Volume LVII MARCH 2013 No. 2 All Clergy Gathering Features Expert on “Spiritual But Not Religious” At St. John’s Church in Hazlet, with a “you’ll burn in hell” argument on nearly 400 clergy from around the con- the one hand or coddle them with a ference gathered for worship, fellow- “whatever floats your boat” approach ship, and conversation with the Rev. Dr. on the other. Instead, this growing seg- Lillian Daniel, a pastor in the United ment of American society needs to be Church of Christ and author of “When challenged to approach the task of find- Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not ing a religious community with the Enough: Seeing God in Surprising same effort they put into selecting a Places, Even the Church.” All clergy college, purchasing a home, or even received a free copy of her book, and buying a car – to “dig deeply” into their there was even a CBS television crew religious traditions with the goal of “ma- on hand to film Rev. Daniel for an up- ture faith, practiced in community, over coming special. time.” This commitment implies a shift from the narcissistic focus of “finding Bishop Schol welcomes clergy to the All Clergy Pre-Lenten Gathering. “Touchdown Theology” – the superfi- cial understanding of blessedness embodied in the prosperity gospel and post-game locker room interviews – and encouraged them to think more deeply about the complexity of God’s call and blessings on their lives. Using the story of her own call to ministry – a Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel addresses call nearly derailed by a letter from her clergy gathering in Hazlet. Episcopal diocese stating that she “has Photo by Chris Heckert absolutely no discernible gifts for par- This all-clergy gathering is a day ish ministry, whatsoever” – she encour- Bishop Schol invites the congregation of the clergy to receive communion. apart for the clergy of the conference aged the pastors to consider the closed Photo by Chris Heckert as they prepare to lead their congre- doors in their own lives. Noting that she anointing led by Bishop John Schol, a church that meets my needs” toward gations through Lent. Begun by Bishop had not been able to pursue her call- pastors had the opportunity to hear finding a “community where God needs Devadhar and now continued by ing until she switched denominations, more about Rev. Daniel’s vision for my gifts.” Bishop Schol, it has become an impor- she asked, “What if the clicker won’t communities of faith that are “reason- “Christendom is over,” she reminded tant tradition. open the door because your car is over able, rigorous, and real.” The answer the pastors. “No one has to be in In her sermon, Rev. Daniel chal- on the other side of the parking lot?” to those who are “spiritual but not reli- church. They want you to make the lenged the congregation to go beyond After a service of communion and gious,” Daniel said, is not to scare them case why it matters.” Task Force on Conference Office Strategic Ministry Plan Presents Findings Begins with Listening The Strategic Ministry Task Force 57 years old and 50% of our mem- has been conducting listening sessions bers are over 58 years old around the conference to identify the “Yes, like many US conferences we hopes and challenges of the confer- have challenges but we have creative ence to be addressed over the next five and courageous clergy and laity who years. The team of 12 has been meet- are leading us through the challenges,” ing in every district as well as talking said John Schol, Bishop of the Greater with conference leaders. New Jersey Conference. “Look at how The team has been learning about our clergy and laity have responded to some of the strong ministry within the Superstorm Sandy. We are a leader in Greater New Jersey Conference. We the state providing relief and are well are theologically and ethnically diverse. organized for the long term recovery.” We have vital small congregations and Schol added, “We have more churches strong large congregations. We have worshiping over 500 than any other vibrant urban ministries and rural min- conference in the Northeastern Juris- istries. In 2010, GNJ was one of the diction and we have strong diversity. Photo by Heather Fullerton only conferences to grow in member- We are making progress in the midst In June of 2011, the Annual Confer- a home, it was also a restaurant, a night ship. of stiff head winds.” ence empowered a task force to study club, and now an office building. Like most US conferences we also Two of the most important aspects the present conference center and as- The building costs $219,000 a year have challenges. Over the last ten of the plan will be how we grow more sess present conditions, costs