November 2007--Vision Casting

A few weeks ago, I watched Lost in La Mancha, a documentary film about a movie production that fell apart. Filmmaker (and one-time member of Monty Python) Terry Gilliam is a gifted and creative fellow, but when he tackled this longtime dream film, everything went wrong. The film started production innocently enough, going through all of the pre-production meetings and casting. The film attracted two big stars, including actor Johnny Depp, who chooses his projects fairly sparingly.

What Gilliam did not anticipate was a host of problems, including locations and equipment getting flooded and his Quixote (an elder French actor) developing serious health problems only after a few days of filming. Beaten by these bizarre odds, Gilliam gave up filming and the production shut down.

The one thing that these terrible circumstances did not take away from Gilliam was his devotion to the idea of making a film about Don Quixote. While the project did not happen at that time, Gilliam still intends to make this film someday. Why? Gilliam has a vision that cannot be swayed.

Over the past year and a half, I have been waiting for First Baptist to say with confidence, “This is our vision for ministry.” Part of my calling as your intentional interim minister is to help you address this critical piece of your transitional journey. Over the “middle” two Sunday mornings of November (November 12 and 19), we will hold two one-hour sessions that help us find the words that help articulate a vision for the congregation’s ministry.

From this vision process, we will start working on bringing First Baptist more closely in line with this vision. There is a temptation to let past history (filled in recent decades with good and not-so good memories alike) continue to guide us and provide the script that we tend to live by (which some days might sound like “We aren’t what we used to be” or

“We don’t have what we used to have”). As we go through this process, we will endeavor to let new words guide us, words like: “First Baptist: Same Old Hope, New View of the Future”, “FBC: Daring, Risking, Living Anew” “FBC: not just for in it for ourselves, but for the healing of the nations”.

Vision statements can be the “life-giving” that congregations seek when they give themselves permission to take this word and run with it. A congregation of my acquaintance had its big anniversary year, and they adopted a statement about “building bridges” with the community. One old-timer told me that they ought to put the statement on a sign out on the street so everybody could see it as they drove by. Another wise saint said, “We could just start building those bridges, y’know….”

What does it mean for First Baptist to discern a new vision? It may mean that some projects get put on hold, and that others start up. It may mean that old ways give way to new ones. Change has happened in the past year and a half. Now it’s time to let more change happen in our midst.

The vision process that waits in the wings for mid-November 2007 will be hopefully a mile stone in a history that is yet to unfold, but one that we hope our vision statement helps create as a bigger, more vibrant era of First Baptist just getting underway.

The Rev. Jerrod H. Hugenot

Ministers...Everybody (Pastor's Notes October 2007)

Each week, Donna Sprague works on the Sunday morning bulletin. It looks wonderful each week, yet Donna sometimes needs a medal (or a trip to somewhere tropical) after getting through the numerous little details. Is the sermon title available? Is this the hymn first or last in the service order? Is the usher schedule accurate? Did the typo about the event next week get fixed? You see…it’s sometimes wicked crazy to get that bulletin ready for Sunday morning. (And Donna is a saint!)

One part of the bulletin that does not change EVER in the bulletin is on the back page, and perhaps you have gotten so used to seeing this bit that you have forgotten. The line reads, “Ministers…..Everyone”

In 1982, a remarkable thing happened. Christians from various denominations around the world sat down together and completed a document about the Church. Now, you might think that sounds like a fairly stale sounding meeting. (Indeed, whether local or national, sometimes the yawns are merited as Christian folk gather and still make talking about religion as fun as watching paint dry!) Actually, this meeting was a fairly energetic experience as various Christian movements worked together to talk about core issues of talking about matters of faith. Entitled “Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry” (a.k.a. “BEM”), the document is one of many published by the World Council of Churches, and BEM continues to serve as excellent material for Christians to sit down and talk about their particular religious convictions while reading the collected wisdom of the WCC participants trying to work with their differences.

