A message from Bishop Ernest Lyght

Almost Heaven

Reflections on The State of the West Virginia Conference

Sisters and brothers of the West Virginia Annual Conference, I greet you today in the name of Jesus Christ, who turned the world upside down by ministering to the people, dying on the cross, and arising from death to life, and walking along the Emmaus Road. This Jesus has revealed to us the way to heaven, but we have not yet arrived there, and God’s Kingdom has not come on earth as it is in heaven. We have promises to keep and many miles to go before we sleep, safe in the arms of Jesus.

We, the West Virginia Annual Conference, have a beautiful home here among the West Virginia Hills [inclusive of Garret County Maryland, Pa. and Virginia]. West Virginia is a wonderful place to live and to raise our children. People enjoy coming to West Virginia for visits, vacations and recreation. West Virginia has beautiful hills and mountains, valleys and rivers.

West Virginia has natural beauty and rich natural resources. Our most precious resource, of course, is our people. The people are characterized by our distinctive southern hospitality. Well, friends, it’s -

                             Almost heaven, West Virginia

                             Blue Ridge mountains

                             Shenandoah River –

                             Life is old there

                             Older than the trees

                             Younger than the mountains

                             Growin like a breeze.

So we sing:          Country roads, take me home

                             To the place I belong       

                             West Virginia, mountain momma

                             Take me home, country roads.

These lyrics, of course were popularized by John Denver.

The church, that is, the West Virginia Conference, is not a building. It is a people. Yes, we are congregations of people who are housed in church buildings. As a church, seeking to welcome home all of God’s children we have to acknowledge that we are not as healthy as we desire to be and some repair work is needed.

I count it a privilege and a joy to serve as the resident bishop of the West Virginia Conference. My task today is to share some reflections on the state of the West Virginia Annual Conference. A few years ago I challenged the Conference to “Hit the Road!” Sisters and brothers we have hit the road. We are running this race knowing that Jesus is with us. Many of our churches are becoming healthier. Some of our churches are receiving new members on profession of faith. Some of our churches are expanding their mission opportunities. Some of our churches are building new facilities to strengthen their outreach ministries. Some congregations have voted to merge, forming new congregations. Some congregations are now able to have worship every Sunday. There is now a vibrant Fall Workshop that is part of our youth ministry.

First, we must acknowledge that some of God’s children have left home and they have not returned to their church home. We further acknowledge that many of God’s children have never been invited to claim their space in God’s house. In 1968 at the time of the merger that formed The United Methodist Church, the West Virginia Conference membership stood at 194,452.   The total membership, however, has been on the decline since then. A total of 900 members were lost from 2006 to 2007.This membership loss is largely attributable to discontinued and merged churches. Today our total conference membership stands at 103,905.

The alarming news is that nearly 60% of our churches did not receive one new member by profession of faith. We actually had a 61 person decrease in the number of new members received by profession of faith from 2006 to 2007. This is a sad commentary on our evangelistic ministry.

The 2006 and the 2007 pastor’s reports suggest that there are a wide variety of understandings of the evangelism task among pastors and congregations. The practice of evangelism varies and often yields few if any results. Remember that the mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We must reverse the general decline in our membership if we are to survive as a church into the future. To this end, I invite your participation in Commission Possible which is scheduled for September 19 and 20, 2008. Come and learn about evangelism and be inspired to do evangelism.

One significant evangelistic ministry is our conference-wide prayer ministry for those persons who have not united with a worshipping congregation and do not have a church home. We must stop making excuses and begin to reach out to the “unchurched” people - men, women and children – in meaningful ways.

Second, we must acknowledge that there is significant growth that must take place in the arena of stewardship and finances. I want to say thank you to all of our congregations that paid 100% of your fair share apportionment. I say thank you to all of the congregations that faithfully worked to pay a significant portion of your fair share apportionment.

Some congregations, however, fell far short of their fair share apportionment, creating an apportionment shortfall in the 2007 annual conference budget.  In 2007 we apportioned $11,996,065; the churches paid $9,966,005.41. The shortfall was a whopping $2,030,051.59. Friends, we cannot continue to vote a budget and go back to our churches and fail to fund the budget that we approved. We must adopt budgets that we can and will fully fund. Underfunded budgets lead to underfunded ministries and mission.

