I am not familiar with Heidi Neumark. I only know of her through the writings of Greg Jones and Kevin Armstrong in their profound book, Resurrecting Excellence. Heidi Neumark is the pastor of Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the South Bronx. Transfiguration is an African American and Hispanic congregation located in a desperately poor neighborhood in the area where New York City dumps its trash. The people of the church live among the most difficult of circumstances and in the midst of tremendous suffering.
Pastor Neumark tells the story of a little boy named Nelson and his siblings and their introduction to Transfiguration church. “During one of our Lenten healing services, a little boy named Nelson asked how Jesus knew he was God and how Jesus could be God. Our intern Anita asked him if he was a child of God, and immediately, without missing a beat, Nelson replied, ‘Of course I’m a child of God!’ But in truth, there was no ‘of course’ about it.”
Nelson and his family had arrived at the church when he was two, along with twenty other siblings and cousins, all born to either his mother or his aunt. His mother was addicted to drugs but supposedly managing better than her sister, and was caring for her own twelve and some of the cousins and his grandmother was caring for the rest. They all lived in neighborhood shelters.
Listen to Pastor Neumark’s comments about this extended family:
“Then all twenty-one began coming to church . . . They came in and ran wild. They had never been to church before and had no reference points for any expected behavior. Teaching them was fun - - but difficult. There were a number of Sundays when I, who happen to have a high tolerance for disorder. . ., guiltily wished they would not come in so I could have some respite from the disruption they created. Some members had that sentiment more frequently . . .Nevertheless, I was really happy to see the children learning stories about Jesus and singing the songs. We made prayer books together. They did everything with gusto - - whether singing God’s praises or misbehaving.
After about six months, they were baptized. The waters broke and old Sarah gave birth to all twenty-one. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. I like the J. B. Phillips translation: The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the children of God coming into their own. The church was on tiptoe to see this prodigious birth drama, as each fine child left the womb of the font dripping wet, foreheads brightly anointed with the seal of their glorious inheritance. ‘Of course, I’m a child of God!’ said Nelson and St. Paul adds. . .if children, then heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. (Romans 8: 17)
Pastor Neumark and her congregation were able to see these otherwise dysfunctional children as children of great promise, dripping wet from the waters of baptism. They were able to see that there is beauty in ministry and beauty in the congregational life of the body of Christ even in the light of suffering and hardship. This is a congregation that has been transfigured by love, shaping the ways in which Neumark sees her own life as well as those to whom she is deeply connected. “I think the most powerful thing that has happened to me here is that . . . I have been irrevocably ‘threatened by resurrection.’”
That phrase ‘threatened by resurrection’ is actually “threatened with resurrection” and comes from the Guatemalan poet Julia Esquivel, writing beautifully out of her own people’s struggles. It is a long poem that ends with an invitation that I issue to us today:
“Join us in this vigil
And you will know what it is to dream!
Then you will know how marvelous it is
To live threatened with Resurrection!
How marvelous it is. How good that we are here. How marvelous indeed.”
- Julia Esquivel
(Jones, L. Gregory and Armstrong, Kevin R., Resurrecting Excellence, Eerdmans, pp. 10 – 13)
These words captured my spirit and bear witness to ministry in the midst of great suffering and in the midst of difficult times. It is a ministry that shines forth with the beauty of God’s grace as seen in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
I believe we are living in Louisiana as “threatened with resurrection,” and for that I am grateful and because of that I am hopeful. We’re like the butterfly emerging from a dull, confining cocoon, which has to be a painful process. But look at the beauty of its being when it finally emerges!
Hurricane Recovery
With every visit to the New Orleans area I feel encouraged that we are “threatened with resurrection.” With every visit to the Rita stricken areas, I see, hear and experience the threat of resurrection. We are coming forth from the watery graves we were placed in by these storms and new life is springing up all around.
Let me bring you up to date on the Mission Zone and our efforts at hurricane recovery. What I share is only one part of a massive effort at recovery. You will hear more about this in other reports later in the Conference. But what I share has to do with the churches and how we are moving forward on that front.
