Pastor's Message

January 2005

New Year’s Message

Most people know that I am not a big fan of “New Year’s Resolutions.” Too many resolutions don’t even make it through January 1! In the same way I don’t like to set goals in my work because I believe that we must remain open and flexible for the challenges and opportunities that come along.

But having said that, we are starting a new year, and we should give some thought to what we would like to accomplish by the end of the year, while leaving the ultimate outcome in God’s hands. The ultimate goal for every Christian, of course, is to receive God’s gift of eternal life and dwell with the Lord forever. But most of us probably do not want to achieve this goal before the end of this year. So what kind of goals could we have for 2005, both personally and for our congregation? As I thought about this I began to think about our Statement of Purpose in our Constitution and based on that statement I thought it might be helpful to set our goals in four areas: Worship, Education, Mission and Stewardship. What are the goals we might expect to achieve in each of these areas?

Worship – declining worship attendance is a major concern in many churches. St. Paul's UCC has enjoyed 8 years of growth in worship attendance, although the last two years have found us somewhat on a plateau. If each of our members would set a goal of attending only one more worship service per year, our total increase in worship attendance for the year would be 597, which is almost a 5% increase over 2004. For those who already attend every Sunday, the goal could be to bring a family member or friend along to church.

Education – the U.S. Government has a program called “No Child Left Behind.” This concept has generated a lot of comment in our education system, but I believe it applies perfectly to our churches – no child should be left behind in learning about God’s love. What can we do to see to it that no child is left behind? Every family is encouraged to bring their children to Sunday School faithfully, or their grandchildren, or children in the neighborhood whose families do not have a church affiliation. Even though our Sunday School has grown, there is still room for more in every one of our classrooms. Adults should also continue to learn more about God’s will, through personal Bible Study, daily devotions or attending an Adult Sunday School Class or our weekly Bible Study.

Ministry – St. Paul's UCC offers many opportunities for members to be in ministry, within the congregation, to the community and throughout the world. Every member is encouraged to consider what gifts they have that they can use to strengthen the ministry of the church. Several members have taken leadership roles in starting new activities and some have stepped forward to take leadership roles in activities that we have done for years – but we need every member to be involved. Your involvement may be as simple as giving to one of our Missions of the Month, or helping to host coffee hour, making blankets for the Linus project or helping to serve one of our special meals. Whatever ministry you are involved in will grow if you work with others.

Stewardship – the Biblical standard for giving to God is a tithe, or 10% of what we have received (which for most of us is our salary, not the harvest, as it was in Biblical times). A quick glance at our financial secretary’s report shows that very few of our members seem to be meeting that Biblical standard. Each member is encouraged to prayerfully consider their own ability to give and to work toward the standard of tithing.

Are there other goals we should have as a congregation? If you have any suggestions on things you could do, individually or with others in the congregation, please let me know so that we can share your ideas with all members.