Final Act of Generosity Focuses on Strengthening the Church
Last year, just before Easter, Rev. Kate Layzer was called to preside over a sad ritual: the closing of the United Church of Christ in Winthrop, MA, which had operated since 1896. An aging congregation and shrinking membership had brought the church into decline - and so Layzer, who had served the congregation for five years, had to help the church's members consider what the final good acts of the church would be as it dissolved.
In moving toward dissolution, however, the members reached to the future and behaved with visionary generosity. "We had to figure out how to give away our assets," Layzer said. "We were fortunate in that we didn't have restricted gifts in our investment portfolio that could only be used for particular things. I wanted there to be a process around this, with prayer and discernment and involvement of the congregation. So I asked people to go home and dream and pray about what matters and what this church had been about."
The next step involved talking, as a congregation, about each item and whether it should remain on the list - yes, no, maybe. "The congregation was thinking about giving money to ministerial retirement funds," said Rev. Layzer. "I didn't want to do a lot of steering, and I wanted the decisions to come from who the congregation was and what they valued, even in the midst of this sad closing of the church." But Layzer presented another perspective: "What if we didn't focus on the past, but more on the future, and on renewal and vitality and creativity?" "That," said Layzer, "was all I had to say."
The church voted to put the bulk of their funds (expected to exceed $50,000) into new church starts for the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ (MACUCC), church vitality programs, and in support of the Pastoral Excellence Program (PEP), as well as gifts to several Winthrop area programs. Layzer reflects, "I have been a consultant to other congregations that are closing and this story is being played out in other places. The church is going through a period of intense change, and yet we need to equip clergy to help congregations think beyond the four walls for the church, and get them outside the church to really save us, do ministry in a way that embraces the community. Those are very important skills to build and our seminaries are thinking a lot about this: what are the fuller dimensions of ministry? The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Endowment Campaign (SPEEC) will help carry forward the kind of dynamic ministry we so desperately need today."
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