State of the Church 2014
Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
Earlier this year I was asked a question during a leadership event at Christ Church, Bethel Park. The question, from a parishioner at one of our largest churches in the Annual Conference, was intriguing to me. The gentleman asked, “What can a church like ours learn from the small membership churches in our Annual Conference?
My answer was a simple one: “Let me talk to you about resiliency and determination. As I travel throughout this Annual Conference I continue to be blessed by the determination of our small membership churches – a determination to find their way through insurmountable obstacles – a determination to be faithful to the connection of our church – a determination to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ on every hillside and in every borough that makes up our Annual Conference.” Looking at the folks at one of our largest churches, I asked a simple question in return. “Have you ever had a car wash or a bake sale, or a ham dinner to raise money for apportionments?”
That’s a commentary on resiliency and exhibits a determination to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
As a result of that sheer determination, our Annual Conference reported at year’s end that we had raised 93.5% of our apportionment askings; had raised, in actual dollars, $8,462,835.66, and had paid our General Church apportionments in full for the fourth consecutive year. Those are amazing figures and a testimony to the continued sustainability of our congregations, even in the midst of challenging times and declining memberships. While we need every church in our Annual Conference to be faithful to the connectional commitment that we have made, we are being held together by the determination and resiliency of our small membership churches.
But let’s draw deeper.
Several years ago we undertook a campaign to raise money for the “Imagine NO Malaria” campaign. I needed you to take that step with me due to the fact that I had been asked by the denomination to head up that campaign. How could I go into other Annual Conferences and ask for their financial support if my own Annual Conference was not on board with the campaign? We quietly set a $1.8 million dollar goal for the campaign. To date, our Annual Conference has raised over $2.2 million dollars, and the money is still coming in. This level of giving to the Imagine NO Malaria campaign ranks today as the third highest in the denomination.
Our Annual Conference has long been known for its support of missions through flood buckets, health kits, and financial support for mission initiatives both within and beyond the bounds of our Annual Conference. Take the Cabot United Methodist Church, for example. They alone have raised enough money to allow the Butler District to meet their stated goal for our Zimbabwe partnership. Or how about the current campaign within the Pittsburgh District to raise $1.8 million dollars for rural clinic development as a part of The Nyadire Connection in Zimbabwe? These are amazing stories that bear witness to the resiliency and determination of our people.
But let’s draw deeper.
While resiliency, determination, and monetary giving is at an all-time high, the news is not all good. For the past several years we have been watching the severe decline and, in many cases, the death of the Sunday School within our Annual Conference. Today we can report that 208 of our 830 churches (25%) have no Sunday School. An additional 130 churches (16%) only have one. But when you combine that with the reality that 360 of our churches (44%) report having no small groups meeting (an additional 202 or 24% only have one),it becomes very clear that we are not moving our people into meaningful relationships, a hallmark of our history as Methodists and a key indicator of church vitality in the 21st century. The long-term success of Sunday School can be attributed to relationships that were forged every week in mutual study, prayer, and reflection. Our most successful and growing local churches today are ones that are aggressively forming and equipping small groups that are providing intimate opportunities for participants to build relationships, explore their calling, find their public witness, and be held mutually accountable in love.
There is yet another dimension as well. While our Annual Conference is among the denominational leaders in missional giving, we are among the worst in mission engagement: actually moving our people into meaningful opportunities where they can personally encounter the world around them in mission. These two factors, participation in small groups and involvement in hands on mission, have significantly decreased the vitality of our churches in comparison with others across the denomination. These two factors: small group development and mission engagement are two forms of ministry that build relationships and widen the horizon of how we see God at work in our midst.
I am convinced that one of the most tangible ways that our churches can restore their purpose and increase their vitality is to address these two specific areas.
For that reason, I want to call each of our local churches to focus over these next two years on the intentional development and nurturing of small group and mission engagement opportunities. Perhaps the Sunday School, in most places, is indeed dead. Perhaps it has served its purpose well. But that should not concern us IF we are able to move our people into meaningful relationships with one another and with the world.
I have further instructed our Conference Staff to begin work on creating resources and training opportunities to assist our local churches in the establishment of small group ministries. In addition, I have asked our Volunteer-in-Mission coordinator and our DCM to develop a more aggressive calendar of opportunities that will invite our people into a mission opportunity that will not only help those that we visit but strengthen our spiritual walk and deepen our relationships with others.