The Holy Spirit bestows on the community [i.e. the Church] diverse and complementary gifts. These are for the common good of the whole people and are manifested in acts of service within the community and to the world. They may be gifts of communicating the Gospel in word and deed, gifts of healing, gifts of praying, gifts of teaching and learning, gifts of serving, gifts of guiding and following, gifts of inspiration and vision. All members are called to discover, with the help of the community, the gifts they have received and to use them for the building up of the Church and for the service of the world to which the Church is sent. (BEM, “Ministry”, paragraph five).

Each person who is part of First Baptist is a minister. The work of the Church (local, regional, national, global) is about the whole people of God. We Baptists would say a hearty AMEN to this section of BEM (even while we fuss at the language regarding baptism and eucharist on some points). The Baptist tradition would call this being “the priesthood of all believers”. Every Christian is called to the work of the Church. Certainly, we call forth individuals to the work of ordained ministry, thus a pastor serves this congregation, and in the broader American Baptist movement, you have chaplains, educators, home and international missionaries, pastoral care counselors, and the list goes on. Nonetheless, these clergy are called to minister just like the person sitting in the pews or swinging a hammer at a Habitat build, or cooking in the kitchen, or participating in music or educational ministry, or board work.

As part of the transitional journey of First Baptist, you are engaged in asking a number of big picture questions about the ministry of the congregation. One of the critical questions, however, must be “how does First Baptist empower the whole people of God to the work of ministry?”

You can have one person in the pulpit preaching and teaching and caring, but if you do not ask yourselves “what about the rest of us? How does God call me to the work of ministry?”, you will find that not much will get done, and a lot of potential will go untapped. No one person or handful of people can accomplish “communicating the Gospel in word and deep, gifts of serving, gifts of guiding and following, gifts of inspiration and vision.” That takes everybody to see things come about!

First Baptist is thriving due to its people, not any one person (especially not any one parson). Each person indeed is gifted with “diverse and complementary gifts” kindled by the Holy Spirit. As a contemporary hymn puts it, “Let us bring the gifts that differ in splendid, varied ways!”

If you would like some one-on-one time with the pastor to talk about how YOU can discern, identify, and share your gifts as a Christian and as a minister of First Baptist, this is a great time!

On Sunday, October 14, we will celebrate YOUR work as a congregant at First Baptist by hosting a blessing of the lay ministry of the congregation. You are invited to prepare for this worship service by thinking about what your gifts for ministry are and how you put them to use in service to First Baptist. Then look for something that symbolizes your gifts. It could be a hammer for the gift of helps, a quill pen or a computer keyboard for your gift of writing, a stuffed toy for your work in the nursery, and the list can go on and on and on. During the service, we will ask you to bring this gift to the altar and we will bless the assembled people and your gifts that you bring to strengthen and further the ministry and mission of First Baptist.

First Baptist has come a great distance in the past two years, thanks to persons living out “ministers….everyone”. Let the whole people say, “AMEN!”, which means, “Let it be so!”

The Rev. Jerrod Hugenot

Pastor's Notes SEPTEMBER 2007

Since First Baptist called me as the intentional interim in March 2006, I have worked with you to address issues of congregational transition and change. Last fall, we engaged in a few learning experiences related to change (i.e. exploring the congregation’s history, mapping out our abilities and assets as a congregation, and talking about our self-image as a congregation). This spring, we spent time with consultant Dr. Ronald Carlson, who introduced the idea of being a missional church over two different workshop weekends. Each event brought opportunities for participants to reflect on change, transition, and how First Baptist could flourish as you seek ways to write that next chapter in ministry.

As this fall gets underway, First Baptist will have further opportunities to explore and redefine itself. September marks the return of Sunday school for all ages. On Sunday mornings, we expand our religious education to include children and adults in a variety of classes during the 11 o’clock hour. As we prepare for 2008 (yes, now is the time!), we will experience a new type of stewardship emphasis over a series of Sunday mornings, led by Cindy Watson, Mary Harrington, and Darcy Oakes. New choral activities are being offered for children and adults on Wednesday afternoon and evenings. You may not think of “stewardship” or “choir” as a way that churches experience transition, but indeed, these are signs that the congregation is experiencing redevelopment. Each of these things is indeed “change” at work!

