I guess I am confused. Concerning the discussion of whether or not the church should call a Youth Pastor (with extended responsibilities), I have gotten some strange feedback. It is the nature of the feedback that has me confused.

        This was never intended to be divisive. Yet, in the last few days I have encountered heat. I have been told we are trying to push this down the throats of the congregation. I just sat and viewed again the video of the Business Meeting from August 21, and I see absolutely nothing that is adversarial. Things that were presented that no one wants to hear, but it was not adversarial in nature. It was made very clear that this was a proposal. A thought out and prayerfully arrived at proposal, but still a proposal. Unlike government, we have no Executive Orders that we can issue, and we wouldn't do so if that authority existed. The members of the congregation will vote on September 11, and the result of that vote will be final. That hardly seems to be worthy of anger. Yet, there seems to be anger. If you feel anger about this, please call me. I promise, I will not be angry with you.

        The other thing that bothers me is that I have been told twice now that we are not going to vote for any student pastor to come in here and mess things up. The first time I heard this I assumed that it was confusion on the part of the person I was talking too. But when I heard it a second time it made me think that someone is sharing this bit of information. At no point has that ever been brought up. Not in the feasibility committee, not in a Board meeting and not at the Business Meeting. About three years ago I did contact Huntington University with the idea of having a student come and work with our Youth, sort of like an internship. I did this with the knowledge of the Board. The idea was we would pay for their gas and a small stipend, but that was all. That went nowhere. According to the lady who arranged that sort of thing, Urbana was so far away from Huntington that no one wanted to come out here. Anyway, it ended there. That avenue was not followed. We live in an era of 'fake news,' and perhaps it has filtered down to us. Keep in mind, 'fake news' is another word for a lie.

        At the Business Meeting, Barry intended to give a visual presentation of what the feasibility committee was putting forth. Because of a technical glitch, that did not happen. So, he just delivered it verbally. However, last Sunday he announced that he had made copies of what would have been his presentation and they were in the back of the sanctuary. Very few were taken. Personally, I am all for people talking out an issue. But when you choose to do so without the facts in hand, you are doing a disservice to the people you are talking to as well as to yourself. 

        I don't recall the voting process being passed along to the congregation. But so that you will know, the Board, at the suggestion of the feasibility committee, has decided an 85% 'yes' will be needed to continue on along the path of calling an individual. It was thought that an 85% 'yes' is needed to call a pastor, so we would apply that to this situation. Our Constitution does not cover this as yet. A simple majority will not do it. If a majority was all that was needed, that would be 'pushing it down the throat' of the rest of the congregation.

        We all realize that there is opposition to this plan. Perhaps you are one of the ones opposed. That is fine. we are a congregationally led church. However, if you are opposed, what other option do you have? And, perhaps more importantly, how much of your time and effort are you willing to put out to go along with that option? Being opposed is fine. Being opposed and not being willing to do something is a problem.

        Back in June I wrote a blog on this subject. I presented four options as we saw them. First, do nothing, let the church die and do not worry about the future. That isn't being harsh. Based on the record of the last ten years and the aging of the church, that is about to happen. Second, get someone from the congregation or hire a part timer to generate something for the young people. We have tried that a couple of times since I have been here. Didn't work. Third, dismiss the Pastor and call a new Pastor who will work with the Youth as well as Pastor. Since my primary concern in life is Urbana Yoke Parish and what is good for the Yoke, I would accept that dismissal. However, it is important to note, I have been doing this for 47 years and I have only ever known one pastor who pulled that off successfully, and that was me. We often think that calling a young pastor will draw young people and that never works. You had a young pastor before me, and it didn't work then. Fourth, call someone who is prepared by Spiritual calling, education and experience to fill this role.

        If the vote is 'no' on September 11, then please contact our Board president with options, because the first option will happen. 

        When it is all said and done, there must be no hard feelings.