Well, as I near Annual Conference I often think of a simple and sketchy assessment of the church I pastor because many friends, both clergy and lay, will ask me, “So, how’s the church?” You know I’m going to say, “Wonderful!” But then, depending who’s asking, I will offer some qualifiers. I share all of them with you now as a sort of mini-state-of-the-church address.
- our congregation is supportive, respectful, and flexible [note: these three choice words tied together astound most!]
- we’re recovering very well from the recent staff crisis; the conference connection has proved to be a huge blessing
- we excel at active, personal friendliness with guests and yet strike a balance of giving them room to acclimate at their pace
- we’ve totally regained community awareness and it’s beginning to pay dividends in terms of guests and collaboration
- we’ve endured some major building repairs and expect only to be faced with more among our seven buildings on campus
- we’re looking at partnering with an African-American UMC in some way; however it ends up it’ll be a win-win situation
- we brought in 12 1/2% less this year in our first quarter over last year, and I hope and expect we’ll make up for it in the second
Love You All, From My Heart,
Rev. Jeff Garrett