But let’s draw deeper.
While some congregations are self-motivated and creative, many are in need of the kind of stimulus and attention that I just described. I am grateful to have the conference staff we have in place that are being held accountable for the manner in which they facilitate the development and growth of our local churches.
This is a group that is new, young and fresh. They represent some of the best emerging voices we have in this Annual Conference. Several years ago, as a part of our “Believe Again” emphasis, we did an extensive study around whether or not we could reduce the number of districts in our Annual Conference. In studying the work of other Annual Conferences we discovered that those conferences that reduced districts for financial reasons actually declined in its effectiveness and local church vitality. In Annual Conferences that reduced for strategic reasons,they inserted money and personnel into each district in order to provide even more connectionalism than they had before and, as a result, have seen increased connection and vitality. When we looked at that model, it became clear to us that we didn’t have the money to inject the necessary resources into a reduced number of districts. As a result, we decided to grow our Annual Conference staff with specialized personnel and hold them accountable to their area of emphasis and their contact with the local church.
That staff has now been assembled. They are finding not only their individual message but also their united voice of ministry in this Annual Conference. While other Annual Conferences are reducing staff, we have grown one that is focused on the fulfillment of our mission, vision, and core values with specialized ministries that hone in on areas of great need.
One of the areas of need is our focus on Congregational Development and Re-vitalization. This spring I had extensive conversations with Jim & Brenda Walker about a call within them to re-locate to the west coast. I want to publically thank Jim for his service to our Annual Conference and to acknowledge the transformative work that Brenda has done in her most recent work at West View.
While we have been saddened by the impending departure of Jim Walker, and are deeply grateful for his service to our Annual Conference, we are very excited and energized by Amy Wagner’s addition to our staff. Amy brings significant expertise and passion to this position. As an Annual Conference we have witnessed some amazing development of “new places for new people” in existing congregations. We have witnessed congregations “pushing the envelope” and, as a result, seeing growth not through a solo focus on existing worship and program ministries, but in the development of new initiatives, creative worship services, and alternative sites for study, reflection and praise.
AND, we are proud to say that we are starting a new congregation this year. The Meadowbrook Heights Community project is being embraced by the people of the Washington District, their superintendent Brad Lauster, and is being facilitated by Nathan & Mandy Carlson. We are excited about this new venture, to be sure.
But let’s draw deeper.
For over twenty years our Annual Conference has embraced the concept of New Church Starts with our voices and, on occasion, our votes. But this effort has struggled mightily due to lack of financial support. It has taken as much creativity as possible from our Parish & Community Development Committee, the cabinet, and the staff to make this new plant a reality. But, friends, we should be starting multiple new congregations each year. In response to a piece of legislation that you passed last year, our cabinet has formed teams in each district and are discerning the most effective and strategic places for new church starts to unfold. But that legislation, and the subsequent work of our cabinet and Parish & Community Development, will be once again in voice only if there is not substantial financial resources developed for their implementation. Money developed in our conference budget has and will continue to only scratch the surface of this need to provide the program resources, salary, housing, and benefits necessary to make this possible. The aggressive and necessary work of making disciples of Jesus Christ through new church development will never find its full flower here until we find the courage to undertake a major funds campaign for new Church Starts and Leadership Development. We raised $2.2 million dollars for Imagine NO Malaria and, for some, did it with minimal effort. There is no reason why we could not undertake a $3 million fund raising campaign to fund a legitimate program of new church development and create a comprehensive and intentional program of lay and clergy leadership development with a special emphasis on the nurturing of call and the recruitment of strategic leaders to help us fulfill those goals.
I hope you can imagine the degree of difficulty I have in suggesting that to you. We have been reluctant to believe that God can use us to do “exceedingly, abundantly more than any of us can imagine or dream of.” We don’t believe we can. We can. But there is a sobering reality for me. I’ll never see it here. I have become keenly aware of the reality that my time with you is limited. To do the groundwork, receive the approval, and conduct such long-range goal as a major funds campaign will extend way beyond the limited time that I have left with you.
But, I don’t look upon that negatively. Rather, I look upon it as one of the significant challenges facing us during these last two years we have together. It is a challenge that we should embrace wholeheartedly as a response to God’s call through Jesus to make disciples throughout the world. Statistics are proving to us that the most significant number of new converts being made today areas a result of “new places for new people” and “new church development.”
But let’s draw deeper.
