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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

About 70 men and women, most of retirement age, attended the fall Older Adults Day Apart at West River United Methodist Center on an overcast day during which the sun broke through in the afternoon in time for a boat ride on the river.

The Rev. Karin Walker, superintendent of the Baltimore Suburban District, led the Bible study and closing worship and the Rev. Andy Lunt, conference Director of Congregational Development was keynote speaker, on the theme "Churches are Created for Growth."

Speaking from the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8-40), Walker raised the eunuch's answer to the question Philip asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?" to which the eunuch replied, "How can I know unless someone guides me?"

"That's the first responsibility of us," she said, "to share the Word. We've been commissioned to share the Gospel."

The eunuch responds to Philip's reading of the Scripture (from Book of Isaiah) by asking to be baptized. A new convert to Christianity.

Reflecting on the Philip-eunuch story, Walker raised the question: How do I get to church if no one invites me? Inviting others is something everyone in the room can do, she said.

"I failed retirement," Lunt said, sharing that he was called back into ministry after retiring from 31-some years in the pulpit at Glen Mar UMC. He then added, "Retirement is a time to do what you want to, not what you have to." It's clear he enjoys the work he does (part time) for the conference, "helping our congregations reach more people and helping them to know Christ," he said. Later in the day he led a workshop on the same topic.

Lunt spoke of "the crisis" in the United Methodist Church over the past 10 years: membership down 13 percent; worship attendance down 17 percent; baptisms down 37.5 percent; baptized members down 52.3 percent. In spite of these dismal statistics, he offered hope and a plan to reverse this down trend.

The "Vital Congregations Project" is "about loving the Lord and sharing that Word." In the new language of the church, Lunt explained "adaptive challenge."  The key observations are:

• Need for turnaround leaders – not just clergy but laity too. This means people who "see beyond the walls," he said.
• "We" have an adverse reaction to metrics, which is a way to see how we are doing.
• There is a serious lack of trust.
• We're non-effective in reaching marginally churched and non-churched people, especially young adults.

In response to the study that revealed these shortcomings in The United Methodist Church, the conference has adopted a Call to Action. Among the long list of characteristics of growing churches he mentioned were:

• Starting new worship services (blended contemporary and traditional services don't work. "Nobody is happy.";
• Preachers must be inspirational preachers, do coaching and mentoring of others, and influence actions and behaviors. "If they do all this, they will have to drop other things," he said, like hospital visits;
• "We have to learn to do ministry as laity in the church," Lunt said. "Church vitality cannot happen without you."

Lunt reviewed some of what is being done to start new faith communities, two underway, one focused almost entirely on young adults, and restarting churches that have failed or closed, by forming mergers, organizing in cooperative parishes, starting new worship services and other means.

"Senior adults are overlooked today; and senior adults are the most underserved," he said.

In addition to a workshop on church growth that Lunt led, other workshops included "Real Questions about Real Estate," led by Bob and Donna McWilliams. They discussed the difficulties of downsizing, the choices of renting vs. buying, reverse mortgages and senior communities.

Darlene Washington substituted for Olivia Gross and talked about the upcoming "Change the World Mission Day." "We can't change the world alone," she said, "but we can come together and change it one person at a time." She provided many and answer suggestions of what might be done in any given church.

People attending "An Introduction to Lovely Lane Museum and Archives," not only heard a sweeping history of the United Methodist Church and its predecessors by the Rev. Emora Brannan, President of the Historical Society, but met Robert Shindle, the new Director of Archives and History, who told of the collections at the museum, which date back to the 18th century.

Shindle reminded the audience that each March there is a history contest and urged them to submit their church histories, which become an important part of the collection. He said that when Mt. Vernon UMC in Baltimore burned down, the records were in a fireproof vault. "They couldn't rebuild and merged with Good Shepherd, but the records are still in the museum," he said.

"The church needs you more than ever," Walker said in the closing worship and Communion service. "The church needs you because you've 'been there, done that.' We need you to speak the truth and help people understand what church is. You, seniors, have the imaginations to help the church to grow, to change, to adapt. You're a gift to the church."