Mark's Remarks 7/6

Two weeks ago I was privileged to celebrate 30 years of appointment to a United Methodist church. Thinking back, there has been a great deal of change. Take, for example, gall bladders! The people in my first church had an epidemic of gall bladder problems. Gall bladder surgery would hospitalize a person for a week to ten days. The young clergy spent a great deal of time at the hospital, merely praying for gall bladders. No longer. Things have changed.

Annual Conference has changed. Formerly, we met at Linn Memorial in Fayette. The appropriately attired clergyman wore suits and ties. This year, the annual conference met at the convention center in Springfield (Linn Memorial is far too small). The conference sent attendees instructions that even on the first day, dress casually.
Personally, I’m like the husband in the story I’ve told you a number of times. It seems a woman bought a piece of needlework at a craft fair. On it was stitched these words, "Prayer Changes Things." Proud of the handiwork, she hung it up above the fireplace in the family room. Several days later she noticed that it was missing. She asked her husband if he knew what had happened to it. "I removed it," he replied. "Don't you believe that prayer changes things?" she asked, mystified. He responded, "Yes, I do. I believe in prayer. In fact, I believe that it changes things. I just don't happen to like change, and so I took it down."
Beginning my eighth year at Liberty, I look back over many changes in our church, and the slight possibility there are more changes coming! Thank you for the changes you have tolerated, approved and occasionally, applauded. Change is as necessary in the church as in the corporate world, education, small business or most anything.
Do you remember the old sports show Wide World of Sports and the skier who took the tumble on the introduction each week? Ron Jensen in LEADERSHIP magazine writes about it. "The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure. What viewers didn't know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe landing area, which could have been fatal. As it was, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble."
It's hard for a church to change, but it's better than a fatal landing. 92% of our churches have either become static or are declining. We have chosen not to remain static. We have chosen to continue to make disciples for Jesus, impact our community, and increase our mission.