Pastor’s Ponderings November 2024

To the church of God as found at Marion Salem Church, called to be saints together with those in every place who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ: You are miracles of God’s grace and mercy!

One of the blessings our family has on vacation is we get to worship without much responsibility. That is a rare treat for pastoral families. We’ve had the opportunity to attend three Global Methodist congregations while on vacation in the past year. The Forge is located on the parkway in Pigeon Forge, TN. They have two services, Sunday school, Children’s church, etc. Chickasaw GM Church near Mobile, AL was our vacation worship experience this past January. They are much the same as The Forge, with a much smaller parking lot. Finally, the congregation we attended while at Myrtle Beach was Andrew’s Chapel just over the state line in Ash, NC.

Now, I recognize we’re a big family. At the Forge, there are a few open pews. They are a well attended church, just not packed (especially at the late service on Sunday). At Chickasaw, in order for us to have a pew together a couple moved up one pew so that there would be space for us to squeeze in together. Finally, as you’ve heard at Andrew’s Chapel, it was standing room only and while people squeezed together, we were still spread across several rows sitting in front of each other. Now, I’m not complaining—I’m just curious what is it that makes Andrew’s and Chickasaw packed, The Forge a little room to spare, and Salem have lots of open seats? And I’m pondering it and turning it over in my head. Here’s what I know it isn’t:

1) While the Forge and Chickasaw are “in town,” Andrew’s most definitely is not in town, nor on the road most traveled—so more like Salem. It isn’t location (though Andrew’s is getting a couple new subdivisions).

2) It’s not because of population growth because they are basically holding their own between –3% and +2%. (That’s for their immediate area the past four years. Their reach, like ours, could be a different story.)

3) It’s not connected with something in their programming. All three congregations have similar ministries to Salem. The Forge has two appointed clergy, though we’ve never met their associate pastor in three years.

As I look at what I know about the three congregations we have visited and compare to Salem, from the outside there is just really not that much different between us and them. However, internally there might be a world of difference between all four congregations. It has been many years since I have been a part of any congregation that was standing room only. There is something about the spirit of the people who are there that you cannot help to want to investigate: what is different about this place?

Here’s where I think the difference comes: They all talk about “US,” the church family as a whole. This is especially true of Andrew’s Chapel. They have experienced sustained and explosive growth as a congregation for the last year. The pastor told me that as people have joined they have become a part of the family and more keep coming. There are not “new people” and “old people” – simply disciples of Christ growing together. There is no differentiation.

Salem has been through drastic changes these past 3+ years. One of the biggest is the amount of active people who are new and perhaps equally the number of new leaders answering the call. We are still getting to know one another and learning to have the kind of trust on a large scale that makes possible the spirit that was so evident at Andrew’s Chapel. They did not magically start growing overnight – it was a conscious effort they made to focus on being the Body of Christ together, long before disaffiliation. And it was more than growth that was special there. It was the Spirit. That takes all of us intentionally leaning into building relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ to create the environment where that trust is found. So let’s invest time together for the future.

Blessings!

Jason