People are continually asking me, “How many churches have you lost in New Orleans?” My simplest answer is this. “To date we have decommissioned five. Others are still in a struggling position, but we have only decommissioned five.” I think that is an amazingly few given what could have happened, and yet still could happen. Those decommissioned in Conference year 2006-2007 are – Trinity of Gentilly, Napoleon Avenue, Felicity, John Wesley, and St. Philip. Though laying these great servants of Christ to rest was a painful and sad process, they at the same time are making possible some new emerging ministries.
There are more property dispositions to come I know. But again, these will lead to the resurrection of new ministries. For instance, we have already seen the merger of LaHarpe and Thompson congregations. We have seen the merger of First Street, Peck and Wesley congregations. Others are working on the “courting” phase before they finally decide to marry. When all of these mergers for new life are completed we will have to decide which properties we need to sell and which properties we will enlarge and enhance for the new bodies of Christ that are forming.
Resurrection not only has threatened but has become a reality as we have experienced the reopening of some of our totally destroyed churches. On Palm Sunday of this year we had a glorious celebration as we reopened Cornerstone in New Orleans East, with some 300 in attendance and a spirit that was electric! In just a week we will be reopening Hartzell. In the very near future we will reopen Peoples! And Mount Zion is returning to their church home right away and will be worshiping in their renovated and rescued fellowship hall.
Over in Cameron parish we will be celebrating the reopening of both the Grand Chenier and Wakefield churches in the coming months. God is definitely good!
We have an exciting new plan in New Orleans for four transitional congregations we are referring to as “Anchor” churches. These are the new First Street PW (standing for Peck and Wesley) United Methodist Church, St. Luke United Methodist, Bethany United Methodist, and the area occupied by First United Methodist and Grace United Methodist who are in that “courting” period I referred to earlier.
These churches are located at strategic points and have agreed to be “more than they were” and are working with us to make a dramatic impact on the city. To enable that to happen we will be providing additional staff such as associate pastor, musicians, educators, etc. for each setting. The salaries and benefits for pastors and other staff positions will come from the Katrina Church Recovery funds that have been so generously given by United Methodists across our great connection. All of United Methodism is helping us with our resurrection!
We will continue with three cooperative parishes – New Orleans East, New Orleans West, and Cross-town New Orleans. These will continue to function in much the same manner as they have this past year, with the Mission Zone providing funding as needed for salaries and benefits of the Mission Zone pastors serving them. For the sake of all and for the express need of some, it was deemed necessary to continue with this arrangement for another year so that some fledgling starts might be sustained and given every chance to survive, and so that those who have grown stronger can grow stronger still by being the helping hand needed to enrich and encourage their weaker brothers and sisters.
A few of the churches that were in Cooperative parishes this past year have been designated “Station Churches” for the coming year. This simply means that they will not be receiving funding from the Mission Zone for pastoral support. All of these know that this is a “trial run” and all will be reviewed and evaluated as the year progresses to make sure they are able to continue to support themselves in all ways necessary to be a totally viable and vital church.
Those churches that were designated as “Station Churches, for this past year have been faithful servants and have held steady in the midst of great odds. We have not directed any of the Mission Zone funds toward them as they indicated they were strong enough to pay their pastors support, pay their apportionments in full, and continue to sustain themselves while allowing us to pour all our funding into the cooperative parishes. This valiant and much-appreciated effort took its toll. Many of these churches had to cut their staff to the bone. They lost membership by as much as 1/3. They found themselves struggling to sustain their basic needs, especially their needs for multiple staffing given the size and nature of their worshiping congregations.
It is our commitment to give additional staff support to these churches in this coming Conference year so they can more adequately minister to their congregations and continue to build them into very stable churches. We will be providing associate pastors to each of the churches that were “Station” churches this past year, or we will be giving funds for other staffing needs as the church might identify.
We’re also expanding the support funds to one or two situations on the North Shore where we have not had the funds to be supportive in the past year.
Some new social ministries such as counseling and support services for emotional needs, a new clinic that will serve the medical needs of those in the city who have no other place to turn, and retreats and time away for Mission Zone pastors and their families are being provided with much elbow grease from several people in New Orleans, some new staff people, and with financial under girding from the Methodist Health System Foundation, Inc.
