State of the Conference 2009

State of the Conference 2009
&= nbsp; D= avid Gaewski

&= nbsp; This is the thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference that I have attended. <= /p>

Since my first meeting at Colby= College in 1997, ma= ny things have changed and many things have remained the same.

Since ’97 almost the entire staff of the conference has changed barring one faithful servant. =

Cathy Croudis has served on the staff of the Maine Conference for 22 years and I would like us all to express our gratitude to her at this time.

Thank you Cathy.

&= nbsp; Things that have not changed include the importance of Bangor Seminary in our midst and the ways it serves our churches.

Our conference office is still located in the Pennell Center and now, as then, we frequently hear you say that the space seems cramped, = even though our staff size has decreased.

And while so much has been done to improve the facility and program at Pilgrim Lodge, we continue to struggle with the costly issues of deferred maintenance.

Consistently over the years I have often heard from Annual Meeting visitors that when we gather as conference, there is a sense of family.

Families don’t always agree, and families are not always happy with one anothe= r, but at the end of the day there is a deep sense of the tie that binds and t= he unity of the One Spirit in the One Eternal God. Amen.

&= nbsp; Some things have changed over the years.

We have achieved the goal set in 1995 to have three conference ministers of the Maine Conference and I rejoice with adding Darren to the team with Susie and myself.

The complexity of church life, especially small church life, has grown…. = more complex.

Never has our Placement Team experienced so many churches moving from full time ministry to ¾ Time or from ¾ Time to ½ Time.

I’ll say a bit more about the current economic climate a litter later.

As a conference we have, on several occasions learned to talk with one another about divisive issues: Same Gender Marriage, Sacred Conversations on Race, = and most recently Rockcraft Retreat Center.

Our world has also changed around us after September 11, 2001;

after the invasion of Iraq= ;

after the devastations of Hurricanes Katrina and Mitch;

and after the election of the first African American President in US History.

The world has changed even as it has remained the same.

&= nbsp; In the spring of 2008, members of the Coordinating Council heard me using a new phrase: The Next Generation Project.

At the 2008 Annual Meeting we spent two hours discussing what we called Next Generation Concepts regarding our properties.

Also over the past two years the Spiritual Life Commission has dreamed with me t= he dream of a Maine Ministerial Excellence Program which outlines a plan to me= et the needs of the Next Generation of Maine lay and ordained ministers.

Some of those dreams have come to fruition already, for example: the Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership; another example is the grant we have ju= st received to bring all ordained clergy who have been ordained in the past fi= ve years, or clergy with UCC standing less than five years to Cleveland to experience the national setting of UCC ministry; and finally the Fall Learn= ing Event this year featuring Diana Butler Bass is an example of how we move to= ward ministerial excellence. These= are three components of the seven features of the Excellence Program geared tow= ard equipping the next generation of church leadership.

As was reported at the June 6^th Special Meeting, with the decision = to sell Rockcraft Retreat Center, the Coordinating Council has convened what we call “The Next Generation Working Group”—a committee of 11 whose task is to assimilate all the information gathered over the past two = plus years and offer up a concrete plan for our life together in the years ahead.

Their task is huge and as they have begun to map it out, they intend to be very thorough and not rush to any quick recommendations. Their recommendations will be sent= to the Coordinating Council and if approved, brought to you either at an Annual Meeting or a Special Meeting.

The members of this committee are: Rev. Ernie Campbell and Ms. Denise Goodman as co-chairs; Rev. Abby Lynn Campbell, Mr. Joe Turano, Rev. Anita White, Rev. = Tim LeConey, Rev. Dan Johnson, Mr. Herb Oliver= , Mr. Mark Schussler, myself, and o= ne youth/young adult who is in the process of being asked.

&= nbsp; It would be disingenuous to say that I haven’t been thinking or dreaming about concrete possibilities for the Next Generation of the Maine Conference. However, as I have chatted with folks over the last year, they seem to assume that my vision is more crystallized than it actually is.&nbs= p; The future that I await is full of possibilities. I am fundamentally an optimist---<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> that song in South Pacific comes to mind: A Cockeyed Optimist. Th= at really is what I am. Sometime= s the culture of the church seems pessimistic.&n= bsp; Pessimism squelches dreams and visions. Optimism steeped in a dose of real= ism helps us to see what can be. However, even as I think about the next generation, I know it is sil= ly at best and foolish at worst to think anyone can predict the future.

