Important Update from Council
Dear St. Luke’s Community,
Following months of prayerful consideration, Council has decided to eliminate our part-time Children’s Minister position. We came to this decision after considering our overall ministry patterns, priorities, and congregational capacity including our finances. We’ve communicated this decision to Carmen Kingsley who has served faithfully in the role since its inception in 2019. Carmen’s service in this role will conclude on June 30, 2022. We value Carmen as a member of our congregation and she is receiving a severance package that will allow her ample time to transition. Please save the date for a Celebration of Ministry Picnic for Carmen on Sunday, July 10 after worship.
Children’s Minister Carmen has done faithful ministry among us for the past three years, including creative engagement during the worst time of the pandemic. She adjusted and re-adjusted to meet ever-changing needs. She built a joint ministry together with our partners at Grace UMC. She connected with people of all ages and helped us deepen our relationship with God.
Council arrived at this difficult decision after several months of reflection and conversation about who we are as a congregation and how our needs have changed over the past three years. When St. Luke’s created the Children’s Minister position in 2019, our congregation was in a very different place than we are today. The decision to add to our staffing centered around attendance of up to 20 children under the age of 14 on Sunday mornings. The goal in adding the position was to infuse momentum into a congregational moment poised for growth.
But now, post-pandemic, participation in all church activities is both quantitatively lower and qualitatively different than pre-pandemic. When and how we engage with church is changing. This includes families with children, as well as the volunteers and funding needed to make robust children’s programming possible. More recently, it has become difficult to understand what families with children want and need. It has been difficult to engage adults to volunteer and collaborate. Council acknowledges there are many reasons for these challenges, and that no simple pivot or solution would be an easy fix. But what’s clear is that the status quo is not working. As we continue to discuss sustainability, we feel called to ensure that our limited resources, both financial and congregational, are directed towards ministry to which the congregation is enthusiastically called and in which we want to robustly engage. Therefore, we will conclude the Children’s Minister position and open ourselves to other avenues for ministry with families and children.
Eliminating the Children’s Minister position will mean changes to our congregational life. Council has not yet discerned what ministry with children and families will look like in the months ahead. What has not changed is our love for and commitment to children as valuable members of our congregation. We encourage you to be in prayer with the youngest members of our community as we continue to live in faith together.
With thanksgiving,
St. Luke's Council
Katy Ajer
Andrew Bailey, Vice-Chair
Katie Bringman Baxter, Chair
Gretchen Burch, Treasurer
Erin Coleman Branchaud, Pastor
Marit Johnson
Megan Moran, Secretary