As I mentioned earlier, United Methodists across the globe have been incredibly generous and supportive for yet another year. In rough figures, we have expended some $1.5 million over the past conference year supplying pastoral support and benefits. For this coming year we are expecting to spend some $1.8 million. The good thing is that all of that funding is already in hand, thanks to The United Methodist people across the world!
You will recall that the Council of Bishops asked for a special offering to be taken in 2006 on the date nearest the anniversary of hurricane Katrina. A little more than $3 million was collected in that offering. Of that amount $3 million has already been distributed. Alabama/West Florida Conference received $100,000. Mississippi has received $1 million. And Louisiana has received $1.9 million! That, coupled with other sources that sent monies directly to us, has assured our stability for this past year and the year ahead.
Two more special offerings will be taken in 2007 and in 2008. I implore EVERY United Methodist Church in Louisiana to take these offerings with joy when they come this year and next. We are only helping ourselves when we do so.
In September of this year, September 6th –7th to be exact, there will be a gathering in New Orleans of Bishops and representatives from every United Methodist Conference in the United States. There also will be pastors of the largest congregations in United Methodism there, as well as representatives from the partner churches who are helping to sustain our efforts. It will consist of tours of what has been done and what is yet to be done; action workshops that will plan for future help by the Conferences; and a big “Thank You” celebration that will be hosted by Alabama/West Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, just to show our gratitude for all that has been done. The recovery goes on!!
Last year our rallying cry was “For Now.” This year our plan has a less sophisticated name, but a truly Biblical name. We are calling the plan going forward from this Annual Conference “The Manure Plan.” It is based on Luke 13: 6-9. That passage reads:
“And he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (RSV)
We have been “fertilizing” the recovery plan for our churches that have been impacted by Katrina and Rita for this past year. And we have seen some wonderfully encouraging results. For this upcoming year, we are going to pour just plain, old-fashioned manure in great doses to our work. And we are setting benchmarks of fruitfulness that are expected to be met. It is our prayer that this will again show us where we will need to move come 2008-2009. There may be some things that get cut down and abandoned. There will be other things that receive a good pruning and then more manure. There will be others that are doing so well we will just increase the labor and the manure. “For now” it is the Manure Plan. Who knows what will be required next!
One final word about all of our Mission Zone work for the past year. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to every person, lay and clergy who are part of the Mission Zone – which includes churches in the New Orleans area and in the Cameron/Calcasieu parishes area - who have made these great strides for God’s Kingdom in the midst of adversity, stress, hurt and pain that no one except those affected can understand. Would all of you stand that we might thank you and bless you?
And to those outside the Mission Zone, lay and clergy, who have also been affected and displaced and injured by these hurricanes and who also have been working unknown hours amid extremely difficult circumstances to put their churches and lives back together, I issue the same grateful thanks. Would you stand that we might bless and thank you?
And everyone else in Louisiana who has sacrificed with funds, spent hours on work teams, have bent your knees in prayerful support and who have been the encouragers – our great cloud of affirming witnesses – a loving “Thank You” to you as well. None of any that we have done would have been possible without you and your supportive care. Those of us caught up in this incredible rebuilding task pray God’s blessings on every one of you! And we stand to applaud you!
One other group who deserves our applause is the staff that has shepherded this whole effort. Let’s recognize their marvelous efforts.
Now, let me move to other areas of the Conference’s life. You may be thinking, “Have we done anything besides storm recovery?” It has certainly consumed the bulk of our time – and then some! But yes, we have done some other things as well. And we are embarking on others. Great things are happening for God’s kingdom!
II. Four Action Areas
At the beginning of this quadrennium, the Council of Bishops began to address what they believed to be the greatest needs in the world and in the church and where God was calling us to be involved in specific ways. The result of this discernment process was what is now called the Seven Vision Pathways.
After these Vision Pathways were enumerated, the Council was then in conversation with The Connectional Table and the General Agencies and these were narrowed to four areas of emphasis for focus by the entire church. Those four areas are:
- Live the Methodist Way
- Start New Churches
- Reach Out to and Care for Children
- Eliminate the diseases of poverty (AIDS & Malaria).
We’ve already been addressing the Methodist Way as we have focused on Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, and now The Means of Grace.
