Welcome to Embury

Celebrating 150 years of Loving God and our Community 1869 - 2019

You are always welcome. Embury is warm and friendly in its truest sense. But then again it is to be experienced, not promoted. In this age of super stores and super sizes, we are not embarrassed that we are small. In fact, we believe it is one of our strengths where you feel more like part of a caring family, not part of a "congregation." Most importantly, at Embury, it's all about growing disciples, not adding members. It's not about maintaining our facility but it's about loving our neighbors and loving God. (Mark 12:30-31) You are always welcome!

Visioning Update – June 8, 2014

Vision Team Reports on Mission Statement and Goals

Vision Team Reports on Mission Statement and Goals The following articles were prepared by Vision Team members Pastor Grace Pak, Joan Cichalski, Wendy Turnock, Dianne Lowing and Dan Pak.[break] [break] “Obey me so that I may become your God and you may become my people. Follow the path I mark out for you so that it may go well with you.” (Jeremiah 7:23) [break][break]   When Christopher Columbus first set sail to discover new land in the late 1400’s, they set a course due west and sailed for months until they reached the new land. Columbus and his crew discovered Grand Turk Island, Haiti and Cuba in their first voyage. For those of us who get lost even with the aid of the modern technology such as Google maps and GPS which give you turn by turn directions, it is a wonder how they were able to cross the vast Atlantic ocean back and forth discovering uncharted territories. One thing for sure, Columbus would have been steadfast, charting the course every moment by studying the movements of the sun and the stars to ensure they were headed in the right direction. [break][break] Many things in life are similar to this analogy including church. Church is like a boat in the high sea where for miles around all you see is water everywhere. Church has to have a clear destination and direction of where it needs to go in order to get there. Without a clear destination and constant charting of the course, it is very easy to drift with the current and end up nowhere. When we pay attention to where we are and where we are headed, we are engaged toward our destination, our goal. The moment we take our attention away from charting the course, we are lost. [break][break] The vision team has begun its work in January 2014 reflecting on the Word of God, reading and studying books and praying. For the last 5 months, the team gathered once a month to examine where we are, where we need to be headed, why we are here, how do we want to get there and what need to be done. Following are the messages/reports from the members of the team in hopes that we can navigate through the high sea following the path God marked out for us, so that we can be a vital church for everyone to know Jesus Christ and to make him known. These messages are written by members of the team after much discussion and collaboration by the whole team. I would like to thank Joan Cichalski, Dianne Lowing, Barbara Mason, Dan Pak, Lynn Scott and Wendy Turnock for their passion and love for our Lord Jesus Christ and his church, their willingness to give their time and talent and also for their hospitality. [break]

What is Church?