Unforeseen events will always impact the unfolding of what lays ahead

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They say the past is prologue. For the next generation, we will b= e the past. So we are prologue for = the next generation of the Maine Conference. There are some assumptions I think= we can make about our future based on our present values and behavior. Some of you are familiar with Ed Friedman’s classic book “Generation to Generation”. And so I am mindful of Family Syst= ems as we look forward.

&= nbsp; One thing of which I am certain , so long as two or three Congregationalists ga= ther in one place, there will always be four or five opinions expressed. In a sense you might say that is o= ne of our bedrock values: our belief in the integrity of each individual’s right and responsibility to discern truth in God’s light with all humility. The next generation= will not be different. For example= , if we choose to continue in providing an adult retreat ministry in another location, some in the future will think we were foolish to have made that decision, and some will think us visionary. If we choose to build an endowment= that support development of ministerial excellence, some in the future will think the money would have been better used elsewhere.

My hope is that whatever we discern regarding the future needs of the churches= and members of this conference, our children’s children will regard us as faithful.—just as I regard those who made the decision to accept Rockcraft as a gift and to purchase Pilgrim Lodge was faithful people who wanted to do the best for generations to come.

&= nbsp; One example of what I have come to regard as faithfulness—even though to = be quite honest, I resisted it when it was first presented to me—is the addition to the 2010 annual budget of “depreciation budgeting”. When the Coordinating Council received the report from the consultants at Scott Simo= ns Architects we were asked where we budgeted for depreciation costs to our fa= cilities. The fact is, we never have before.= Each year the value and condition = of every physical asset declines. At some point in time the asset either loses all value and disintegrates or requires costly repair. This = has been the case for all three of our facilities. In 1992, when the conference initi= ated the “To Gather into One” Capital Campaign, money was specifical= ly raised and assigned to each of the three facilities. Over the years since that time we = have been slowly spending down all those funds.= Frankly, they were never enough, but in the late 90’s and early 2000’s they helped a great deal.&nbs= p; A “Priorities Committee” had been established back then = to help decide how the funds would be utilized. When the money all but ran out, the Priorities Committee was dismissed by the Coordinating Council and the Coun= cil assumed its role as the Board of Directors for both Pilgrim Lodge and Rockc= raft regarding facility improvement decisions.&= nbsp; Because we have never budgeted for depreciation, emergency repairs a= nd improvements at each facility has been very challenging to say the least. In 2010 we are beginning to budget= for depreciation costs both at Pilgrim Lodge as well as at the Pennell Center. Because deferred maintenance has continued to pile up, we are not budgeting all that we need for repairs. For example, all who are involved = in Pilgrim Lodge know that we need a new boardwalk, but to replace that we will need either a capital campaign or a significant philanthropic gift. What we can do this year, however,= is to begin a better budgeting process by including “depreciation costs”. These are close= r to the true costs for Pilgrim Lodge and they will require another increase in registration fees. We estimat= e that next year the cost for a week at PL will increase about another $5./day bringing the cost to about $398./week. It is very inaccu= rate to say that the conference is balancing the budget by increasing the cost o= f camp.

The fact is, this really is the cost of camp.&= nbsp; By not budgeting for depreciation in the past, we have fooled oursel= ves as to what it really costs to maintain this facility. By introducing depreciation budget= ing now, we are being much more faithful to the next generation of Maine youth whom I believe with all my heart will be blessed by ministry on the shores of Cobboseecontee Lake.

&= nbsp; Thinking about the ministry that takes place each summer at PL brings me to several comments I’d like to make about “bedrock values”. Family System’s Theory= , at least as it was taught by Rabbi Friedman, under whom I studied, is influenc= ed by Hebrew Scripture. When God established God’s covenant with Abraham, God does so not with just one man, but with the generations that will follow. The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures speak over and over of God’s commitment to the generations, not to one people in one place, but to all of those who will follows. In I Chronicles 16 is says “Remember [God’s] covenant forever, The word which [God] commanded to a thousand generations.” Just as the blessings of one generation pass to the next, so do the sins of the fathers and mothers impa= ct the lives of their children. = This is not far afield of family systems thinking. A great gift that we can offer the= next generation is our bedrock values.

&= nbsp; And this is what I believe we value.

The people of Maine value transparency and plain talk. <= /span>

We value telling it like it is without sugar coating the things that are hard = to swallow. That is why we prese= nt to you such a detailed budget report and why we are introducing depreciation budgeting this year.

