About church vitality

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By Rev. Rick King

(This column is part of a series on church vitality.)

It’s surprising, but current data shows about 80 percent of churches today are stuck or in decline—liberal and conservative, mainline or evangelical Protestant, and Catholic.

It usually takes time and a great deal of prayer, skill, and hard work, but churches do indeed turn around. People in the Minnesota Conference can point to “miracles” like the turnarounds of St. Paul’s UCC and Olivet Congregational UCC in St. Paul as evidence that inexorable decline and death are not a given.

But, how do churches turn it around? What really needs to happen for a dying church to experience revitalization? It’s not simply a matter of doing what we’ve always done, better. Without addressing three questions first, no church can make the shifts necessary to come back from the dead:

Why do we exist as a church?
Where is God calling us to go in the future?
How do we get there?

FHC addressed these questions in the interim period, and our work in the Crossroads program builds on this important work.

One of the most significant shifts a church can make in its thinking is from being inwardly-focused to being outwardly-focused. It’s the natural pull of churches to become more and more inwardly-focused over time. The relationships in congregations become close because you share life’s ups and downs, milestones like births and deaths, marriage and divorce, illness, career shifts, you name it. We’re on the receiving end of such love and support that at times, it can seem like church is primarily here for US.

But is church really only here for those who are already part of it?

What of those who’ve never experienced community like this? Or those who were hurt by a church and are taking tentative steps back, and we’re the first church where they’ve felt acceptance? What about reconnecting with our immediate neighborhood? What are their needs?

Above all, the jaw-dropping question is this: If our church closed or moved away tomorrow, would people miss us?

At the same time as we experience the love and care we receive as insiders in this congregation, we need to be asking, “Who else needs this who is not already a part of the congregation?”

Of what help can we be to the neighborhood?

So, if you’re not already doing so, may I invite you to begin asking questions like these in 2019?

Job opening: part-time office manager

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We’re looking to hire a part-time Church Office Manager. This position is for 30 hours a week.

The Office Manager:

  • Works collaboratively with the Lead Pastor and staff to support the congregation’s vision. Our vision is to become “seekers and servants, growing in God’s transforming love.”
  • Advances the priorities and programs of Falcon Heights Church, United Church of Christ, by performing administrative and office support functions. This work strengthens us as an inclusive, intergenerational community that models progressive Christianity.
  • Reports to the Lead Pastor and works with the church staff, congregation, and general public in the church’s ministry and mission.

Additional responsibilities:

  • In addition to general office management, the position includes communications, record-keeping, and building use coordination.

If you’re interested, please contact the Rev. Rick King at [email protected].

New group aims to support immigrants

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Want to help your immigrant neighbors? Want to find out how to increase our church members’ involvement in helping immigrant neighbors?

From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, Falcon Heights Church is hosting the inaugural meeting of CAN, the Coalition to Accompany (Immigrant) Neighbors. We will be activating a group of concerned neighbors to provide support to immigrant families in our community facing issues today. Come and find out what it’s all about and how you can get involved!

Meeting agenda:

6:00 — Welcome and introduction to CAN

6:10 — Individual introductions: Name, where you live, what community of faith you are connected to

6:25  — CAN: immediate needs vs long-term goals

  • Immediate needs: equip a small group of people to provide support to immigrant neighbors as an extension of Ana’s ministry
  • Long-term goals: engage congregations in the IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory), have quarterly meetings for CAN group to gain support, insight, education, expand partnership by building relationships with other nonprofits, advocacy groups, and community organizations.
  • Tonight we are focusing on the immediate need of activating a group of concerned neighbors to provide support to immigrant families in our community facing issues today.

6:45 — Current situation and urgent needs: Describing the current situation and needs, explaining desired form of communication between her, families, and CAN members, ways that CAN members can accompany families.

7:20 — Accompaniment vs. “saving”

7:35 — Note on confidentiality and privacy

7:45 — Group inventory – interests, availability

8:00 — Closing prayer

What is God calling us to do now?

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What is God calling us to do and be. . . TODAY?

Did you read the recent Star Tribune series of articles on organized religion? We watch and hear of declining attendance, financial struggles, and closing churches. And we know that profound societal shifts are demanding that churches change in response to them, or die. As a matter of faithfulness to God, we all must ask what God is calling us to do and be…TODAY.

To help us find our calling, the Minnesota Conference UCC has invited our congregation to be part of a new program called Crossroads. This program builds on the work of our Discovery Team and pastoral search process. As part of a consortium of other UCC Minnesota churches, Crossroads will help help us answer this vital question.

We will work with Vibrant Faith, a Christian research-based organization that provides training and coaching. Eight members of Falcon Heights Church have volunteered to undertake this exciting one-year journey.  We will be “looking inward” at who we are and also at how we can “turn outward.” We will consider what dreams we have for the future, and where we go from here.

Vibrant Faith will prepare participants in the Crossroads program to develop new forms of ministry and leadership. We need to respond to the changing ways people approach faith and religion in our society. We can expect coaching on ministry models, leadership skills and supportive learning communities.