and re- to operate which includes mortgage, in- years, GNJ has seen vital congregations and how we call, pairs as well as our present and future surance, utilities, maintenance and re- • Worship attendance decline by equip, send and support clergy and lay needs. The task force has reviewed the pairs. The building is not energy effi- 20% spiritual leaders. property using engineers and contractors cient, and the property is also in need • Professions of faith decline by 34% There are three aspects to the life and has determined that our present of $550,000 of repairs which includes • Shared ministry collection rate de- of a vital congregation: A) Life-full sto- building is not worth further investments. a new retaining wall, heating and air cline from 86% to 79% ries are being told - stories about The conference center is located in conditioning, paving and basic paint- • The number of churches decline changed lives, new disciples and trans- Ocean County just outside of Asbury ing and carpeting. from 610 to 578 forming ministry and mission done Park and was purchased by the newly The office presently houses a little • Baptisms decline from 3,321 to through the congregation. B) Fruitful- formed Greater New Jersey Confer- more than 30 staff. There are five win- 1,882 ness evidenced by new disciples be- ence in 2002. The building is over dows in the entire building. “It would • The number of children and youth ing made, number of disciples in small 18,000 square feet and was originally not be good stewardship to invest in in our congregations decline from groups for learning and faith formation, a home. It has had several additions the property,” said Rev. Lou Strugala, 28,581 to 25,271 number of disciples engaged in wor- over the years and in addition to being Continued on page 3 • 50% of our active pastors are over Continued on page 3 2 UNITED METHODIST RELAY MARCH 2013 NS District Men to Ponder A Message from the Bishop Male Church Attendance Dear Sisters and Brothers, at March 16 Gathering Last month I talked about principles, NORTHERN SHORE – “Why do men not go to church? Is Church a women’s or values, and that sometimes two prin- place?” These will be the questions under consideration when Northern Shore ciples you hold can actually compete District United Methodist Men meet March 16 for their Annual Gathering at the with each other. I used the illustration Matawan Church. of Abraham Lincoln and his prolonging the Civil War because if the war was All who participate will be invited to take part in interactive small group over, the urgency for Congress to end discussions based on the book “Why Men Hate going to Church,” by David slavery would be threatened. Lincoln Murrow. Participants are invited to David Murrow’s Questionaire “How guys- wanted peace and to end slavery. Hold- friendly is your Church?” available on line at http://churchformen.com/wp- ing both of these in one hand created content/uploads/2010/03/Guy_Friendly_Test.pdf . conflicts. Murrow contends that worship tends to follow a “soft” style that appeals to women, but repulses men. His aim is to attract “tough masculine males” to Sun- Each of us faces such challenges and day worship. that is why ethics and the study of eth- The gathering will get underway at 9 a.m. with a continental breakfast, and will ics are vitally important to our faith. conclude following a light lunch at 1 p.m. Cost of the event is $5.00 which will One of the dilemmas the church has encountered is the different val- cover both the breakfast and lunch. ues between mosaics, the younger generation and mainstream church thinking. It is no secret that young people are losing faith in the church. From the Conference Board of Not necessarily in God, but in the church. When asked, the mosaic generation gives any one or more of the fol- Church and Society lowing reasons for dropping out of church: overprotective, shallow, We know that there are a lot of ac- to your legislators/President, etc.. antiscience, repressive, exclusive and doubtless. (You Lost Me: Why tivities happening in our churches re- We are very proud of the work that Young Christians are Leaving Church by David Kinnaman 2011) lated to advocacy, peace and justice. many of our churches do to show their David Kinnaman, a researcher from the evangelical research firm the We would like to share your pictures theology through advocacy. By show- and stories with others. We are plan- ing your pictures and sharing your sto- Barna Group, says that most young people do not describe themselves ning to display pictures of churches in ries, we want more churches to be in- as church dropouts, but that the church has left them, that the church is action at Annual Conference.