  Our group has been focused on this and other questions as we work to revitalize Embury and develop our mission statement.   [break][break] In considering the question, “What is Church?” we read several books and articles, as well as scripture from the book of Acts. A few key points from our readings that help us understand this question follow:[break] “Kicking Habits” (Thomas Bandy): Bandy firmly believes that in order to thrive, churches need to take an honest look at many traditional habits and practices. The thriving church will be more open and fluid than traditional models of the past. He states, that the “full diversity of the public is changed, gifted, called, equipped, and sent. Their ongoing experience of God transforms their heart and lifestyles. They begin as seekers and end as Ministers.” (p. 74) In other words, participants in the thriving church listen to God, grow in their knowledge and experience of God, share God with others, and serve God in the world. [break][break] “Church 3.0” (Neil Cole): Cole differentiates between attractional churches and missional churches and urges the modern church to be more missional. He states, “church… is the presence of Jesus among his people called out as a spiritual family to pursue his mission on this planet.” We should ask, “where is Jesus seen at work in our midst?” and should strive to bring the message of Jesus to the world around us. [break][break] Acts 2 is the Pentecost story…the birth of the “church,” the event marked by the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus’ followers and enabling them to speak to those around them in their native languages, spreading the word of God.  Speaking to those around him, Peter says, “…let Israel know beyond question that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2: 36). Thus, in this earliest church “founding” story, believers are called by the Holy Spirit to speak to others around them, bringing them to knowledge and belief in Jesus. No buildings were needed, no hierarchy of superintendents or bishops… just faithful followers who were excited and willing to share the truth of Christ with those around them, even when challenged by traditions and doubters.[break][break] So, the question for us remains: what do we want our church to become as we face challenging days ahead? What does the Holy Spirit intend for OUR church to be? Right now, within these walls, we are believers who seek to deepen our knowledge of Christ. We gather to worship and to praise God, and warmly welcome visitors who come to worship with us. We are clearly comfortable being an attractional church, and we hope to preserve that quality as we move forward.[break][break] But to become more vital, we need to find ways to add a more missional dimension to our established pattern and try to live out our mission statement, “we are here to know Jesus Christ and to make him known.” So what do we do when we leave this place? Can we find ways to become more comfortable with being active sharers of the good news of Jesus with those outside of these walls? Can we find opportunities to do this within the activities we carry out here at Embury and in our outreach efforts? Can we be the people who live with a conscious desire to emulate Christ in our relationships in the wider world? Most challenging of all, can we be the people who truly try to take church to those outside these walls so that it becomes a living, transforming presence in the world? [break][break]

Why Church?

There are various ideas on what church is, but here are two. Church is….[break]
  • The entire body of those who are saved by their relation to Christ.
  • And, a New Testament definition, the church is the body of Christ of which He is the head, being a Holy Temple for the habitation of God through the Spirit, one flesh with Christ.[break][break]
In Acts chapters 1 & 2 we learn about the beginnings of the early church and the new believers. Luke begins with a brief summary from his Gospel before going on to the next stage of the story. By writing this way Luke emphasized the unity between the story of the ministry of Jesus and the story of the beginning of the church. The Gospel tells what Jesus began to do and teach; Acts relates what He continued to do and teach through His many witnesses.[break][break] The final command of Jesus before His ascension comes in Acts chapter 1:8 “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”[break][break] The immediate task of the disciples was to act as witnesses to Jesus. The spread of God’s Word was to take place by means of the disciples, empowered by the Spirit.[break][break]   Acts 2 shows the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and Peter’s speech to the crowd of the Good News about Christ.  About 3000 accepted his message & were baptized. The new Christians were united with other believers, taught by the Apostles, and had fellowship and prayer meetings. New believers in Christ need to be in groups where they can learn God’s Word, pray and mature in the faith.[break][break] The religious devotion of the early Christians was a daily affair. As the Christians were seen and heard by the other people in Jerusalem, their activities formed opportunities to witness. When we look at the life of Jesus and the disciples in the New Testament, the activities they engaged in led to changed lives.[break][break] The church of Jesus Christ commits to making disciples. Discipleship is a journey toward a deeper relationship with Jesus that transforms people’s lives from receiving to giving, from wanting to be served to serving others and from looking for my needs to be met to how I can serve God.[break][break] In my understanding, God’s purpose, or Why for His church, is to create passionate Christ-like disciples who stir up faith and hope, to be a disciple making community.[break][break] Christ said in John 15:8 “This is to God’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”[break][break] We as God’s church are to make new disciples, deepen disciple’s faith and challenge disciples to go into the world to change lives.  God’s mission is to expand the kingdom of God in this world through Jesus Christ. We are to be the branches of Christ that bear fruit by equipping disciples to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Paul said in Acts 20 verses 28 & 32 ” So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the blood of his Son.”[break]  

Where is Embury now?