We are going to enter full steam into the starting of new churches this year. We will be starting three new churches! These will be in the Hammond area, the Prairieville area and in the Denham Springs/Walker area. We are proud to announce our three pastors who, along with their families, will be those to lead these new congregations. Let’s greet Trey Harris who will start the church in Prairieville area; Jack Odell in the Hammond area; and Leslie Stephens in the Denham Springs/Walker area.
An area that we will be focusing on in the coming year will be the whole area of how we in Louisiana are to reach out to and care for the children.
And our efforts to help in the elimination of the diseases of poverty are under way. You will hear a report in this Conference regarding what we have done with regard to our asked for amount for the global AIDS crisis. And we will be launching an effort this year to address the malaria crisis. Let’s visit this new campaign for just a minute:
(Show Nothing but Nets)
As you can see, we will not be lacking for emphases as we move forward as an Annual Conference. This should direct and challenge our Conference Ministry Team as they work to put in place the programs and methods to address these great needs.
Development of the “Culture of the Call”
For many reasons, which I could enumerate but won’t, our appointment making was very difficult and time consuming this year. We worked long and hard days, trying to make the best matches of gifts and graces with needs. And I believe we have done a very good work and the Conference will be well served. But when all was almost finished, we ran into something we have never faced before. We ran out of clergy before we ran out of churches!
We have been able to fill all appointments, but it has been a real challenge. I think this calls for our continued focused attention on what we have termed the “Culture of the Call.”
Our Discerner’s Academy continues to flourish and is providing us with excellent women and men who are entering pastoral ministry. The next Academy will be January 4-6, 2008 and will be a mission experience in New Orleans. We are going to do something new and exciting with this Academy, as we have invited Alabama/West Florida and Mississippi Conferences to participate and send some of their Discerner’s. Please mark these dates and get your brightest and best men and women who should be listening for God’s call signed up to participate. You are the key to the successful continuation of this marvelous experience.
While the Discerner’s Academy is doing well, for the first time since my coming to Louisiana, the Board of Ordained Ministry had to cancel their “Discerning the Call” event. This has always been an excellent overnight seminar for people looking for basic answers to what it means to be a clergyperson in The United Methodist Church and has been an excellent recruiting tool for many of our clergy. There will be another announced event this coming fall and I encourage you to get all those in your church to the overnight retreat who are questioning you about what it means to be a clergyperson and what are the avenues into this vocation.
And we need to continue to lift up the vital necessity of Local Pastors! A few years back we had an indication that our ability to appoint all of our Local Pastors might be in jeopardy. That simply has not proven to be the case. As I have said many times before, our Local Pastors are the key to our being able to provide clergy care to all our churches. Without them we would be in deep trouble.
Nurturing of the Clergy and Laity through Retreats
This past year we had a wonderful retreat with all the African American clergy under appointment. This was held at the Wesley Center just prior to the “Tending Our Lives Together” retreat, which is for ALL clergy in the Louisiana Conference who are under appointment.
Dr. Lovett Weems of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. was our leader for “Tending Our Lives Together.” His topic was “Leadership in the Church.” His insights and his wonderful way of presenting his topic were refreshing.
In conversation with the Board of Laity, they have agreed that we should have Dr. Weems back to Louisiana for an overnight retreat with the laity of the Conference. He will again be addressing “Leadership in the Church” and this should be an excellent complimentary retreat to the one for the clergy. I would love to see us have at least 250 laity there for that retreat! Please mark your calendars now for March 14-15, 2008.
Progress on The Children’s Homes
You will be interested to know that we are making great progress on the assumption of the ministry of The Methodist Home for Children in New Orleans into that of The Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home, Inc. in Ruston. These two Boards have worked intensely to make this possible, all in the interest of serving the children of Louisiana in the best way possible. It appears all should be completed within the coming year and we will have our United Methodist ministry to some of the neediest children in Louisiana well in hand.
The progress of the new facility in southwest Louisiana continues to go well. Again, it looks as if we will be able to begin construction on this facility in the very near future.
The Wesley Center
During the course of the conference you will be hearing an update on the new building projects and expansion of facilities at The Wesley Center. Under the faithful leadership of Mr. Shelby Smith this much-needed expansion is well under way and ground should be broken within the next few months. The Wesley Center is truly one of the treasures of this conference and is serving as a place where new disciples of Jesus Christ are being made every week.