It is a sobering time for me to begin using a word that I have not needed to share up until now. That word is: Transition. The rhythm and cycle of ministry on an Annual Conference level is far different than it is within the local church. That reality has caused me to personally start work on the transition of leadership that will take place here in Western Pennsylvania in two short years. In the summer of 2016 there will be a new resident bishop assigned here and I will be transferred to a different location. While I can’t imagine what I’m going to do with all of my Pirate, Penguin, & Steeler jerseys (trust me, I’ll find a way to wear them), I have to begin imagining and working on what needs to be done in order to successfully and seamlessly hand off this wonderful Annual Conference to a new leader. That driver has and must be firmly in place as we dream of a place that can achieve new heights of disciple-making and mission well into the third decade of the 21st century. There are some things that have already been accomplished. After not having been touched in 26 years, the Annual Conference center has been renovated for its next chapter and, in response to legislation that you approved last year, we have acquired a new episcopal residence in preparation for our new leader. And, as mentioned above, our new Conference Staff is in place and beginning to find its wings and purpose.
There is no doubt, however, that this has been a very difficult and challenging year when it comes to the consistency needed in order to make successful transitions. Last year at this time we were adjusting to the death of one of our large membership pastors, David Panther. That adjustment inevitably led us in our discernment to move Eric Park off of the cabinet to assume leadership at First: Butler. Later in the year, Pat Morris discerned that it was time for her to retire as our Conference Treasurer. Both of these individuals have given us many years of faithful and dedicated service. We are indebted to them both for their sacrificial service. Both Eric & Pat are here today and I would ask them to stand so that you can express your gratitude to them.
But the challenges didn’t end there. After thirty-two years of faithful service to this Annual Conference, Fred Leasure has retired and passed the responsibilities of our United Methodist Foundation off to Ed Bailey. We are so very grateful to Fred for his tireless and focused leadership and look forward to the ways in which Ed will partner with us to reach new levels of success in the area of planned and sustained giving.
But it didn’t end there. After an ever-increasing struggle with the effects of brain cancer my assistant, Bob Higginbotham, ended his earthly journey and began a heavenly one. Bob’s focus and determination in the midst of his illness deeply inspired those of us who worked closely with him. Bob had been the Dean of my Cabinet and later my Assistant. He was with me from the beginning of this journey with you. The hallmark of Bob’s life and leadership was centered on a phrase that he had learned from Arnie Rhodes when Bob succeeded Arnie as the Kane District Superintendent. Through it all, Bob would consistently say, “There are no emergencies.” In other words, you take each day as it comes, deal with its realities, maintain a non-anxious presence, and bear witness to the presence of Christ in your life. He did that as a D.S., as the Dean of the Cabinet, and as my assistant. He even did it as he died – showing us a model of how to die with grace and dignity.
Bob’s death sent a shock wave across the bow of our cabinet. It was a loss that cut deep into the fabric of who we had become as a team. And yet, in the midst of that loss, God always provides. Just a phone call away, Bill Mock stepped back into the role of Assistant to the Bishop and has for these past 8 months, provided the necessary historical connection, stability, and insight needed in this office. He has been an invaluable partner and confidant in ministry. I will always be indebted to him for what he has done for us. Bill also is with us and I would like for him to stand and receive thanks from this Annual Conference family.
Death has also visited even the newest parts of our cabinet family. Suddenly before he ever formally assumed his responsibilities, Paul Taylor has had to say goodbye to his beloved Loretta. Our hearts have ached as we have watched Paul grieve the loss of one who encouraged him in his call and blessed every expression of that call with her insight and presence. We have only begun to establish the necessary web of support and love that Paul will need as he begins his work as the Pittsburgh District Superintendent.
What this means is the over 60% of our Cabinet is brand new within the last year. With newness comes a learning curve and this cabinet fully recognizes that it has a strong one where traditions are not known, routines are being questioned and new patterns based on the makeup of this group are beginning to emerge. We cannot lean on corporate knowledge like we have and are in a place where we have to spend extra time around every subject in order to find our wings and provide the kind of leadership this Annual Conference deserves. While this is at times frustrating and difficult, I have looked upon this challenge in the very same way Greg and I have approached this new staff. Over the next two years, it is our goal to intentionally provide the encouragement, direction, training and exposure to whatever is necessary in order for these your leaders to guide you with confidence, assurance, support and joy.