My vision for the West Virginia Conference is a conference that practices good stewardship in its churches, fully funds its conference budget and pays its general church apportionments at 100% as well as to fund local church ministries and projects.

As an annual conference, we are not yet robbing Peter to pay Paul; however, we have not reached our full giving capacity. Perhaps we have adequate financial reserves, except in a catastrophic situation. On the other hand, we could be doing so much more with a greater effort and commitment to stewardship.

We are doing well in the area of pastors’ pensions. Our pre-1982 plan is fully funded; all of our annuity obligations are fully funded; and, we have adequate pension reserves to assist us in a time of crisis. There is a legitimate fear looming on the horizon. There is the possibility that the Conference will not be able to fund its commitment to provide health insurance to pastors in retirement. Our unfunded obligation for retiree health insurance amounts to more than $45 million.

Clergy health care is an area of great concern. The annual conference has no control over the escalating cost of health care. The Conference must either increase the revenue stream that funds health care or it must shift the cost to the participants. The right long term solution is not clear. Currently, we are in a positive funded position. It is abundantly clear that one way to cut costs is for the participants to become healthier. Our clergy must become healthier. Healthier clergy would lead to cost reductions and a corresponding reduction in plan expenses.

Third, your Conference leadership is committed to the vision of the West Virginia Conference becoming a healthy Conference, where we are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We have just completed our second healthy church assessment. Here are a few observations:

1.     We are a conference of small churches; however, it appears that our smaller churches are not improving their health.

2.     Conference wide, there has been a decline in the number of first-time guests and the number of people received on profession of faith. Obviously the two are linked together. We have to receive visitors in order to receive new members.

3.     Although we made some gain in the area of hospitality, it was not in any way dramatic; this, in spite of all the hospitality training that has been done. What happens to West Virginia hospitality when we go to church? We must learn and employ basic hospitality and welcoming skills. It is a matter of welcoming guests into our churches as we would welcome them into our homes. That’s the biblical way.

4.     We must continue to work diligently in the arena of guest follow-up.

It is my responsibility to sound the alarm: We must reverse the trends and become healthier. We must offer Christ to God’s people in the church and outside of the church. Congregations that are not growing spiritually and numerically will eventually die. It is imperative that we embrace a ministry of evangelism in all of our congregations so that our congregations can live. We must make evangelism our passion.

My vision for the West Virginia Conference is that we will be a healthy Conference where congregations are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Congregations are engaging in evangelism, mission and stewardship. Congregations are developing new opportunities for small group ministries in addition to Sunday School Classes. Congregations have a MAP  [Ministry Action Plan] that guides their work of ministry and mission. Each congregation has a vision that generates passion about the work of ministry. Each congregation does more than take care of its own people, but reaches out to the community and the world in mission. Pastors and laity go out into the neighborhood and invite people to Christ.

Each pastoral charge must be configured in such a manner that it is able to provide the compensation package required by the pastoral assignment. Each charge must be aligned with this principle. An attendant principle is the matter of full employment for our pastors. I am concerned about the reality that far too many of our clergy are underemployed; that is, the pastoral workload is too small. It is not full-time to shepherd less than 100 parishioners, even though the congregation might use most of its resources to provide a full-time compensation package.

The recent General Conference has invited us to embrace the Call to Action: [1] Live the United Methodist Way (Leadership Development) [2] Start new Churches [3] Reach the children [4] Global Health (Stamp out malaria and HIV / AIDS. We are called to embrace these ministries both corporately and individually.

In conclusion I want to remind us one more time that the Mission of the United Methodist Church is making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. To this end, I want to remind us that a critical issue facing this conference, as we strive to launch into a future with hope, is the representative ministry that we do together as we support ministries like mission projects and campus ministries. How will we continue to fund these ministries? As a connectional church we have the opportunity to do all of this and more because of our commitment to evangelism, mission and stewardship.

Well, it’s almost heaven and this is My Home Among the Hills.

There’s a land of rolling mountains where the sky is blue above;

And though I may roam I hurry home

To the friendly hills I love.

Where the moonlit meadows ring with the call of whippoorwills,

Always you will find me in my home among the hills.

And where the sun draws rainbows in the midst of waterfalls and mountain rills,

My heart will be always in the West Virginia Hills.

Ernest S. Lyght

Resident Bishop

West Virginia Annual Conference

The United Methodist Church

June 5, 2008