We are a Vital Church!

It was a delightful morning on Feb. 14th at the Holiday Inn in Neenah as we gathered for 2 ½ hours with representatives of 12 other UCC congregations in our Northeast Association. Each of the 13 churches invited and present received a certificate of recognition/appreciation by our Association Minister, Rev. Arthur Wille, for being a “vital church.” I have a certificate to prove it, and will post it on the Wider Church bulletin board in the narthex (by the north door).

What is a vital congregation? Art Wille used as his basis five characteristics from a book by Robert Schnase, a United Methodist bishop, entitled Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. They are:

1) Radical Hospitality
2) Passionate Worship
3) Intentional Faith Development
4) Risk-Taking Mission and Service
5) Extravagant Generosity

If you attended my presentations for “Food for Body, Mind & Spirit” this past January (on the “Power Surge”), you may remember me writing these five characteristics on the white board during session #2. It was good to reflect on these again in this new context.

Rev. Art Wille took it a step farther and selected one of those five characteristics for each of the 13 local churches he celebrated. (though it was apparent that all of the churches represented was strong more than just one!). The noteworthy characteristic of FCC Sheboygan, in Rev. Wille’s opinion, was #4 – “Risk-Taking Mission & Service.” As the morning went on, I jotted down a list of what he might have been thinking of, including:

Youth Mission Trips (including GROUP and NYC trips)
CSB Grants
Hosting the Winter Farmer’s Market
Meals on Wheels
Members very involved in the community
Shawl Ministry
Hosting a GROUP workcamp a couple years ago
Visiting Haiti in 2003
Hosting many community groups in our building
Sponsoring scouting troops and events
Labyrinth
Taize and Peace Prayer Circle

What became clear as we heard summaries of each church’s ministry was that many factors contribute. But the single most important factor in church vitality seems to be the vision and faith of the leaders: the pastors, yes, but even more the lay leadership. Committed lay leadership makes all the difference. It was truly inspiring to be part of such a faithful group of persons. And I felt so grateful for the faith and openness of so many of you. Thank you!

And thanks for reading!

Pastor Jim