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Brothers and Sisters In Christ:
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Every year, much like the President of the United States gives A STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS I give A STATE OF THE CHURCH ADDRESS. The title of my State of the Church Address for 2010 is, “TURNING THE CORNER.”2010 is, “TURNING THE CORNER.” The
phrase, “turning the corner” is used when identifying a positive change in a current set of conditions, circumstances,
and situations. For instance, when someone has been ill and begin to get well, it is said that the individual has “turned the corner” on their illness.
Likewise, in respect to the economic meltdown of 2009, some economist might say our economy is turning the corner and
we are on our way to recovery. Turning
the corner does not mean that all is well or that we are “out of the woods, yet.” However,
it does imply that we have weathered the storm and are looking ahead hoping for brighter and better days. In Isaiah 43:2 God promises, “When you pass through
the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you and when you walk through
the fire you will not be burned.”
In life, we all must go through some life-changing things. I believe Belle-Terrace (BT) has been
going through a life-changing, transformational period as many of our founding church members have gone to glory in the past 3 years.
Their departure and the fact that we have not been able to replace them with new disciples/members left some of us wondering
if BT is dying as a church. Well, I believe we are not dying as a church. Instead,
I believe we are turning the corner in our understanding that death is a part of life and is necessary if we are to obtain
eternal life. With this understanding, I believe we are turning the corner on our anxieties about the death of our church
and beginning to think in terms of developing a strategy or strategies to help our church grow. I believe the seeds for
turning the corner were planted in 2008 when the Session realized we had a problem and we needed help to help us address our
problem. We asked the Presbytery’s Healthy Congregations Team (HCT) to come in and assess the health
of our church. Overall, the HCT found that our church is healthy, but like all churches, has some areas
that need to be worked on.
I will be the first to
say that we, as a church, are not out of the woods, yet. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
Indeed, I see a bright and better forecast for our future for our church. I’ve seen members
enthusiastically give support to upgrade our
sound system, install hand rails to the pulpit and choir loft, and finances to support our youth ministries program.
I would say that we have begun to turn the corner
on our anxieties about death and dying. We have also turned the corner on our perceptions of leadership,
lack of communication, and our ambivalence to Presbyterian Polity. And, if the work of the Special Committee on Worship and Music to bring recommendations to improve
the worship and music ministries of the church is any indication, I believe we have turned the corner, and are well on our way to agreeing on
a strategy that will lead to our church growing in members/disciples. I conclude by saying, “Just
don’t give up on our church because God isn’t through with us, yet.” Thanks to each of you for
all you do in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “To God Be The Glory Great Things God Has Done, Is Doing, and
Is About To Do” In His Service (IHS) Rev.
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