When discussing the experience of transition, the authors of Temporary Shepherds: A Congregational Handbook for Interim Ministry draw upon a line from a play by Marc Connelly called Green Pastures. Spoken by an old deacon, the line goes like this: “Everything nailed down is bustin’ loose!” Then the authors make the following observation:

“Congregations tend to think that they do not change over time, but nothing is further from the truth. Congregations change significantly as they respond to different pastoral leaders, to changes in their societal context, and to alterations in their internal circumstances.” (p. 8)

Two years ago this month, your last minister departed, and you began a search process in the form of a three-year season of interim ministry. Think about where First Baptist has been since you began talking of transition in the fall of 2005. What do you believe has changed or “bust[ed] loose”? What still seems “nailed down”?

I believe it is critical to the health of any congregation, whether an active membership of 20 or 200, that care is given to dealing with the inevitability of change. Most often, a change in pastor is the most visible, but the changes that occur when one’s ministry setting, or context, changes is equally important. Bennington has changed greatly over the past fifty years. How well do the congregation and its ministries connect with the community? Do we know our community well?

Attending the Children in Poverty study conducted this September and October will be an excellent opportunity for the adult congregants to reflect together on the realities of social and economic conditions in our community. I hope that the sessions will encourage some critical and careful thought about how First Baptist reinterprets its mission, vision, and identity.

After the Children in Poverty study concludes in mid-October, a series of workshops on “Vision” will be offered over the course of four Sunday school sessions for our adults. During this time, a team of lay leaders will lead the adults through a time of reflecting upon and dreaming about a vision for First Baptist. Too often, congregations in transition just settle for the minister setting the tone, and in the case of interim ministry periods, the congregation is even more tempted just “to wait until the real minister gets here” before getting too excited about much of anything.

Obviously, the past two years have not been just about waiting around. First Baptist has addressed some short-term and long overdue issues during this time. The reality, however, is that the work of transitioning the church into a new chapter of ministry is still underway. We need lay members and lay leaders to wrestle about “what’s busted loose” and “what’s still nailed down” in the ministry of the church. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, perhaps we can celebrate the autumnal harvest with a vision that brings us ever closer to being the healthy, intentional, and engaged congregation that you started yearning for two years ago.

Until then, may we hear around the church: “Everything nailed down is bustin’ loose!”

Pastor's Notes: May 2007

On April 11, 1827, thirty two people formally banded together to found the First Baptist Church of Bennington, Vermont. A group of Baptists, living at a distance from other, already established Baptist churches, decided to start a congregation here in Bennington. They built a congregation, starting out with nine baptisms. And, now here we are, one hundred eighty years (and a few days) later. It has been a long history, filled with:

challenges (one church building burnt down in those early decades; in recent times, attendance has declined since the early 1970s);

changes (in the 19th century, the average pastorate was only 4 years, a far cry from living memory, as the 20th century brought the lengthy pastorates of Towart, Spencer, LaBombard, Miller, and Drosky, remarkable in the fact that the average pastorate in mainline Protestant churches is about 4 years);

concerns (we are in an intentional interim period, trying to ensure that the future of the congregation, which may seem “new” but really, even back in the “good ole days”, it happened: In 1893-4, the Rev. Alexander McGeorge is remembered for placing “the church upon a stronger financial basis and reorganiz[ing] the different departments of work” (Hutchinson, 25). The concept of “interim ministry” did not exist back then,but it certainly sounds like the work need at that moment in 1893 was ably carried out.);

and

constancy (the church burnt down, the pastors change, finances bedevil, the economic fortunes of the town of Bennington change, yet in the midst of it all, 180 years later, a group of Baptists still worship at the corner of Main and Valentine).

In the midst of this history, there have been written and unwritten experiences of church life: some occasions marked with celebration, others with controversy. The ministers of this church, a long list of men and women, served the ministries of the church, yet when a history of any congregation is written honestly, it should not be a retelling of the glories (and failures) of a clergy person. The history of a congregation is ultimately about the people whose prayers, service, tithes, and enthusiasm for living out the Gospel keep a congregation going.

