9-03-2006

Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!

“Preparations For Our Future”

PART I

September 3, 2006

We are a congregation which has a long history of preparing for its future. We have been blessed to have had many futures in our 190 years. Most of our futures were created because of a burgeoning congregation outgrowing its building on a fairly regular basis. This Bicentennial Year is an appropriate time to once again raise the question of our future and the vision that we have for it.

In order to make preparation for a church’s future, members of the congregation must first know where they have been and what they have learned and experienced—that’s why history is so valuable. Next, they need to know what their mission is—what it is that they are called to do. Third, they must have a vision inspired by God, to see what the future could or should hold for them, and a plan to put it in motion, with the help and guidance of God.

It is appropriate in this month of our 100^th anniversary to look to God and to our own commitments of faith as we turn our thoughts to this new century and new millennium in which we find ourselves. I believe we are being called by God to examine ourselves, our ministry, and our future here in this time and this place. I believe that God is calling us to a clear understanding of our mission and our vision for the future.

We can and should draw from the experiences, the mission, and the vision of the early Methodists of Perry. Their record of faithfulness is exemplary. Their record of spiritual growth and strength in numbers is a shining example of what true faithfulness can accomplish.

These are the three vital steps – what we have learned, what our mission is, and what our vision is – which we shall take in the next three weeks. We begin today by calling to mind that which we have learned and experienced as a congregation.

First, we learned through Henry Wallace, the first Methodist in Perry, that it was extremely helpful to be part of a larger organization of Christians. We were given a pastor immediately after making the request to a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Francis Asbury appointed the Rev. Robert Minchell as the first Methodist pastor of Perry. We, unlike a few other denominations and independent churches, have never been without a pastor in all these years thanks to the Methodist Church.

Next, we learned that the church is not a building but a people. For the first three years the Methodists of Perry met in the homes of the people including the Wallace’s and the Minchell’s. For the next five years they met in the new school built in 1919 just down on the corner of Short and Lake. This understanding that the church is not a building helped make the tragic fire of 1838 a little more bearable when the entire building burned down, and once again, the church—the people—met in a different type of meeting house for two years. If the church were only a building, then our relationship with the church of Jesus Christ would end when we passed over. But because the church is the people, the relationship continues into all eternity—as do the people.

Third, we learned from our history that the priority of those early years was reaching out and drawing persons into the family of God. Our written history refers on more than one occasion that a revival or preaching mission was held for the extended families of the people and for the community to provide an opportunity to respond to God and to be drawn to worship God.

We learned that the whole reason for winding up with a history of buildings was brought about because of the growth in the numbers of people responding to the message of God in Christ. Our offerings to the community and to our extended families and friends caused the membership to continually increase and the result was that we were continually outgrowing the buildings we put up. Even in our current building, the growth experienced in the Sunday School brought about the need for expansion and reconfiguration of the building in the mid 1950s.

We learned that growth comes from alertness to the spiritual and physical needs of people. It was only as a result of what we did for people, that more people came. As more people responded to our love, compassion and service, we needed, and were able to provide, larger buildings.

We learned that change not only would always be in our midst, but that it is the will of God that change occurs. In our Scripture, God is quoted as having said, “Behold, I am doing a new thing” and that theme is repeated more than once. We must be wise and careful to desire God’s will and God’s plan for us, as opposed to “human tradition” which results in an unwillingness to have change in our midst.

As the Village and Town of Perry grew and changed, the Methodist Church eagerly responded to that growth and to that change. As we continued to meet the ever changing needs of Perry, we were blessed with an ever-increasing congregation. Even when fire threatened to ruin us, we arose from the ashes, stronger and more determined to press forward.

We learned that it takes a love and a strong commitment to God to remain faithful people with a committed ability to prioritize God’s work in our lives. We learned throughout these years that as long as the church provided for the spiritual, physical, and social needs of its people, others were drawn to the life of faith.

We learned that with the old hell-fire and damnation evangelism, the church gains people’s attention quickly and even got them to respond just as quickly to become a part of a church. We learned, however, from Jesus’ teachings that that type of “seed” or method does not always take root and is very often spoiled by the intensity of the sun [Son] or the demands of discipleship.

We learned that there are still churches today that choose to use the old hell-fire methods and to preach and teach simplistic, black-and-white answers to very, very complex questions. It works today as it did in Jesus’ parable of the seeds — there is a surge of people responding, but a large number that fall away because it simply cannot fill the long-term spiritual needs of people today.

Most importantly, we learned that to preach and live the gospel of the love of God through Jesus Christ as a method of drawing people, takes much more effort and commitment than the old fear and easy-answers method. We learned that in giving up the old fear and easy-answers method, we must then find new and more potent ways to communicate the vibrancy of faith. A powerfully loving God, although much more scriptural on point, does not attract the attention of people nearly as quickly as fear and hate mongering.

This concludes the first step in our process of “preparation for our future.” We have examined the lessons learned and experienced in both our long- and short-term history. Next week we will be looking at step 2 — knowing our mission. We’ll see you right here at 11 a.m.

Go with God.

Amen.