2010 Annual Report

A little longer than the typical post but I thought it would be good to have my annual report to Prince of Peace available.

Pastor's Annual Report
February 6, 2011

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and
not for your harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

A future with hope – as this Word of the Lord came to those suffering in foreign exile was it received as a nice sentiment or as a promise to hang on to, to give them strength for the difficult days confident in God's presence and purpose?

For a congregation that has seemed to be in perpetual transition for the last half decade, our own mini-exile, there is a Word of the Lord for us and to us:

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and
not for your harm, to give you a future with hope.”

As we live into the future together I am excited for the possibilities that the Lord has laid our before us and for the potential of this family of faith at Prince of Peace to step boldly into the future that God has prepared for us.

Speaking of “Living Into The Future Together” one of the great things that came out of our LIFT Team is our new purpose statement. Sixteen words that claim who we are and what God is calling us to become.

Claimed by grace we seek to welcome all, worship joyfully,
grow spiritually and share God's love.

Using those 16 words let me share a bit about where we are, where we've been and where we believe God is leading us.

Claimed by grace
This goes to the heart of who we are as Lutheran Christians. The whole Christian church is a rich tapestry with many traditions lifting up many different aspects. I believe the whole church is better for all its varieties. Each brings a gift to the whole church. Our gift, as Lutherans, is to remind the church and the world of God's grace in Jesus received in faith. Nothing we could ever do can earn God's favor, “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

We seek to...
The knowledge of God's unconditional, unmerited, unlimited love for us so moves us that we cannot help but respond in praise, faithfulness, and love. We respond not because we have to but because we want to. We want more of God and we want more to share God's blessings and love in the world.

As the people of God here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church we have identified 4 areas in which we specifically feel called to respond in thankfulness to God's grace:

Welcome All
While the answers to question asked by the slogan “What would Jesus do?” are often unclear, the answer to the question “What did Jesus do?” is very clear. In his earthly ministry Jesus welcomed all. Men and women and children; sinners and Pharisees; the lepers, the lame, the blind, the hungry and the filled are all welcomed! Even the dead are welcomed back to life!

Jesus' radical welcome is reflected in our value statements, our Reconciling in Christ membership, and in our open invitation to receive communion. Your welcome was experienced as God made some unexpected connections to bring us Rebecca Ehrlich as our seminary intern. Though churches tend to move very slowly we responded with amazing speed to make Becca's internship with us a reality. Not only that but you have accepted her ministry among us as she is learning to be a highly gifted pastor. Welcoming all is part of our core identity at Prince of Peace.

Of course there is room for improvement and we will be looking at strategies to do just that in 2011 and beyond. Our welcoming strategy will need to address 3 basic areas: Invitation, Hospitality, and Incorporation.

Part of welcoming is letting others know that they are wanted. Our advertizing, our signage, the attractiveness of our grounds all can speak words of invitation. The most important invitation, though, comes from you. Let your friends and co-workers know about worship services and events at Prince of Peace. Post comments on ministries that you are excited about on your Facebook page. Invite people to the Alpha Course, to the Lenten dinners, to the fellowship events! Be creative. We may not have the money currently to do a commercial marketing campaign, but we have several hundred faithful members who each can multiple our message of invitation into the community.

Then when folks come we need to be hospitable. No one should enter and leave POP without being greeted and meeting at least a couple of people. We assist those looking for the bathrooms or struggling with the worship or wondering if the coffee is for all. If possible we get names and contact information so we can follow up with a thank you note or call.

Then as visitors become worshipers we will need to be more intentional about incorporating them into the ministries of POP. Those who don't make friends and find connections and meaningful ministries tend not to stay.

We have work to do and this is a mission for all of our family of faith. Stay tuned for more details how you can be a part of this vital purpose.

Worship Joyfully
Worship is central to who we are at Prince of Peace. In worship we not only praise God, but we encounter God whose love and blessings lead us to joy. We value a quality worship experience, including meaningful music, engaging sermons, and the opportunity to receive Communion weekly. These remain our aims. We are also a church that values creativity in worship. Along these lines we have seen a revitalization of the Clown Troupe, now known as Fools For Christ (F4C) and we have introduced new elements into our services including dramatic vignettes, outdoor services in the summer, and blended services with both traditional and contemporary music.

As we step into 2011 the blended format will become the regular format of the 10:45 service when the choir is not singing at that service. This is not change for the sake of change but an effort to develop and nurture a worship language that can speak to those who were not reared with traditional church music. This will also involve developing additional leaders for worship.

Our quest to live into our value of worshiping joyfully may very well lead us to find ways to relate to those whose spiritual styles are not currently being addressed in the Sunday morning worship services and may involve opportunities for everything from contemplative to contemporary worship forms in various settings and at various times.

Grow Spiritually
A strong church needs a strong Christian Education ministry for all ages. The disciples never stopped growing and neither should we. The foundations of Sunday School and Confirmation are great but they are not the end of Christian growth any more than the end of middle school marks the end of our worldly education. The popularity of the Monday afternoon Bible study, Alpha and After-Alpha courses, the 3 Colors Courses, Living Life, Out of the Box, and the new Prayer Group ministry shows that there is a hunger in our church family for growth in understanding, discipleship and spirituality.

As we move forward in growing into this value we will be considering how we may offer growth opportunities for all ages and for all learning styles. One identified need is to truly make 9:30 am on Sunday a time of Christian education for all ages. We have quite a bit of work to do but the prospect of having a church full of eager disciples gathering at various times during the week to grow and follow Jesus may offer us more potential for growth may offer us more long term benefit than about anything else we may do.

Share God's Love
I have to say that a couple of times this past year I have been totally floored by your outpouring in sharing God's love. Early in the year when the Haiti Earthquake struck and the first ELCA pledge of aid was $0.25/member I challenged us to do better than that. In 2 weeks with almost no preparation we raised about $9000! Once again as a few of us met to discuss introducing the idea of the Advent Conspiracy and the impact we might have in providing clean water by cutting back 1 or 2 Christmas gifts we estimated we could raise $1250, enough for 1 water catchment system. You raised over 3 times that amount! That's enough for a drilled well in addition to the water system! And this is on top of generous support for EPES, local ministries, the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, Christmas gifts for local families, the Christmas Shoebox and many other worthwhile causes.

It doesn't stop there. We have developed a tradition for mission trips, in 2010 to work with the American Church in Berlin, Germany and in social ministries in its neighborhood. Our Stephen Ministry is active in providing trained ministers to walk with people in times of pain, grief or loss. Our deacons visit the infirm with Holy Communion and lead Sunday worship at Claire Bridge in Niskayuna. We continue to provide days to serve in local missions and at the summer lunch program in Schenectady. We share God's love!

Can we grow? Certainly! We can build on what has been started perhaps with more local service opportunities by learning to better share God's love with our words of invitation so that we may continue to welcome all, worship joyfully, grow spiritually and share God's love.

Pastor Jeff