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!

I am in my office on Tuesday the 24th of June. I have been out of routine for the entire month of June, first from vacation and then Annual Conference. So I sit here in a moment of thought just taking in the last month. It has flown by and there is so much that has occurred. It was a great trip out west and I look forward to visiting some of those places for longer periods again. I will certainly share nuggets from this trip for a very long time. Yet what comes to my mind right now that I want to share is something that came up at conference more than once. To start it’s an application of a passage of Scripture. From Isaiah 2:4:

“they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”

This passage is about the return of Christ and the state of the world – that state of peace that world events leaves us longing for. The end of the passage says “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Yet the personal application of the passage struck home as Bishop Greenway spoke on it. I’ll do my best to paraphrase it. He spoke about how for the past 30 years of his life, he and many others in the room were used to wielding ecclesiastical (church) weapons in the fight for scriptural holiness and Biblical orthodoxy. Yet, the time had come for us to turn away from the fight that marked much of our previous connection’s life and turn our swords into plowshares— “It’s time to start planting.”

For the better part of the last decade, we’ve been in an internal war that has taken much of our drive and energy. Those battles are over. We are now a part of a movement of God that focuses on Scripture, seeks after Christ, and… what? You see the point of disaffiliation was not to get out of the United Methodist Church. That was a small thing and first step. Now we’re turning to the main thing. What is that? Our mission| The Global Methodist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe. The theme of annual conference was Start Planting… which is where Isaiah 2:4 comes in. All that energy and resources, the drive and passion, the focus and attention that was placed on disaffiliation needs to be put into actual ministry. It is time to beat the swords into plowshares and disciple people. What does that mean?

We need to be hyper focused on reaching the lost and growing as disciples.

We need to read Scripture like we’re drinking water in this heatwave.

We need to be connected with other Christians that support our discipleship growth through small groups.

We need to support the establishment of new congregations that will reach people we cannot.

One of the things that keeps popping up on my Facebook feed lately is the phrase “Church should be your excuse for missing everything else.” Whatever it is that is holding you back or away, it isn’t more important. It’s time to start doing the work of ministry again. It is time to start planting.

Blessings,

Jason

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!

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33 (ESV) I was praying in the sanctuary, by this time it was probably a couple months ago. Part of what I do is sit in the pews and move around to each seat. As I do I’ll go through the pew racks, unfold pages and remove papers that are in the Bibles and hymnals. Pew racks are the gift that keeps on giving. You can clean them out time and again and still you’ll find something that was missed previously. On this particular pass, I found a bulletin from the early 2000’s and it had a perforated connection card on the bulletin. The connection cards that we have been using in worship at Salem recently are not so new to us. (Let’s all be thankful that the days of attendance pads are gone for good!)

I know that some are resistant to filling out a connection card, yet I would like to encourage you to think of it in light of what Jesus said in Matthew 10. By completing a connection card (or when you join the Livestream) you make a statement, you are acknowledging Christ before others. It’s very easy to write your name. They only have to be completely filled out when information changes. Then you just drop it in the offering plate.

What happens next? During the attendance rally and moving into the future, attendance at worship is recorded like with Sunday school. This is useful in several ways. First, it is a lot easier to catch visitors’ information. I’ve been able to send several welcome letters for the first time because of connection cards. Secondly, noting attendance patterns can help us reach members that might be quietly struggling. A note of encouragement at the right time can be life changing and attendance patterns help discern that timing.

One of the vital parts of Wesleyan tradition is “watching over one another in love.” I can barely keep track of my own comings and goings without my calendar app. I check it every evening for the next day to know what I need to do. It is impossible to keep up with the spiritual needs of 110 people without good practices like watching worship attendance with connection cards. The attendance rally over the past several weeks helped us to build this important habit so let’s continue to live into it and begin to reap the fruit from it.

What fruit you ask? Because I’ve got the attendance patterns in front of me, I can see that we have a few families on the margins in our congregation. Before I had a subjective feeling that they attended more often than they do, yet the objective information has corrected my knowledge and I plan to check-in on them. This isn’t a shame thing. I don’t want to guilt them into being in worship—that doesn’t work anyway. I do want them to know that they are missed and make the ministries of the church available to them. The other fruit that this has born is that our Livestream ministry is far more effective and utilized than I realized. Prior to the attendance rally I would have said our Livestream averages 3-5 weekly and solely used by members. The attendance rally has shown the average weekly viewership is triple that, and about 25% are people who do not attend Salem. Only because of widespread connection card use, an attendance rally that highlighted attendance and invitations, and watching the trends has this been realized.

