Just over 5 years ago I was appointed to be the pastor of a wonderful congregation of United Methodist Christians at Central. During that time we have worked together to build a congregation of people who are growing as disciples of the Christ and who are engaged in acts of discipleship that reflect the love of God for all creation. We have sought to reach out to those injured by their past and those who rarely have enough resources to meet their physical needs. We have sought to be inviting and welcoming, as well as inclusive and nurturing, to all who desire community with the people of God. We have sought to embrace saints and sinners-and saints who have sinned. Our hope has been that as continuous recipients of grace we might, by grace, be a means of grace serving as ambassadors of our Lord in a great ministry of reconciliation.

We have worshiped, studied, served and labored. It would be inspiring to report that our ministry has shown a great increase in membership, in worship attendance, in giving and in the number of learners active in our Church School. However, that is not the case. The fruit of our labors is not revealed in that kind of increase.

Instead, our labors have brought forth something quite differently. We have a church that is slowly being reborn. Some of us have believed we were too old to be part of any talk of birthing a family. We have done our part.it is time for someone else to pick up and carry on the work. The truth is: There is no one else! So, here we are like Abraham and Sarah asked to help start a new family just when we thought we were "as good as dead." What a surprise it is to suddenly find ourselves invited to make a profound difference in the lives of a much younger generation.

This is not mere idle conversation. At the present time we have more people in their twenties and thirties active in the ministry at Central than at anytime since I have been the pastor. We have infants, toddlers and children finding their way into our hearts and we have the opportunity to support the parents and to love these children into the full expressions of the Christian faith. Because God has blessed us with these wonderful younger people we have begun reconfiguring our physical facilities. We now know more clearly that we need spaces that will accommodate everyone from the most elderly to the newest infant.

We also have an emerging vision that God is indeed calling us to reach out to the non-Christian and to those who are non-churched cultural Christians. There are those in our community who make no pretense of a commitment to any faith. They see themselves as freed from, what they perceive as, the burden of religious obligation. Yet, these same people are desperate for a caring community: A place where they can be accepted and loved. Surely, we at Central can befriend these wanderers and offer them true community.

Perhaps the greatest numbers of non-churched people in our community are cultural Christians. If asked they would say they are Christian but they rarely attend worship, engage in the study of the faith, nor are they consciously committed to "giving a cup of water in the name of Jesus." Some of these will say they are Christian because they are Americans and Christianity is the dominate religion of the culture. They could just as easily identify with another cultural expression. Others say they are Christians because they were at some point baptized but they have long since ceased any active engagement with the body of Christ. We at Central can and must offer them Christ, who is the way forward out of their wilderness.

God has placed before Central the unique calling to be:

• Evangelical: Sharing the news about God's great love.
• Liturgically relevant: Flexible yet grounded in both Word and Table.
• Socially engaged: Hands on in meeting the pain of our world.
• Committed to an inclusive community of faith: Meeting people where they are and nurturing them in their relationship with God.

Should I be allowed to continue as the pastor at Central, it is my intent to guide us in faithfully following that vision.

Grace and Peace,


David