Archive
of Letters to My Friends:
We
need to talk like this more often
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We
need to talk like this more often
July
2004
By
the Rev. Jon Rieley-Goddard
Dear
friends,
I
hope you are wondering what’s been going on here at
Pierce Avenue church in the past month since the last time
we talked like this.
Here’s
the overview:
–
We had a second meeting of Presbyterian churches interested
in cooperating on mission and ministry. Seven of the ten churches
in our end of the county have participated so far, so we are
still getting a sense of who is and who isn’t interested.
Next meeting is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 13, at Niagara
Presbyterian Church. We will be rotating the location, and
I will continue to be the facilitator. All are welcome to
attend these meetings.
–
The Session met with two representatives of the Committee
on Ministry, which continues to monitor our progress in these
critical months. The two went away with a good idea of where
the Session members are coming from on the issues in front
of us all.
–
We had a cake for Kevin and his wife and four children; they
are returning to Kevin’s base after he graduated from
Buffalo State University. Kevin is a lieutenant in the Army.
–
We had a cake for Greg and his family on the following Sunday.
They will be worshiping at Forest View church.
–
The Session has voted to provide storage space for a woman
who does ministry on our streets, and to invite her to explore
with us the possibilities of partnering in mission.
–
Pastor Jon is beginning to circulate the completed Mission
Study report (25 pages) to various persons. A copy of the
report will be available in the Sanctuary in the back, and
he can print a copy for anyone who requests one.
–
The Vision/Action meeting continues at 14-day intervals to
meet and discuss ways to extend and implement the Mission
Study vision. The next meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, July 1.
We are beginning to discuss ways to increase our frequency
and effectiveness in our rummage sales. WE have decided on
four per year, or one per season. The next sale will be in
the fall. All are welcome to attend these Vision/Action meetings.
***
We
continue to seek ways to be faithful to our God and to find
fresh courage and strength to continue and secure our ministry
at its present location. The comings and goings of friends
who hear God calling them in new ways have made for times
of fear and grief, as well as joy for the simple proofs that
God moves among us, always. The questions that the Committee
on Ministry representatives asked us were pointed, open-ended,
and thought-provoking. Additional comments and discussion
have us all things to ponder and try.
This is a time of great fear, great promise, and great testing
and tempering. Your legacy, the building and spirit that we
call Pierce Avenue Presbyterian Church, hangs in the balance;
the outcome is not certain, and I personally will not be satisfied
with the idea that God would continue presence in Niagara
Falls through other avenues. When I gather with you to talk
about the future and what we will do, I am struck by the deep
and abiding conviction that I am talking with persons who
have chosen hope in the face of fear and trembling. I know
what dying churches feel like; this feels more like life,
with all its fears and joy and surprises.
What
can you do?
The
obvious answer is that you can continue to give to the church
as you have. As important is your participation in the life
of the church, by worship and by attending meetings as outlined
above. The gift of your self and presence is the pivotal part.
Blessings
and peace
Pastor
Jon
P.S.
This is the overview that I wrote for the Mission Study report:
15
June 2004
An overview of the Mission Study process
Empowered by a grant from the Presbytery
of Western New York’s Church Growth Committee, the Session
of Pierce Avenue Presbyterian Church secured the services of a
consultant and engaged, with members and the pastor, in an accelerated
Mission Study process, beginning in Spring 2004.
Our
plan was to make decisions and take actions that would alleviate
two concerns – a lack of vision for mission and a growing
financial crisis. We wanted to identify bold steps that would
ensure the future of ministry in our church.
After six meetings, at weekly intervals,
and a town hall-style meeting led by the consultant, the congregation
is now focused on a new understanding of mission and ministry.
At the beginning of the process, energy was low and hope was in
short supply. Death of the church seemed to be all but assured.
However, the process of self-examination has revitalized the church
and given it new purpose and direction.
We chose life in the face of death and
found that in the presence of death we found hope.
Here are the high points:
– We feel called to a ministry of
Hospitality
by opening our doors to strangers, widows, and orphans, for programs
and for rental possibilities such as sharing space with another
congregation or renting program space to groups such as non-profit
agencies. We also seek to partner with persons doing ministry
on our streets.
– We feel called to dust off and
improve a long-time mission of this church by having rummage sales
more often than the once or twice a year that has been normal
and usual for a number of years. The demographic information that
we have evaluated says that our neighbors overwhelmingly desire
food and clothing assistance from churches in their midst. We
have twice the national average of single-parent families and
a median family income of about half the national amount. Aggressive
sales of selected items on Ebay will be part of this effort, which
is meant to engage the entire congregation.
–
We are embracing our location in the heart and center of our city,
and we extend this centrality to embracing a leadership role in
conversations started at the invitation of our Session and facilitated
by our pastor, among the Presbyterian churches in and near Niagara
Falls. The Presbyterian churches of the Niagara total 10, and
seven of them have participated so far in discussions of creative
ways to address both mission and ministry. The Session and pastor
hope that a cooperative parish will emerge from these conversations,
which continue. We intend to elicit the participation of the Presbytery’s
newly hired Interim Process Leader.
Our consultant, the Rev. Jerrold Paul,
a longtime member of the Presbytery and a longtime consultant
to churches and Presbyterys in Western New York, has helped us
see that the churches in our end of Niagara County are our legacy
as outposts for mission and that for churches such as Pierce,
with little money and few members, affirming the intention to
continue being an outpost for mission in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ is the beginning of a process of recovery and revitalization.
We consider ourselves and sister churches in this city and region,
Presbyterian and other, to be worthy of support and in need of
creative processes such as the one that has led Pierce Avenue
church from death to resurrection. The conversations we are fostering
are the outcome of our own bounty.
The Mission Study process, as exciting
and powerful as it was (an average of 15 persons attended the
meetings, with more than 20 of the 39 persons usually present
in worship attending one or more meetings) will not shield us
from making sacrifices. The demands of the short term will include
a reduction in pastoral support from 3/4 time to ½ time
or even less. Longtime members have slowly gotten used to the
promise that strangers will “touch our stuff” and
that the doors long closed will be opened in new ways not always
comfortable.
A group of 10 members, led by the pastor,
has continued the Mission Study effort of followup and extension
of the vision, calling themselves the Vision/Action meeting. This
group has continued to meet twice a month since the consultant
phase of our process ended in May.
–
the Rev. Jon Rieley-Goddard
