Associate Pastor for Congregational Care and Adult Ministries - Rev. Lane Bailey

Written by Lane Bailey Monday, 07 December 2009 16:47

Five and a half years ago, if someone had told me that I would still be the associate pastor at Lenexa United Methodist Church in 2010, I would have been very surprised. If you had told me that I would have served with three different senior pastors, I would have been astounded. To be truthful I expected that I would only be at LUMC two to three years; four at the max.

It has been an incredible experience and a huge honor to serve with three of the best pastors I ever hope to meet. The reality is, however, that I expect to be reassigned in July of 2010. Some of the reasons for this are mundane, even selfish. At 58 years of age I need to think about preparing for retirement. Part of that means that I can no longer afford to stay at a minimum, or close to minimum salary for my years of experience. The current economic climate makes my position too expensive for the church. As much as my ego hates to admit it, even a fraction of the money spent on my position could be better utilized to create more ministries.

A year ago it became clear that either Pastor Jan or I would be leaving LUMC in July 2009. If Rev. Hayen had elected to remain another year before retiring, I certainly would have been reassigned. It was also clear that whichever of us remained would almost certainly be leaving in 2010. I say "almost" because God's economy is often different than even the Bishop's. But there are larger issues than money here. One of the things I have witnessed in these last 53 months is the spiritual growth of our laity and a willingness to take on more responsibility for ministry. That is actually how it is suppose to work. One of the principle missions of the ordained clergy is to empower the laity to do the ministry of Christ. The ministries about which I have been most passionate at LUMC cannot grow as long as they depend on me. There is only so much one person can do. On the other hand, if they do not continue, that will indicate that they never were your ministries, only mine. In that case, resources were being channeled in the wrong direction. Pastor Kay wanted to insist that references to "staff" included all lay volunteers, because we are all ministers. Under that definition, our staff has grown mightily. I believe that you have outgrown the need for a fulltime elder, associate pastor, because you have become THE associate pastors.

Regardless of what budget decisions the All Church Conference makes, I have made the Appointive Cabinet aware that I believe it is time for me to be reassigned. I do so with a deep melancholy because I love you and this church. I will miss Pastor Peggy, as I have quickly grown to admire her and cherish our collaborative relationship. She is an inspiring and fun person with whom to be in ministry and her gifts and graces are exactly what you need. Frankly, I haven't minded that the really tough decisions have landed on the other pastor's desk these soon-to-be six years. I also doubt that in the rest of my career I will find a congregation with a higher commitment to ministry. But the time is approaching when my ministry and role at Lenexa United Methodist will be complete. My goal in these next seven months is to prepare you to do your ministry as the members of LUMC have for generations, bringing the Love of Christ to the world.

Your servant, in Christ – Pastor Lane