We value our independence and at the same time value the inter-dependency of community. This is why many strongly value of Association and Conference system: autonomy in the contex= t of covenant. <= /p>

We like to sit across the table with one another—be it at a committee meeting, or here at annual meeting, or at one of our famous bean or chowdah suppahs.

We value our environment and we care deeply about preserving it. We are Green-Thinking people. One of the clearest messages that = came back from our 15 Town Meetings is that whatever our future facilities may b= e, you want them to be green buildings.

We hear that loud and clear.

Apropos to this meeting, we value justice and fairness and equal opportunity for all people.

This is why 40 plus UCC clergy gathered in Augusta during the Marriage Equality hearing.

The presence of the UCC at that time, one state senator said, was pivotal.=

We value youth. A significant pi= ece of Susie’s portfolio is to support and develop youth ministry in Maine. The success of the Junior High you= th rally exemplifies this. We ha= ve always had at least one youth or young adult as a member of the BOD of a national Covenanted Ministry currently we have two: Sarah Bigney on Justice= and Witness Ministries and Drew McLaren on Wider Church Ministries. We are one of the few conferences = that abide by the General Synod mandate that 20% of our Synod delegation be youth and young adults. =

We also value rural communities and small rural churches. It grieves us deeply when a small = church can no longer afford to keep its doors open. We are the only conference in the = UCC with a staff position designated for Small Church Development. And because of this we sent Darren= to the Church Vitality training program this past summer. If you haven’t heard yet, you will, how fired up he is to launch a new Small Church Vitality Initiative i= n Maine.

We also value a well educated clergy and laity. It is important for us to have Ban= gor Seminary in our midst. We rej= oice in Kent Ulery’s first year as President and we are thankful for the m= any ways he has already assisted and interacted with the conference.

These are good bedrock values, and I am quite certain that they will be passed on= to the next generation and be part of the DNA of the emerging church in Maine.

&= nbsp; Even as we plan for the future, we also need to remain aware of our present. This has been a most challenging y= ear for the Maine Conference. Due= to anticipated short falls in revenue, we cut $90,000 from our budget in January. That’s about a= 10% decrease. <= /p>

We eliminated some part time staff positions, and we decreased the hours both = part time and full time staff positions. MainStay was discontinued. The conference support for the Support Staff network ended. The conference office space at Pil= grim Lodge was closed. And we decreased our National Basic Support of the United Church of Christ by $35,000. = That is about the equivalent of one support staff position in Cleveland. As I read the email exchanges of my Conference Minister colleagues across the country, it is the same story, or worse, in most every conference.

At the same time the demands upon this ministry increase. For example, it is much more time demanding to assist a congregation to fill a ½ time pastoral position than it is a full time position. In the past twelve months ten churches have gone from full time to part time ministries and a hand full of multiple staff churches have eliminated full = time positions completely. Three s= mall churches, including Open House in Portland have discerned that the faithful thing to do is close their church and seek= out where God leads them next.

These are challenging times. Howeve= r, we should not wallow in self pity. All times are challenging times. =

&= nbsp; Very recently I took an unscientific survey of thirty churches in the conference, three from each of the ten Associations.&n= bsp; Twenty-five pastors responded to my survey. I asked two questions: How are your pledges coming in? And do you= think you will make your 2009 budget.

I categorized the responses as follows:

- Four expressed strong optimism that they would meet or exceed their 2009 bu= dget goal;

- Eight expressed optimism that they would meet their goal (a couple of these noted that their budgets had been adjusted downward earlier in the year);

- Seven were not sure if they would meet their goal;

- Two were pessimistic that the budget would be met;

- and Three were very pessimistic that they would meet their goal.

- One did not know due to an internal financial reporting problem.

Only one pastor mentioned increased unemployment and lower income for retires as= a significant problem. Several = others mentioned deaths of large pledgers and families moving away. I am in no way negating the r= eality of increased unemployment in = Maine—I have an unemployed member in my family- neither am I minimizing the signifi= cant decrease of income for those living on pensions. Nonetheless, I think the results o= f my survey would have essentially been the same if I had taken it in 2007 or in 1997.

All times are challenging times. = It is what it is, and we respond with the gifts, talents, and wisdom that God has given us to do the work of the Gospel in this place at this time. I think that is the real state of = the Maine Conference churches: laity and clergy doing all they can to be faithful. And this will also = be the gift we offer to the next generation. Our faithfulness is our greatest legacy.

Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Conference Minister.

I look to our future with expectant hope and deep joy.

Thank you.

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