November 2017 THE SP RE St. Paul’s United Methodist Church 400 Wayne Avenue Defiance, OH 43512 Return Service Requested NONPROFIT U. S. Postage PAID Defiance Ohio Permit No. 192 Page 8 400 Wayne Ave., Defiance, OH 43512 www.defiancestpauls.org Church Office, Kristine Bartley: 419-782-3751 [email protected]Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. THE SP RE Inside this issue: Pastor Page 1 Bible Studies 2 Meetings 3 Birthdays, Anniversaries 4 & Meals Poinsettia Order 6 Youth Scavenger Hunt 7 “We seek to be a community of Jesus-followers empowered by the Holy Spirit to love God and love others.” Page 1 St. Paul’s United Methodist Church A Note From Pastor Joe What church membership means: The United Methodist Church has two categories of membership. A baptized member is a person who has received the sacrament of baptism in a United Methodist Church or has received Christian baptism in another denomination and later trans- ferred to a United Methodist Church. A professing member is a baptized person who has taken vows (1) to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; (2) to believe in the Christian faith as contained in the Old and New Testaments; (3) to promise to live a Christian life; and (4) to uphold The United Methodist Church with one's prayers, presence, gifts and service. What church membership doesn’t mean: Church membership is not about gaining entry into the church. It’s not even about having your own pew, getting to the front of the line at potluck suppers, receiving a discount on weddings and fellowship hall rental, or having your picture in the next pic- torial directory! No…professing membership is about keeping those vows. It’s about discipleship. It’s about becoming a Jesus-follower. Does having one’s name removed mean that person has been kicked out? Heavens, no! Whenever that person chooses to live out their vows faithfully and return to active participation in the congregation, their membership is reinstated. Simple as that. In fact, all are welcome to participate in our church, regardless of church membership. Last year at this time, those present at our annual Charge Conference gained this deeper understanding of what it means to be a member and made the decision to re- move 250 inactive individuals from the professing member roll. They didn’t forget about them. Those names were placed in our baptized member roll. Admittedly, we have to keep reminding ourselves that we did not “kick 250 people out of church.” What we did do was communicate a better understanding of what professing member- ship means. All are welcome, regardless! And hear this: : Our apportionments – our share of the greater church’s worldwide ministry dollars - is determined in part by the number of persons on our professing member roll. So, by bringing the number on that roll down to a more realistic 382, St. Paul’s apportionment share for 2018 immediately became $11,000 less than it would have been otherwise. Wow! St. Paul’s is committed to paying its fair share, but we shouldn’t be burdened with more than that fair share. Beloved, I hope this makes sense. If not, be sure to ask any of our leaders about it. Or, you’re welcome to ask me. Grace and peace, Pastor Joe
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November 2017
THE SP RE
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church 400 Wayne Avenue
Defiance, OH 43512
Return Service Requested
NONPROFIT
U. S. Postage
PAID
Defiance Ohio
Permit No. 192
Page 8
400 Wayne Ave., Defiance, OH 43512 www.defiancestpauls.org