Saint Paul's

Are you familiar with the jokes about how many (fill in the blank) does it take to change a light bulb? How many United Methodists does it take to change a worship service? CHANGE!!!!!!!!!

The Worship Committee is trying to address a time crunch between the 2nd and 3rd services on Sunday mornings. Especially during communion, the 11:00 a.m. service is pushed and may not even start until after 11:00 a.m. The 10:00 service is designed to be a 45 minute service. Even if the 10:00 service adjourns by 10:45 the praise band for the 11:00 service, Apostles' Creed, has little time to set up.

After considerable discussion the Worship Committee thought moving the middle service to a 9:45 a.m. start time would solve the problem and sought input from those who usually attend the 10:00 service. A great majority of those responding to the survey approved of the change in time, but a number of concerns were raised. The instrumentalists for the 10:00 service would then be pushed for time to set up. The change may also have affected parents who take their children to Sunday School and then come to worship.

The Worship Committee looked at the survey data and considered a number of other alternatives. Their conclusion was to leave the worship schedule as it is for now.

The addition of a worship service outside of Sunday morning has been a goal for several years. We have tried Saturday night, Monday night and most recently Wednesday evening. None of the new worship times drew much appeal. The Worship Committee will continue to explore ideas for another service. One such concept which has drawn some interest is to develop a Saturday night service around a band (similar to the group recently at Saint Paul's called Broken) and design a service around the needs of young people. All options are on the table.

On another topic - - - 2009 is fast approaching. The Finance Committee is developing a budget which will be forwarded to the Administrative Council and then to the Church Conference which meets Sunday, December 7th at 2 p.m. We are in need of your 2009 estimate of giving. If you have returned the card to the church, THANK YOU! If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to do so ASAP. The current state of the economy makes future planning very tenuous. However, the Finance Committee needs some kind of estimate so to develop a budget. These are not contracts. They are instruments to help the church be fiscally responsible.

We have been successful in meeting current bills with your 2008 offerings. Saint Paul's traditionally receives much of its income in November and December, and a large part of the gifts to the church have come through sale of stock. The stock market crash will likely have a negative impact on the church's 2008 income. While we are meeting payroll, utilities, etc., we are still $56,589.98 short in our mission giving. It is easy to short mission giving in difficult financial times. However, we need to remember that the missions which depend on our giving, i.e. campus ministries, camping, missionaries, etc., will be negatively affected by our decision. People will suffer.

My prayer is that the economic impact of this recession on you will be minimal. The truth is that ALL of us will be affected in some way. Greater compassion is required from us now than ever before.

Dr. Dan