The State of the Church

Some days, I'm just not sure there is a future for those of us who are "the people called Methodists." Reading through the denomination's State of the Church Report, I was depressed to read the following statistic: At one point in the history of the United States, one in four people considered themselves "Methodist." Today, that number is one in 400.

How depressing! And yet, as I have said many times before, how exciting, too! Such statistics, seen as an opportunity and not as a depressing note, present us with the greatest challenge--and the source of most of our ministry work in the next century or so-- that we have ever seen.

Our job is to not just make Methodists, but to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The best way to do that is to begin to be in mission--around the world, yes, but also right here in our own neighborhoods.

For those of you who read this who are from Niles First UMC, I want to emphasize to you what I've already stated in our newsletter: over the next few years, we need to focus on the areas of Fellowship, Stewardship Education, Spiritual Education, Evangelism, and Missions. Each of these areas--which, by the way, are inter-related--holds a part of the key that will unlock the potential that God has in store for us.

Earlier today, I was in a meeting of pastors, and somebody mentioned a particular mega-church that is often visited by local congregations looking to grow. One of my colleagues made the following comment: "Why visit them? All they did was tap into the power of the Holy Spirit." If we are open enough to the working of the Spirit in our lives, we will find the answers for our time and place in the history of the movement of the People called Methodist, and in teh body of Christ.

Preach the Gospel,
Use Words if Necessary,

David