an aging congregation.  With that fact comes meeting the increasing needs of pastoral care and support.  With an aging congregation also comes the institutional need of membership growth.  The membership of St. Paul’s will look very different ten years from now.  How it will look, and how many people will be a part of St. Paul’s, will depend upon what we do these next two or three years. Most of the membership growth at St. Paul’s in the past has come from being born into or marrying into the church family.  That must change.  There is a saying among church development leaders that “a congregation typically meets the needs of the existing members.”  That is true of St. Paul’s.  Our task for the future will be to not only meet the needs of our current members, but also reach out to meet the needs of people who are not here.  That is not only an institutional need, it is Christ’s command.

Shalom,
Pastor LaSalle