THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW CUMBERLAND DISTRICT Macon, Sumner, Trousdale, Wilson and Parts of Clay, Smith, Robertson, Davidson, and Cheatham Counties

THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW CUMBERLAND DISTRICT Macon, Sumner, Trousdale, Wilson and parts of Clay, Smith, Robertson, Davidson, and Cheatham Counties

Volume 4, Issue 11 November 2011

Cumberland District Staff Lebanon First United Methodist Church  Rev. Tom Halliburton, District Superintendent Deeds the Mary Chaffin Memorial UMC Church  Ms. Carolyn Bullock, to Potter’s House Ministries in Upton Heights District Secretary

Lebanon First United Methodist Church is donating the Mary Chaffin  Scott Hilgadiack, Editor Cumberland District United Methodist Church in the Upton Heights Area on Lake Street to Review Potter’s House, A Holy Place. Potter’s House has been using the church for their ministries and worship for over 3 years after The Inside this issue: Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church closed it as a UMC church. Mary Chaffin devoted many years of her life to being in A Day Apart 2-3 ministry with the folks in the Upton Heights community. “We are proud that we are able to continue ministries in that area through 2011 Clergy Age Trends 4 Potter’s House by deeding the property over to them” says an official Report of Lebanon First. Events at Lafayette UMC 5

Lebanon FUMC Preschool 6

Reaching More Disciples 7

7 Tips to Prevent Staff 8 Conflict

Christmas Is Not Your Birthday 9

Pictured are First Church Senior Pastor Mike Ripski, Ken Caldwell, Trustee Chair, David Hesson, Minister of Congregational Care, and Potter’s House staff, Tameaka Owens, Pastor Joy Briggs and Elder Ron Briggs. PAGE 2 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW PAGE 3

PAGE 4 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 2011 Clergy Age Trends Report Shows More Older and Younger Clergy

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership today released the 2011 version of its annual report Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church. The report, prepared with assistance from the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, shows increases in both older and younger clergy. The historic high median age of elders set in 2010 continues, as does a marked decrease in middle age elders.

Highlights of the 2011 Report Older Clergy Constitute Largest Share of Clergy in History  Elders between ages 55 and 72 comprise 52 percent of all active elders, the highest percentage in history. One year ago this group reached 50 percent for the first time. This age cohort represented only 30 percent of active elders as recently as 2000. Previously their percentage of the total was even lower.  The median age of elders remains at 55 in 2011, the highest in history, reached first in 2010. The median age was 50 in 2000 and 45 in 1973.  As expected, the total number of clergy retirements went down dramatically in 2009 because of the economic downturn (811 compared to 1,113 in 2008). Even with fewer retirements in 2009, the average retirement age still went down by half a year to 64 in 2009. The Percentage of Middle Age Elders Continues to Shrink The percentage of elders aged 35 to 54 continues to shrink, from 65 percent of all active elders in 2000 to 43 percent in 2011. The Number of Young Clergy Continues to Grow Slowly but Steadily  There are more young elders, deacons, and local pastors than ten years ago. The numbers and percentages of young elders and local pastors grew slightly in 2011. Young deacons declined very slightly after growing much faster than elders and local pastors for several years. Much more information is available in the complete Clergy Age Trends report, which is available for download free of charge. Of particular interest to many are the average and median ages of elders by conference. Also, the report features a breakdown by conference of young, middle age, and older clergy for elders, deacons, and local pastors.

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary is pleased to provide this report as a service to the church.

PAGE 5 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 Events at Lafayette UMC Lafayette United Methodist Church 506 Bratton Avenue P.O. Box 122 Lafayette, Tennessee 37083 Phone: 615-666-3497 E-mail: [email protected]

Weekly Schedule Praise & Worship Service Sunday Morning at 8:30 AM Come as you are and celebrate Christ with us. Sunday School at 9:45 AM for all ages! Traditional Worship - Sunday Morning at 10:55 AM Hispanic Methodist Meetings IGLESIA METODISTA UNIDA HISPANA ASILOE@ Monday and Thursday nights at 7:00 PM Handbell Choir meets every Wednesday night at 6:00 to practice. If you would like to be a member, come and join us.

Monthly Events Trunk or Treat Our special event on October 31st is Trunk or Treat. We serve 500 Hot Dogs as well as candy to the children in the church parking lot. On November 13th following the 10:55 Worship Service, we will have a Potluck dinner with all invited to join us. Youth meets on every other Sunday Afternoon 2:00 PM In November they will only meet on November 13th because of Thanksgiving holidays.

UMW meets each 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 PM November 8th is next UMW meeting. PAGE 6 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 Lebanon First United Methodist Church Preschool

The preschool program at First United Methodist Church was visited by the 304th MP Battalion of Nashville, TN., Tuesday, September 20th. SPC. Bree Fuller and SGT. Jimmy Wooldridge brought their humvee by the church for all of the children to see and explore. It was a great week for studying the letter “Ff” and discussing the “f”reedom that we are blessed with due to the men and women of our armed forces.