We celebrate this 180th anniversary as a time to remember the hard work of women and men, young and old, some who were here from cradle to grave, and those only in the midst of the ministries of this church for a season of time. Right now, we have the incredible opportunity (and perhaps burden as well) of continuing the story of First Baptist. We are surrounded this morning by reminders of our past, but we are also surrounded this morning by reminders of our present: the people around you, the children off in Sunday school, and the rest of the folks who are here as active congregants who might be at home or on the road due to other commitments this day. Each generation, each decade of this congregation’s existence is shaped by those who intend to see the furtherance of the Gospel, so look out! Those who have come before and those yet to enter this fellowship really are depending on you to keep things moving forward.

The Rev. Jerrod Hugenot (excerpted from the sermon on April 15, 2007, on the occasion of the congregation’s 180th anniversary)

Celebrating a Future: April 2007

Just after Easter on April 11th, First Baptist celebrates one hundred eighty years of ministry. As the congregation journeys onwards into its next year, it is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on the faithfulness of the generations comprising the history of the church.

In 1827, a group of Baptists congregated to assure a Baptist presence in the Bennington area. We are grateful heirs of many generations of those who have shared the gospel, tended those in need, and endeavored to pass down the beliefs we hold dear as Christians and convictions that we hold as American Baptists. We count a host of men and women who have served as ministers of the flock, but we are mindful that it was indeed the ongoing witness and industry of the congregation that has kept ongoing the ministries and mission of the church. The commitment to ministry in the Bennington area continues to be our common legacy as well as our ever-present challenge that our witness is assured long into the future.

This past year has been part of the current generation’s faithful response to the continuing ministries of this church. Undertaking a season of intentional interim ministry has given the congregation the opportunity to step away from worrying about the future to slough off lingering anxieties. The congregation now wishes to embrace a renewed sense of mission, vision, and purpose. Rather than marking this year as the 180^th (and therefore “business as usual”), the congregation is gearing up to “turn a 180” so that seeds can be planted and new life can be kindled.

In its “180 year”, First Baptist is experiencing new opportunities for community partnership. We are receiving increased requests for the facilities of the church to be utilized for community use. You will need to keep an eye on the monthly calendar, as it is getting fuller with more activities going on than in recent memory. We will be exploring some options for long-term partnerships with community organizations as well. In the next few weeks, we’ll have the library’s annual book sale, host the Spring ABWM tag sale, and begin the first of several months as the site for the hospital’s ongoing training for its entire staff. The building is getting busy! (And it is catching the eye of folks as well! In late March, Bob Stannard of the Better Bennington Corporation will be taping a segment about First Baptist for his cable access show that highlights downtown Bennington.)

As we celebrate the growth of community initiatives, we also must continue the work of empowering the congregants to become more engaged in ministry and mission. In late February, we had a retreat weekend with Dr. Ronald Carlson of American Baptist National Ministries. Ron offered many challenging concepts about the work of congregations changing their orientation away from “maintenance” mode to a more flexible and “all hands on deck” style of ministry. We hope to have Ron back in the early summer to continue the conversation, however, I am really hoping especially that we will start engaging his methods in the life of the church. In late March, the cabinet is meeting for its first time in the new church business year. It is my hope that out of these meetings with senior lay leadership that a new vision will begin to emerge where we move toward “many ministries by the many people” rather than depending on “a minister” or a small group of dedicated but over-extended lay leaders to sustain basic services and provide direction for the congregation and its ministries. To be a church for today’s world requires a vision that empowers people to use their gifts, invites others to share in creative initiatives, and radically reaches out with the good news of the gospel to our community in ways that we never thought possible. Indeed, it really does depend on each person who wishes to see First Baptist thrive (not just survive!). What can you do to help make 2007 the year that First Baptist did indeed “turn a 180”?

The Rev. Jerrod H Hugenot