“I didn’t know church could be like this.” 

An individual said this to me after our Service of Naming on November 16^th. 

“Yeah. Usually, churches and pastors make it clear that Jesus isn’t for me—the message they share is for everyone else… but not me.” 

It warmed my heart that this person truly felt a loving welcome at our church, and that we were able to help fill that Jesus-filled hole in their soul. 

I stood there thinking, “This is why we do what we do!” The day before, I had spent seven hours in that very room (the Parlor) with our Leadership Board members and Rev. Dr. Lisa Withrow, talking and praying about the purpose of our church and where God is calling us in the future.

We discussed lots of questions, including:

What is our passion?

What concerns surface in the data (Home Gatherings, greater church context, conversations with local leaders, local demographics, trends, and happenings, global news, etc.)? 

What keeps us up at night?

What are our biases? 

What is God up to? 

And throughout the whole day, we asked, “What threads do we see woven through all these elements?” The threads we saw were:

Connect the community

Deeper reach

Open-minded

Intentional and adaptable

Variety of ways to connect relationally

The need is immediate

We know we are called to create a safe, welcoming community where people can build relationships with one another and with God. At the same time, when we concluded the retreat on Saturday, we didn’t have solid priorities of what that looks like… yet. Instead, we had lots of questions and prayers and thoughts still swirling through our minds. 

Sometimes, when you talk about things a lot, they can become theoretical. But meeting that person after the Service of Naming was a reminder: This is real—our mission, the people we are reaching, the work God is doing through Brecksville United Methodist Church—it is real and important. 

In fact, the Service of Naming is just one example of how God is already using our church to reach people and let them know that God’s love is big enough to include them, even if and no matter what. 

And the exciting thing is that the data shows that this is just the beginning. There is a slow revival happening in the US: God is stirring in people’s hearts, and people are seeking places like our church—a safe space to explore faith and ask big questions without being judged or rushed. They’re seeking honest worship and lifelong learning and authentic community, and that’s who we are!   

We have the opportunity to work with God and make a really amazing impact in the world.

And we find ourselves at a turning point: over the past 4 years, our church has seen an influx of new people of all sorts of ages and stages of life. And we’ve grown to the extent that our current staff (even with a Youth Director) isn’t big enough to care for everyone we have—build relationships, help them grow spiritually, create spaces for healing and hope, etc. 

We’re also well-aware of a few significant needs of our physical building—a new roof, a new boiler, an updated elevator—all necessary to keep our church home dry, warm, and safe. 

The long and short of it is, we’re going to need a larger budget to move Brecksville United Methodist Church to where God is calling us. What a great “problem” to have!

So what will it take to get us there? How will we fund the work that God has already started at BUMC? It’s going to take all of us—all our prayers, all our dreaming, and all of us opening our hearts as well as our wallets and saying, “Yes! I want to be part of creating safe space for people to come as their perfectly imperfect selves so that the world can encounter God’s unconditional love!” 

Are you in?

Rev. Heidi Welch