Report of the Pastor to the 2025 Church Conference

“Asbury Church needs you more than your money.” I included this statement in a letter to the congregation this Fall and believe it remains a useful assessment of the state of the congregation at the end of 2025. While financial stewardship remains an area of focus, Asbury’s biggest challenge isn’t financial in nature. Rather, our biggest challenge is aligning the use of our financial, spiritual, and personal resources with a vision for the church’s mission and ministry that motivates and empowers people to participate in ways that are meaningful to them and impactful on our community. The purpose of this report is to review where we are progressing toward meeting this challenge and areas of our life together in which we need to invest greater attention, creativity, and support.

Creating opportunities for people to connect and build relationships with one another is an area in which we are making solid progress. Our Fellowship Committee is active and expanding the number of events they sponsor. In addition to Sunday Potlucks, Fat Tuesday Pancakes, and Fall Kickoff S’mores, in 2025, the group also planned our first off-site retreat since the pandemic at Blue Mountain Trail Lodge in Cordlandt Manor, NY. These events are well attended and create a low stress, welcoming atmosphere where connections can blossom. Sunday Coffee Hour creates similar vibes. The majority of people who attend worship stay for Coffee Hour, a sign that people at Asbury want to know one another. In order to enhance this ministry, this year we invested in a ping pong table and monthly birthday celebrations. We also purchased a new dishwasher which has allowed us to live out our values and to dramatically reduce our use of plastic and disposable items.

Making it possible for the people of Asbury to get to know one another is one of our growing strengths. Inviting people into life at Asbury is an area that needs greater focus.

We’re excited when visitors attend an event at Asbury, but we don’t have a clear plan for inviting them into a closer relationship with God or to further develop the ways in which they participate in Asbury’s ministry. I raised this issue with the Committee on Nominations this year and it was the subject of a good conversation at our annual church meeting in November. At that time, I introduced the congregation to See All the People resources published by UM Discipleship. Since then, I’ve announced that we’ll begin a new study series in January 2026 called “Get Their Name.” Based on a book by the same name, the series guides congregations that want to “create an outwardly focused environment where hospitality and invitation happen Sunday and every day of the week.” Growth in this area and in classic Christian concerns like evangelism and spiritual formation is essential for Asbury’s future vitality.

The People of Asbury also need to carefully assess how we deploy our time and energy. I’m sensitive to the fact that the members who lead and actively participate in most events at Asbury have been doing so for many years, especially since the pandemic, and I am concerned about weariness and burnout. Connecting our activities with our mission–the “what we do” with “why we do it”--is an important part of keeping spirits fresh and ministries vital. Wearing ourselves out by doing what we’ve always done while hoping for different results isn’t an enticing thought.

As a small membership congregation, we also need to be honest about the volume of ministries that we can adequately sustain at this moment. For example, is it realistic for us to plan a mission project or spiritual development event two weekends a month? Once a month? A few times a year? The correct answer is it’s realistic for us to plan whatever we can energetically and eagerly support.

I believe that when our ministry is in alignment with God’s vision we will find that we have exactly what we need to help that ministry flourish. However, I also believe that worn out leaders and volunteers are a sign that such alignment is lacking. Prayerful discernment around these issues is another essential endeavor regarding Asbury’s future vitality.

In one of the primary texts of the See All the People campaign, Junius B. Dotson writes,

For too long, The United Methodist Church has looked for a quick fix to help guide our discipleship efforts, and it is not working. We have lost our focus on intentional discipleship, we have forgotten the reasons why we said “yes” to Jesus, and we ourselves have stopped growing as disciples. We have forgotten that being on a path of discipleship is a life-long journey of growth and maturing.

I feel convicted by these words and believe many of you would admit that Dotson is right, too.

God isn’t calling Asbury Church to chase after fads and quick fixes. God desires and makes possible authentic, sustainable, impactful growth–within our hearts, among our relationships with one another, and in a ministry through which people experience God’s love in profound ways. This is the kind of growth that we must pursue, and in order to do that, “Asbury Church needs you more than your money.”