An invitation from the Minnesota Conference

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The Minnesota Conference UCC has invited our congregation to be part of a new program called Crossroads. Building on the work of our Discovery Team and pastoral search process, and as part of a consortium of other UCC MN churches, Crossroads is designed to help us answer the question: What is God calling us to do and be…TODAY?”

We will work with Vibrant Faith, a Christian research-based organization that provides training and coaching. This is a one-year commitment consisting of four full-day retreats (Feb. 2 and three other dates to be determined) and monthly team meetings supported by a consultant from Vibrant Faith and a representative of the UCC Conference. We will be “looking inward” at who we are and also at how we can “turn outward,” what dreams we have for the future, and where we go from here.

Vibrant Faith will prepare participants in the Crossroads Program to develop new forms of ministry and leadership in response to the changing ways people approach faith and religion in our society. We can expect coaching on ministry models, leadership skills, and supportive learning communities.

Christmas greetings from national UCC leaders

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Christmas greetings from the United Church of Christ! The national officers of the United Church of Christ share the blessings and love of this sacred season in a video card:

Appearing in the video are the UCC’s general minister and president, the Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer; Executive Minister the Rev. Traci Blackmon; and Executive Minister the Rev. Jim Moos.

Boundaries training for working with kids

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The Minnesota Conference UCC will present a boundaries training workshop Saturday, Jan. 12. This training is for lay leaders and volunteers who work with children, youth and families. The workshop will be at Mayflower United Church of Christ, 106 E. Diamond Lake Road, Minneapolis. It will cover:

  • An introduction to boundaries, power, and vulnerability
  • Appropriate touch and healthy self-disclosure
  • Boundaries, the internet, and social media
  • Essential self-care
  • Best practices in safe child/safe church policies

Lori Alford, program director of Pilgrim Point Camp and Retreats, and the Rev. Kevin Brown, associate conference minister of faith formation for children and youth, will lead the training created by the Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune of FaithTrust Institute.

The registration fee of $25 covers materials, a continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Register by Jan. 4 at http://uccmn.org/calendar/healthy-boundaries-workshop-101

World AIDS Day remembrance

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Remembering Uncle John on World AIDS Day

The following was written by seminary intern Claire Klein in memory of her uncle.

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day. It has been a special day for my family as we take the day to remember my uncle, the Rev. Dr. John Klein. As some of you may know, my dad is a UCC minister, as was his dad before him. Although my dad followed in the “family business” after an attempt as a high school drama teacher, it was really my Uncle John—my dad’s triplet brother—that wanted to be a minister. As a child, Uncle John would arrange his siblings in rows in front of him and preach to them. I cannot attest to the quality of his sermons at the time, but I know that Uncle John felt certain about what he would be when he grew up.

My uncle graduated from Princeton Seminary at a time when the world was still understanding what it meant to be a gay man. He went on to earn a doctorate of ministry degree from Chicago Theological Seminary and then received a call from a small church in southern Wisconsin. He helped the United Church of Christ find their open and affirming footing.

All of these memories, however, are echoes of stories that I heard from my parents or from paging through photo albums or watching home movies. You see, my Uncle John contracted HIV, which developed into AIDS as he fought cancer. He died when I was 6 years old.

My parents tell me that when Uncle John was in the hospital, his congregation would call his hospital room from the sanctuary on Sunday morning and pass the phone around so everyone could check in with each other. I heard that my Uncle John was much more of a theater nerd than a football player. I was told that Uncle John played the French horn—like me. These memories are not my own, though. The disease of AIDS robbed me from making my own memories with Uncle John.

As I am concluding my seminary journey, I’ve often found myself trying to piece together Uncle John’s history with others around me. My ears perk up when a professor mentions a time or place that may have overlapped with him. I’m curious about how we might have bonded over Tillich or pastoral care approaches or UCC polity and history. The mustached smiling man from the home movies seems more like a missing member of my family than ever before.

On this World AIDS Day, may there be more memories made together – instead of families passing on stories in the past tense. I thank churches like Falcon Heights Church and others in the UCC who have continually supported and welcomed LGBTQIA people.

Blue Christmas service

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Blue Christmas

Feeling blue during the holidays? You are not alone. Join us Dec. 21 in a Blue Christmas service at 7 p.m. in the contemplative space in our sanctuary.

For many people, the holiday season is a time of loneliness, sorrow, alienation, anxiety and chaos. On the evening of the Winter Solstice, Dec. 21, Falcon Heights Church will offer a space to claim those feelings and find hope in the compassionate love of God.

There will be candlelight, silence, music, readings and time to reflect.

Come and find comfort for your soul.

“Bethlehem Inn” Dec. 16

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On Dec. 16, come be a guest at the Bethlehem Inn, run by Eli and his wife, Sarah. A cast of characters ages 4 to much, much older will retell the old Christmas story in  song and movement during 10:30 a.m. worship.

Accommodations in Bethlehem are hard to find due to the census, but Eli has managed to hire a rambunctious group of younger workers to assist in making your stay comfortable.

Oh, don’t mind the pounding on the door, the complaining about taxes, the strangers sleeping in the stable, a fiery star (or is it a dragon?) overhead, and a ragtag group of sheepherders with an alarming story to tell. Follow the Christmas Star right to the Bethlehem Inn and maybe you will find a room, but wait…come quietly. There’s a baby sleeping…hush!