Williams Bell Highlights
Following are highlights from the Williams Memorial Presybyterian Church newsletter, the Williams Bell.
Feb. 2009: Vision
An excerpt from the sermon given on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009…
A long time ago, in the late 1800’s, some Christians up the road at Hopewell Presbyterian Church decided to go to a nearby mining community. That mining community was in need of a witness to Jesus Christ. That’s how Williams Memorial got started. We began as a mission to a mining community. Over the years the new congregation grew. In fact, in the 1940s and 1950s Williams Memorial was bursting at the seams with members. I heard that at one point in time the membership numbers were at or above 450. The minister, Rev. Marcus Prince, was a respected pillar in the community. The WMPC annual barbecue was the best around! A Boy Scout program was thriving. Kids were picked up around the area to come to the WMPC Vacation Bible School every summer. We have scrapbooks filled with pictures of the activities in the life of the church during those years. Those were WMPC’s golden years, I guess you would say. And those Golden Years are gone.
For a variety of reasons church membership, church activity began to decline. A beloved pastor retired. The children and youth of the 1950’s WMPC grew up and struck out on their own—leaving the church or finding a new church home, sometimes marrying into a new church home, sometimes moving into a distant neighborhood or even away from Charlotte. The city of Charlotte began to spread outward and up Beatties Ford Road. Race became in issue. White flight became a reality. So the demographic of the community and demographic of the congregation of WMPC began to change. Significantly. WMPC began to age with fewer and fewer children in the church. Those who were middle aged moved into their senior and older adult years. Once the member numbers began to shrink…so did the numbers of new members. More people were moving away or passing on compared to the number of new people joining. Even a vibrant young pastor fresh out of seminary was not enough to turn the decline around. There was some conflict over the years. Conflict will not draw new members and will certainly cause some old members to leave. The Golden Years passed and they cannot be recreated.
When I first came to Williams I had conversations with folks asking them to tell me what they thought the future of WMPC would look like. So many times the answer I got was this: I just want our church to be like it was in the past—lots of children and members. And this: I wish we were still doing the barbecue. I wish we had a youth group like we had when I was growing up. Some who actually talked about the future, instead of referencing the past, said they just wanted the church to be here for the elderly in our congregation; just keep things going for them as long as we can. I ask you, is this our witness?
I’ve seen in several workshops a diagram of the life cycle of a church. Our history bares truth to that reality: birth, growth, plateau, decline, death. Will our life cycle end in death? OR will this church enter into a period of renewal and rethinking? These questions lead us to talk about, revisit, and clarify a most important question. What is our unique witness to Jesus Christ today?
At this point in the life of WMPC I don’t foresee a swell in member numbers. We’ll not be hosting a community barbecue any time soon. But I do have a vision for this congregation and it is a vision that was clear to me a couple of years ago…a vision that I have made efforts to talk about and preach about…a vision that some of you share and have begun to act on.
Referring to the life cycle of a church I would say to you that we have come full circle. What I mean by this is that we are now in a position to once again become a mission in the community. Just like the missionary pastor and few members from Hopewell who came down Beatties Ford Road in the 1800’s to proclaim good news, here we are in a place and time to witness with good news. I believe God is recreating us; transforming us into a church with a missionary heart again. At this time in history, in the life of our country, in this economic downturn, this time of change…we have a Golden Opportunity to do what we can to be a witness to Jesus Christ serving a world in need.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ! If we sit in our pews on Sunday morning, for all practical purposes, facing backwards and hearts grieving the past we are going to miss what God is doing! The opportunity to serve in a meaningful way among our neighbors will pass us by. The opportunity to share the love of Christ—a cup of cold water, a coat, food, compassion...will pass us by. We must stop looking back and turn our eyes and our hearts to the future. Some have made this transition here in our congregation—but some haven’t. For those of you who, in your minds, in your vision, are biding time, living out the life cycle of the church, I say to you, wake up! See what God is doing here and now among us. See the possibilities for a strong and enduring witness that some of our folks have already caught a glimpse of! Come and see what God is doing! Release the Golden Years and seize the Golden Opportunity before us.
We will never again be the Williams Memorial Presbyterian Church of 1955. Yearning for the golden years ignores the fact that God is constantly working, transforming, recreating people and churches for service and mission. My witness to you this day is that God has begun to recreate this congregation. I see it. Will you?
Amen and may God bless this witness. Carol
Daily Mini-prayers
Monday: Wash day – Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.
Tuesday: Ironing day – Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.
Wednesday: Mending day – O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.
Thursday: Cleaning day – Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.
Friday: Shopping day – O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.
Saturday: Cooking day – Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.
Sunday: The Lord’s Day – O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.
Job description …
Psalm 23 for the Workplace
The Lord is my real boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without murmuring and complaining.
He reminds me that He is my source and not my job.
He restores my sanity everyday and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all that I do.
Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes, unrealistic deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating supervisors and an aging body that doesn’t cooperate every morning, I still will not stop – for He is with me!
His presence, His peace, and His power will see me through.
He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me.
He claims me as His own, even when the company threatens to let me go.
His Faithfulness and love is better than any bonus check.
His retirement plan beats any 401K there is! When it’s all said and done, I’ll be working for Him a whole lot longer and for that, I Bless His Name!
-- Author unknown
WILLIAMS MEMORIAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Joins the Fight Against Cystic Fibrosis
Team members wear theri "official" blue T-shirts, emblazoned with Jane Sudderth's name.
(Photo courtesy of Nancy Lewis)
Members of Williams Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte took part in the Lake Norman Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis, held on Saturday, May 17th. Cystic Fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Over 10 million Americans are symptomless carriers of the defective CF gene. Participation of Williams Memorial Presbyterian Church is in memory of Jana Sudderth, the adopted sister of church member Nancy Lewis. Jana moved to the Charlotte area and lived with her sister after the passing of their parents. Diagnosed with CF as a young child, Jana received a double lung transplant after her graduation from high school. A year later, Jana died of complications from the disease. Nancy Lewis writes, “My church was so gracious to Jana when she came to live with me. The church got involved with the CF walk each year.” Williams Memorial member Amy Auten adds that, “While Williams Memorial is a small church, we are a close-knit congregation. Extended family members are like cousins.” The Williams Memorial Presbyterian Church Great Strides Team included: Jane Setzer, Laura Stroupe, Jeannie Craig, Lindsay Fisher, Lisa Fisher, Amy Auten, and Nancy Lewis. The Education and Fellowship Committee, along with Team WMPC and Sarah Craig made a fundraising dinner possible this year. Church member Sarah Craig became a good friend of Jana Sudderth’s, and Sarah now works as a volunteer at the CF Foundation in Charlotte.