This is what I know. Congregations that only track attendance by headcount don’t grow because people are more than numbers. We can do better as a congregation for each other and those we reach, by leaning into this new habit more and more. So when you come to worship on Sunday, even without an attendance rally, fill out the card

Blessings,

Jason

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!

We are entering a very busy season in the life of the Church. Ash Wednesday is March 5th and we’ll have our traditional soup supper and service with imposition of ashes as a reminder of our mortality and need for God’s grace.

Our Lenten series will begin the Sunday before Lent actually begins, the Seven Last Words of Christ. This message is dedicated for each of the utterances that Christ offered while being crucified for our sake. Six of these messages will be on Sunday morning, the final one will be at the Maundy Thursday service April 17th.

It is my hope that we all lean into the Attendance Rally that will be going on through Easter. I have used this as a fun and engaging way of encouraging the congregation to become invitational. First, by helping to practice on reaching out to others within the congregation that are a part of our team. This increases congregational care in a way that few others duplicate. Secondly, we work towards bringing new people to worship who are not currently a part of our fellowship. It’s also great practice for the fall when Back to Church Sunday comes around.

We are beginning a cohort for new members who are interested in joining the professing membership at Marion Salem Church. This is also an adventure and gives us an opportunity to deepen our faith. It is not too late to join the class if you are interested. We are meeting Sundays after worship. Currently there are 7 participants.

I am leading the youth group through a series on Essentials of Faith from RightNow Media. Our current study is on God’s Word and it has been too good not to share with others in the church as well. I hope you avail yourself the opportunity to join the youth group on Sunday evenings at 6:30 or to watch the series on your own.

Coming up sooner than we think is our annual Spaghetti Dinner and Auction. Originally conceived as a fundraiser for our youth group, over recent years it has supported many great mission causes. Now, we are back to supporting ministry here at Salem by helping to fund a new position that we are working on, the Family Life Director. This position is envisioned to have hands on responsibility for our youth group (Grades 6-12), leading their discipleship on Sunday evenings and planning other activities. Also, this position will provide guidance and administrative support for our children’s ministry on Sunday mornings, be hands on during a future mid-week children’s activity, and also planning for other family ministry opportunities. Please continue to give your prayer support to the Staff Parish Relations Committee as they step out into this adventure.

We have a new 13-week study coming up on Sunday nights. Bible study on Mondays and Wednesdays continue. The Sunday School Classes continue in their activities: Renaissance/JOY is preparing for Lent, Genesis is looking at Shane Wood’s Daniel series on RightNow, Crusaders are working on the Gospel of John with Tony Evans on RightNow, the Upper Room is focused on a discipleship deck, and the young adults class after worship is wrapping up Being Human from RightNow. These are all great opportunities to grow as disciples of Christ. At Salem the only excuse to not be growing is one we make up—there are simply that many opportunities!

So that’s a wrap up of what’s happening. As Lent begins there is something for you to be involved with whether it is growing as a disciple or helping others to grow as a disciple. It may not seem like it right now, but this is a prime season for spiritual sowing—and we know that we reap what we sow. That means we need to be generous with our sowing.

Blessings!

Jason

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!

When you look at the history records, the Salem Class meeting began in 1830, which means our congregation is celebrating 195 years of ministry. The first church building was erected in 1851, that would make it 174 years. At our present location, we’ve been serving the community since 1868, 157 years. The sanctuary has been around since 1981, celebrating 44 years. Of course, after the fire our present configuration goes back 22 years. We are certainly close to a bicentennial celebration. We could brush up on pronouncing demisemiseptcentennial and practice celebrating with the 175 anniversary of a Salem Church building in 2026. Whether for the 175th in 2026 or the 200th in 2030, such celebrations take planning and people committed to recognizing the work of Christ that has and is happening at Salem Church. As time marches on, these days will come and go whether or not we recognize them. I believe it better to praise God as these milestones come, and in the sacrifice of praise, find His empowerment and direction for the future.

So, what would you like to see happen in a celebration either 175 or 200 years? What should the focus be of the celebration, inward or outward? Can we, in honor and recognition of the milestone, do some extravagant acts of mission work in our community and even the world to make disciples of Christ? I’m curious what this Body of Christ is dreaming about. As you ponder that, consider also what actions your God-given dreams are asking you to do in service to Christ. With it being January, why not make those actions your New Year’s resolution?

Blessings,
Jason

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