WHAT IS THE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF EMBURY?[break][break] Vital Congregations follow the ways of Jesus Christ to be inwardly transformed so they can leave the church for mission and ultimately grow disciples of Jesus Christ and expand God’s Kingdom. A recent study of United Methodist Churches in New Jersey revealed that only 14% of our churches have vital congregations. It’s not a secret that Embury is among the 86% of New Jersey Churches that do not have vital congregations.[break][break] The Vision Team did a lot of research and spent a lot of discussion time narrowing down where Embury is now as a church and what direction we should go toward in the future. We have several challenges to face in order to successfully move Embury forward.[break][break] We are a Connectional Church, meaning that we are a part of a group or conference and therefore we have certain guidelines to adhere to that create a challenge for us both financially and operationally. [break][break]We are an Attractional Church, which is to say that we are membership focused, we want people to come to us, inside our walls, into our comfort zone. We want them to attend and to join our church. We are an Attractional Church because we have always been an Attractional Church. It is what we know and grew up with. We are use to being an Attractional Church.[break][break] We are an Institutional Church This area is probably our greatest challenge. It means that we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on sustaining the church. Our focus has become the day-to-day running of the church, staying afloat, surviving. We have fallen into the trap of maintaining the status quo even when it is clearly not working for us.[break][break] We have moved energy and resources away from mission in order to sustain the church. We are trapped in preservation mode. We need to escape from our preservation mode and become more engaged in mission. Mission takes us outside the walls of the church and leaves behind complacency so that we can connect with people and magnify God’s presence in the world.[break][break] Right now, we have an opportunity to try and transform Embury into a vital congregation. If we transform how we operate, we can move Embury from being a declining church into one that thrives. We can take advantage of valuable resources from the Greater New Jersey Conference that will help us become a vital congregation, one that is involved in mission both locally and globally.[break][break] Jesus’ ministry was both Attraction and Mission based. By maintaining a balance of both the Attractional and Missional philosophies, we can begin our work for transformation. The conference is trying to turn the tide for the Methodist Churches of New Jersey and we need to do the same if there is any hope for future vitality at Embury.[break]  

How Embury Will Become The Church

In order for us to think about how Embury can become the church God intended, we adopted an approach (the Golden Circle by Simon Sinek), which provides a different perspective on how an organization should align its thinking and resources. Instead of starting with the conventional way of “What” it starts with the “Why.” This ensures that we are solidly grounded in why we exist as a church.[break][break] visioning approach               [break][break] Why – The Purpose or Mission Statement[break][break] With this concept in mind, the team came to an agreement on a mission statement that begins with inside the church, but will also send people outside the walls of the church building for mission/ministry.[break][break] “At Embury, we are here to know Jesus Christ and to make Him known.”[break][break] This mission statement defines why we exist and what our purpose is. All our activities, programs and decisions need to be aligned to it. For example, when we are faced with a decision, we ask ourselves “Will it support our mission?”[break][break] Next, the team discussed and determined that the following represents how Embury will accomplish this mission and align our work.[break][break] How – The Process[break][break] P.A.C.E.
  • Practice intentional discipline to know Jesus Christ and make him known
  • Align all ministries to know Jesus Christ and to make him known
  • Create and innovate new ways to know Jesus Christ and to make him known
  • Equip and train others to lead and share how to know Jesus Christ and to make him known
[break]

What Next?

Going forward, we’ll assess and ensure all of our ministries are aligned to our mission. This will help us validate that we’re on the right track and fulfill our purpose as the church of Jesus Christ.[break][break]

Conclusion

We are charting the course and are excited about where God is taking us. Let us pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek ways to revitalize Embury in the months and years ahead.[break][break] Many thanks to ALL Vision Team Members: Pastor Grace Pak, Joan Cichalski, Barb Mason, Dan Pak, Lynn Scott, and Wendy Turnock. It is the hope of the Vision Team that ALL Embury members will get involved in implementing the goals formulated during this work. The Administrative Council will work with all committees as we go forward to see that our programs align with our mission statement, “to know Jesus Christ and to make him known to the world.” If you have any questions, please feel free to discuss them with any member of the Vision Team.[break][break]