You are going to be asked to approve an increased apportionment for the Wesley Center, which will take their apportionment back to $125,000 for 2008. They had agreed to reduce this to $100,000 in 2007 with hope that they could function with that and relieve the Conference of some of the funding. However, it has proven just a little too close financially to do that and they are in need of restoring the $25,000. But just remember, this still is only ½ of the apportionment that was being passed on in 2000 when I first arrived. At that time the apportionment was $250,000. The board and staff have done a wonderful work of building a first rate retreat center on minimum support from the Conference. I am confident you are well aware of this need and will be fully supportive of it.
Apportionment Payout
And one of the capstones of celebration for the whole year was our 2006 Apportionment payout! Give yourselves one big round of applause for the greatest year yet financially – 98.47% payout for the Louisiana Annual Conference in 2006! Are you aware that out of our seven districts that six of them paid 100%? And New Orleans, with all her difficulties and problems, paid at 94+%! That is almost unbelievable.
This was made possible by every church working hard to do what they have been asked to do, and many churches doing more. It was sort of a big sister/big brother year. Many churches that could took care of those who couldn’t and 100% for six districts was the result! If being proud of a Conference is a sin, then I am the worst of sinners! I am so proud of you!
There’s only one thing that would make me prouder and that would set you in the record books for United Methodism. That would be for us to pay out at 100% in 2007. I believe that can be done with just a little extra push! And why shouldn’t we? I’ve spent much of this address telling you how we have benefited from the generosity of the church. Their faithful giving has helped us put our lives back together. And as we pay our apportionments at 100%, we too are helping every person dependent on those funds of the church receive the love and care we promised them we would give.
Let’s do it!
Holy Land Trip
Now. We’ve all worked hard together. We have been faithful together. Now, let’s travel together and learn together and deepen our spiritual lives together. In January of 2008 Kay and I are hosting a trip to the Holy Land. This will probably be our last opportunity to travel with most of you, and we would love for as many as possible to join us. If you have never visited the Holy Land, now is the time. Your life will be forever enriched and changed as you literally walk where Jesus walked. We hope you will give serious consideration to being part of this time of spiritual growth.
We are endeavoring to do one special thing. We want to make it possible for every person who has been ordained during my tenure in Louisiana to accompany us. Our travel company is making a special rate possible for those ordinands who are going to the Holy Land for the first time. I am doing everything possible to secure the funding that will help enough to send these women and men who are now providing faithful service to our Conference. If you are interested in helping personally, please see me at some point or contact me in my office.
If you have a pastor serving among you who has been ordained since the annual conference session of 2001, would you consider asking your church to help send that pastor on a trip that will literally change her or his life and that will enhance the life of your church beyond your imagination. There is just something about being in that setting that is life altering, and it will change your pastor and your church.
We will leave the States on January 15, 2008. I hope you will be with us!
It has been an incredible year. It has been the most involved, most pressured and most unbelievable year of my life. But it has been a year filled with God’s goodness and grace! Without that grace I wouldn’t be standing before you today. I’d either be hospitalized or pushing up daisies by now! And I can’t think of a more wonderful people to have walked this difficult path with than my wife, Kay; my Cabinet; and you, the clergy and laity of the Louisiana Conference. How can I be so unbelievably blessed? It is God’s goodness. And in keeping with the theme of our Conference – “You have been God’s means of grace to me, a truly Grace-full people.”
Let me share one final story. “Three friends from a local congregatio0n were asked, ‘When you’re in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what you like them to say?’
Artie said, ‘I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man.’
Merle commented, ‘ I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in peoples lives.’
Don said, ‘I’d like them to say, ‘Look! He’s moving!’”
We are so “threatened with Resurrection!” We are moving! Yes, we are just breaking out all over and we are becoming the people God has created us to be and all our old selves are being made new! Praise God for God’s unfailing grace.
“Join us in this vigil
And you will know what it is to dream!
Then you will know how marvelous it is
To live threatened with Resurrection!
How marvelous it is. How good that we are here. How marvelous indeed.”