New ownership for McKendree Village announced (Press release 10/14/11)

For Immediate Release: Oct. 14, 2011

Effective on October 1, 2011, the new owner and operator of McKendree Village is Nashville Senior Living, LLC d.b.a. McKendree Village, a subsidiary of Covington Senior Living, LLC based in Atlanta, GA. The president and owner of Cov- ington Senior Living is Ted McMullan, an active United Methodist at Peachtree Road UMC in Atlanta. His company also owns three other continuing care retirement centers, two in Ohio and one in Florida. McKendree Village's executive director will be David Zack, who has 17 years experience in managing continuing care retirement facilities like McKendree Village.

McMullan is committed to restoring a full time chaplaincy program at McKendree Village with the departure of Rev. Dr. Carmen Lile-Henley, McKendree Village Director of Pastoral Care to a new position in Liberty, Missouri.

With the sale of McKendree Village, the McKendree Village Foundation is no longer a “supporting organization” of previ- ous owner, McKendree Village, Inc. According to Kent McNish, its executive director, “The Foundation will pursue its new mission as presented to the Tennessee Annual Conference in June, 2011. In addition to providing financial support for benevolent care to eligible McKendree residents. The Foundation's mission will also be the completion of a compre- hensive plan for serving Tennessee conference seniors. This plan will be developed in collaboration with conference leadership and presented to the 2012 session of the Tennessee Conference for discussion and decision.” PAGE 7 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11

Reaching More Disciples

The first decade of the 21st century was one of highs and lows for U.S. congregations. In the wake of the tragedy of 9/11, many more people went to church for the next five Sundays or so. Then the numbers turned downward. If 9/11 and its aftermath shaped much of the external environment in the early years of the decade, an economic recession shaped much of the latter years.

Most churches now recognize that congregational life and practices in the current century will need to be more than incremental improvements on what worked in the past. Major cultural and generational shifts are occurring. In this new context, church leaders are more confident in their knowledge of the dying edges that are passing away than they are of the living edges in which God is moving in this new day.

The common 21st century challenge for churches across all sizes, regions, and traditions is to reach more people, younger people, and more diverse people. The people God has given us in the U.S. in the 21st century are more numerous, younger, and more diverse than in the past, while our churches overall continue to become smaller and older, as well as much less diverse than their communities.

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership is launching a new initiative to help church leaders address this challenge. Just as the Lewis Center’s focus on stewardship and finance has helped many church leaders better fund their ministries, the Center’s Reach New Disciples emphasis will offer more effective tools to congregations with a heart for connecting with those around them.

We look forward to our work with those who are able to attend our first Reach New Disciples half-day event on November 5. Others can take advantage of the event through purchasing the DVD/CD that will be available. The theme of this first conference is Connect with Your Neighbors. Churches, especially long- established congregations, often need to reengage their surrounding communities in ways similar to their early days of congregational life.

Churches grow as a result of relationships. Today many of those relationships will not begin when new people arrive to visit a church but rather when churches connect with others in the community. Some refer to this as a move away from an “attractional” model to a more “missional” orientation. In any case, social and cultural forces are not factors in nudging people toward church today as in the past. Churches need to learn new practices to fit a new context.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Printed with permission from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership: http://www.churchleadership.com/ . PAGE 8 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11

7 tips to prevent staff conflict

By Rev. Kimberly Pope-Seiberling, pastor at Immanuel UMC in Lima, OH and blogs about church change at churchchangesucks.com

Church staffs come in many different forms. Staff may already be in place when a pastor arrives. In other instances, one or more staff members may need to be selected. Some staffs operate as well- oiled team machines; others are the height of dysfunction and manipulation. Just thinking about them may make you want to scream and run for the hills.

Here are some tips on preventing staff conflicts – learned the hard way.

1. Lead the way: At staff meetings, make a point to ask each staff member, “What can I do to make your ministry more fruitful?” Soon members will begin asking each other what they can do to enhance each other’s ministry. Staffs invested in each other’s areas of ministry have less conflict. Sometimes pastors underestimate the power of their example. Be a leader other people want to follow.

2. Make the staff practice: Often a staff experiences fracture because an individual becomes overly vested in his or her particular ministry area. It is easy for individual staff members to forget they are one of many parts of a healthy, well-functioning church. Each year we have a churchwide event where the success does not depend on one particular ministry area or on a particular staff member. These large events depend on the staff communi- cating, coordinating and executing together.

3. Learn each other’s personalities and strengths: Use several different tools such asStrengthsFinder, DiSC, Hermann Brain Dominance Instru- ment and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help the staff understand different personalities and working styles. Pre-emptive conversation addressing differences allows for healthy dialogue before conflict arises.

4. Treat staff as a Christian community: Jesus had a staff of 12 disciples. They weren’t perfect, and they did not always get along. One of the 12 even betrayed Jesus, their leader. Pastors should remember they are not just creating staffs; they are creating Christian communities. Studying themes of servanthood, sacrifice, forgiveness, peace, joy and patience together can equip us to deal with critical issues that can rip apart church staffs. These discussions can also enhance our work as staff members and make us better Christians.

