Partners in Ministry, an old edition

A message from the Bishop (posted a few months ago and never publicized, but worth reading!)

♦ IMAGINE NO MALARIA  Last week I returned from a meeting of our United Methodist Council of Bishops, Latin American Methodist Bishops, and Bishops from the "Methodist family", but not United Methodist, from around the world.....we now number about 77 million world-wide.  Many of those Bishops serve in areas where the majority of Methodists (and others) live in extreme poverty, on less than $1 a day.  And many of those areas face severe hunger, undrinkable water, lack of education and health care, and the killer diseases of tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, and Malaria.
    Many of you have participated in giving to Nothing But Nets ($10 per net) and Imagine No Malaria (providing medicine and treatments) that we United Methodists have been leading in partnership with the National Basketball Association, “Sports Illustrated,” the United Nations, and now many other organizations.  Thank you.  Thank you......was what we heard from Bishops all over the world.
    Is it making any difference?
    YES!
    The latest report from the UN is that, for the first time, the number of deaths from malaria is declining.  Children are being saved.  And one Bishop told me that people who are receiving nets from us are asking....."Why do you do this?"...."Because we serve Christ who loves you, and calls us to love each other as ourselves."  People are coming to believe in this God of Love and want to be a part of such a community of caring.
    We had this discussion just a few miles from the Panama Canal which symbolizes both a bold project that many thought impossible, as well as the injustices that surrounded tens of thousands of workers who died of malaria in the process of building the canal.  Sometimes eradicating malaria seems like an impossible task, but the "project" to save millions of lives is succeeding because, in part, of the bold vision and generous giving of United Methodists like you.  Our collective goal as United Methodists is to raise $75 million to combat malaria .... IMAGINE NO MALARIA....will you do your part?

♦ IMAGINE NO BUILDING....or at least not the building you're in right now.  Sunday I had a great time worshipping with our congregations in Williamstown and North Adams, MA.  After praying and imagining God's future for them, they have voted to come together as a new congregation and sell both of their existing buildings in preparation for a new future.
    Radical?  Well, checking their histories, I discovered that for the first twenty-five years of their history the Williamstown congregation never had a church building!  They moved around meeting in homes, the schoolhouse, and the "hall over F.H. Sherman’s store."  The North Adams Methodists were also very "movable."  They started in one building, moved to another 19 years later, moved to another 28 years after that, and to another 56 years after that.....four different buildings in about 100 years!  And why did they move?  Most of the time it was to enhance their ability to do ministry in their area.  What about your building?  Is it the best fit and the best stewardship of resources for ministry today?
    Oh, I know how we ( I ) can get attached to our buildings.  They are full of sweet memories.  I've lived in seven different houses over the years (not counting the fraternity house which was more like a barn) and had some sadness every time we moved.....but it was the people in our family who really made the "house a home".....and we all moved together.
    In the Williamstown newsletter there was a great quote: "The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we can become."  "Behold, God is making all things new."
    This can be tough, I know.  One of the members of the North Adams church reflected on sitting in the old sanctuary many Sundays and thinking about how wonderful it was.....and how empty it was.....and all the heat that was escaping.  She wrote, "I wondered what it was that God wanted us to do.  Did He want us to keep pouring money into this building, into heat, etc. or did He want us to be using those funds to be doing His work?" They have made the decision to move into a new future, trusting God, focusing on "God's work."  And several said to me Sunday, "It feels good....even though it will be tough in some ways."
    What do you imagine God is saying to your congregation about your building?  We have many buildings that are great tools for God's work in our communities....let's keep them, care for them and use them fully as launching pads for ministry and mission in our communities.  But then we have some other buildings that......well......you know.......that have become more of a burden than a help for God's work in the 21st century.  If you would like to talk about ways to evaluate the usefulness of your building...and options that other churches have found good....at least start the conversation with your District Superintendent and with your congregation.  God might surprise you with a new future, too.

♦ STICKER SHOCK: THE FOOTBALL TEAM AND THE LIQUOR STORES  While at the Williamstown/North Adams worship Sunday, I met the High School football coach and his wife who are helping in a great effort to address underage drinking in their area.  Operation "Sticker Shock" is a project of the Northern Berkshires Communities Coalition "mobilizing for change on alcohol."  The coach and members of the football team go into the area liquor stores and ask to put stickers on the bottles and cans that say "HEY YOU! IT'S ILLEGAL TO GIVE MINORS ALCOHOL."  It's working.  And interestingly, many of the owners of these stores are very cooperative.  You may want to try it in your community.  Get more information at www.nbccoalition.org/CMCA.
    Because of the devastating effects the use of alcohol can have for so many people in so many areas of life, the United Methodist Church continues to "affirm our long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God's liberating and redeeming love for persons." (2008 Discipline)  For the sake of our youth and those millions who are subject to addiction, I invite you to consider an alcohol and drug-free life style as a part of your witness.