You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. But remember the root command: Love one another. —John 15:16-17
Church work is sort of like munching from one of those big cans of Mixed Nuts – the kind you get at Sam’s. When you open it, there’s the favorite nuts such as almonds, cashews, pecans and brazils all mixed in with a huge amount of peanuts. Not that I don’t like the peanuts, I’d just rather have an almond or a cashew. After awhile you have to look before you scoop or all you get
are peanuts!
I guess every task we do as part of our personal ministry in Christ has a few tasks you enjoy, kind of like an almond, and other tasks you just have to finish off, like peanuts. Around the Church Office back toward the end of 2011, when we were wrapping things up, it seemed to be a peanut time…
Yearend reports, new year budgets, recruiting, facility issues, planning for worship services, even planning for the Planning Retreat in January. Everything has to be considered and properly managed along with the weekly routines of worship, visits, phone calls, mail, email, etc. In the midst of it all, there was one kind of nut we were all worried about, the CASHews (sorry, couldn’t resist that)!
Thanks to the faithfulness and hard work of so many in this remarkable congregation, we were able to end 2011 with all bills and mission funds paid! I express to each of you my heartfelt appreciation for meeting our financial goals in this difficult economic time. From nuts to fruits, it’s all good for ya’.
When our leadership gathered for the Church Council Planning Retreat on January 7, we paused to pray and consider where God was leading us into 2012. One thing we know for sure, no matter how nutty we are, God is calling us to be a fruitful congregation! Let me share a bit of what we talked about at our retreat. Back in 2004, Missouri Bishop Robert Schnase heard a colleague talk about the need for a common language to describe the work of the church. The result was a fresh way to focus on the Wesleyan concepts of church life and spiritual development. Those principle concepts grew into his book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Abingdon Press, 2007) that many churches have used since to enhance their ministries. The five practices rethink the old standards of evangelism, worship, education, mission and stewardship with a more faithful future for the church using Christ as our standard. Bishop Schnase calls it the exemplary way‖ that expects fruit, blessing, growth and excellence. His book has helped churches like ours find a common language.
Here’s an excerpt that summarizes the practices: “Fruitfulness for congregations means effectiveness in fulfilling the mission and purpose God has given them. The mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. How fruitful are congregations in this task?
“Congregations fulfill this purpose by performing the five practices in an exemplary fashion: through Radical Hospitality, congregations reach out and offer the invitation and welcome of Christ; God shapes hearts and minds through Passionate Worship, creating a desire for closer relationship to Christ; through Intentional Faith Development, God’s Spirit helps people grow in grace and in the love of God and neighbor; maturing in Christ causes people to respond to the needs of others as they discern God’s call, which results in Risk-Taking Mission and Service; and as people continue to grow in grace, they place more of what they are and what they have under the lordship of Christ, practicing Extravagant Generosity.” (p. 132)
As you can see, with this kind of fruit, we’re not just talking peanuts! At our retreat, we had a lot of holy conversation about these practices and set some exciting goals for the year. If you want to know more about these goals, the Planning Retreat Minutes are available by email and hard copy (in the Church Office). You’ll be hearing more about these goals as our committees meet and plans take shape.
Please pray for First UMC for the year ahead as we seek to be exemplary in faithfulness to Christ!
-Rev. Keith L. Head