It’s Not a Budget; It’s a Ministry Investment

Our Minister to Youth and Families, Sarah Henson, and I were discussing the value of a Summer Intern position and the aid it provides for ministry for a summer season at FUMC Plano.

The person will assist and participate in camps and trips for youth and children. She or he will learn skill sets of time-management, planning, recruiting, and follow-through on details. But the intern will also be participating in spiritual practices of prayer, Bible study, accountability groups, worship, and worship leadership. In short, the intern will be exploring a possible call to ministry within the church, as a layperson or a pastor at some point.  That discernment is what our investment helps provide for the future of the church.

I just returned from a week of interviews of persons called of God to set-apart ministry within the UMC as an Elder or a Deacon. In nearly all of their stories, there is a church who saw the call of God within them, nurtured them in that calling, and invested in opportunities for them to explore that calling within the life of the church. It is holy work, and I am proud that FUMC Plano is a church that not only looks for persons with gifts for ministry, but also invests in their calling and their discernment. It is so much more than a budget that we are building for 2024. It is an investment in people’s lives and their ministries – both lay and clergy – working together to extend the love of Jesus Christ in so many varied and wonderful ways. Thank you for supporting that investment. 

Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,