5. Evaluate teamwork: As a part of each staff member’s annual evaluation, assess how well staff members get along with each other and deal with conflict in a Christ-like manner. This allows addressing small problems before they become big issues. Not only does it make each member of the team think about how he or she contributes and cooperates, but it also communicates that teamwork is expected and part of the church culture. Those who act outside of these norms will be held accountable for their actions.

6. Set guidelines for dealing with conflict BEFORE it arises: Each member of my church leadership team and all of the paid staff know guidelines exist for dealing with conflict.

 Talk to the person with whom you are having a conflict before going to your supervisor.

 Own your feelings.

Honor staff members by keeping a conflict confidential and by saying only positive things about each other.

Addressing dysfunctional conflict-resolution patterns before they happen can help staff members find new and healthier ways of serving the body of Christ. Check out these conflict resolution policies from Back River United Methodist Church, Essex, Md., and use them to create your own.

7. JustPeace can help: JustPeace is the commissioned Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation of the United Methodist Church. JustPeace empowers individuals to engage conflict constructively in ways that strive for justice, reconciliation, resource preservation and restoration of community.

JustPeace assists United Methodists with regard to:

 Attitudes to conflict

 Skills used before and in the midst of conflict

 Processes for transforming conflicts

Ministries of reconciliation that support transformative attitudes, skills and processes.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Take the time now to create a healthy staff. It will pay big dividends when challenges arise. PAGE 9 THE UNITED METHODIST REVIEW VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 Christmas is Not Your Birthday By Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

There was a time when churches were reluctant to take an offering at their Christmas Eve services. The reasoning was that many people at those services would be those who rarely came to church, and the last thing the church wanted to do was to confirm their preconception that churches only care about money. But today, in many places Christmas Eve services rival Easter in attendance, and the Christmas Eve offering is often the largest of the year. What has changed? Churches discovered that asking for money on Christmas Eve is actually ap- preciated by participants, including and perhaps especially those who rarely attend church — so long as the offering is for others and not the church’s operational expenses. This change in perspective offers the opportunity for the church to tell the story of the good that giving accomplishes, perhaps with accompanying slides. Visitors, who may be un- aware that churches do good work in the community and the world, are often captivated by these stories. They wel- come a chance to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Christmas Eve offerings are even more significant when tied to a larger Advent and Christmas mission focus. Mike Slaughter, pastor of Ginghamsburg Church in Ohio, has galvanized his congregation around doing extraordinary things to help the people of Sudan. This has put him at the forefront of a growing group of pastors leading congregations to find new life by helping some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Several years ago, Mike reminded his congregation that “Christmas is Not Your Birthday.” He named the irony of Chris- tians whose self indulgent holiday celebrations make a mockery of the One whose birthday we honor. He challenged members to give as much for others as they spend on themselves. John Wesley once said Christians are called to re- turn money in excess of basic necessities to God “through the poor,” whom God “had appointed to receive it.” That is precisely what Mike and the people of Ginghamsburg did. In 2004, the slogan “Christmas is not your birthday; it’s Jesus’ birthday” rallied the church around the priorities of Jesus’ ministry. That year they gave $300,000. These funds, along with generous giving in subsequent years, led to a partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief and support from over a hundred other churches, schools, and businesses. The Sudan Project, as the effort was subsequently named, has implemented a sustainable agriculture program, promoted child protection and education, and provided clean water for thousands in one of the poorest areas of the world. By mid-2011, the project had invested over 5 million dollars in a more abundant and hopeful life for people with few resources of their own. Mike’s new book, Christmas is Not Your Birthday, tells a little about what his church has done. But primarily, it is a thoughtful reflection on a Christmas that takes seriously the words and life of Christ. Another pastor, hearing the Ginghamsburg story, took courage in hand and preached his own “Christmas is Not Your Birthday” sermon. To this pastor’s surprise, when the sermon ended the congregation stood and applauded — the only time that had ever happened. There is power in this message because there is power in the Gospel of Christ — if we can only remember it. It is not a new story, but for many churches it can become a fresh story for a world seeking satisfaction in all the wrong places. Christmas Is Not Your Birthday: Experience the Joy of Living and Giving like Jesus by Mike Slaughter is available from Cokesbury and Amazon.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr. is professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary. His most recent book, written with Tom Berlin, is Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Re- sults (Abingdon, 2011), available at Cokesbury and Amazon .

CUMBERLAND DISTRICT UNITED METHODIST CHU RCH

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 477 Hendersonville, TN 37077

District Office Location: 525 New Shackle Island Rd Hendersonville, TN 37075 (Inside Good Sheppard UMC)

Telephone: 615-822-1433 FAX: 615-822-3729

Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.

Check out our updated web page: http://www.gbgm-umc.org/cumberland/. If you have any suggestions or corrections please email Scott Hilgadiack at [email protected] .

Deadline for the next Cumberland District Review, November 18, 2011. Please send any information you wish to be printed in this edition to [email protected] or to [email protected].