At the end of June, Beverly and I will celebrate five years of ministry in Wayland. Wayland UMC welcomed us in July 2014. I remember a potluck in the park after worship, starting to learn about the all-hands-on-deck nature of the Harvest Dinner, and Beverly and I receiving very large cards filled with candy bars whose names were part of the message. We are grateful for the ways they have cared for us.
It was at my five-year Elder retreat with Bishop Donald Ott in 1996 that he told us, “You are not new anymore.” Likewise, as pastor and congregation, we enter a new growing season of ministry that might have the character of middle years.
Maarten van Doorn writes in his article, Why Are You Not Making An Impact? Perhaps It’s Just The Middle,
The middle is where it gets tough. In the beginning, you’ve still got all the enthusiasm. And when you can see the finish line, you start your sprint…In the middle, the mountain peak we remember seeing…so vividly from base camp appears to be covered in fog. You’re not sure that you’re still going up, let alone how to reach it…What this means: in every path to the summit, you’ll stop ascending for a while. But that doesn’t mean you’re no longer climbing.
For 2019, I want to hold the perspective of Planting-Cultivating-Harvesting to understand our ministry. Cultivating is a commitment to stay in one place and support and seek growth right where we are. We are seeking more understanding of the Wayland area through a resource called MissionInsite. I am grateful to Wayne Trainor, our Mission Team Co-Chairperson, for his willingness to learn how to best use this resource. It will give us information to help us deepen our ministry and outreach. It may seem like not much is happening but we are cultivating and preparing for significant ministry.
Jesus often used agricultural metaphors to describe God’s kingdom and our calling to participate in its growth. As anyone who has tried to maintain a garden knows, growing desirable plants requires intentionality and hard work. Growing nothing is easy. Growing weeds is easy. Growing delicious fruits and vegetables and beautiful flowers is much more difficult.
(Cultivated Ministry: A NEXT Church Field Guide to Bearing Fruit, 9)
But you need to remain well established and rooted in faith and not shift away from the hope given in the good news that you heard.
Colossians 1:23a (Common English Bible)
My pastoral letter that accompanied the 4th quarter 2018 giving reports included this reference from the article, “Your Church—Machine or Garden?” by Patrick Johnson:
But I want to challenge us to begin thinking about the church as a garden versus a machine. That shift in thinking is
- relationships and cultivation. It’s about a relationship with the soil. It’s a process of cultivation, that is connecting with people who till the soil and with the plants that you’re planting.
- root issues and fruit issues. It’s about doing your part, watering and planting and harvesting as God provides the increase.
Wayland UMC traces its roots to 1856. Since 1864, we have been on the same plot of land. In our sixth year of ministry, I pray we that we might cultivate compassion and generosity in the same place where so much has been planted, cultivated, and harvested for the glory of God.