I. Description of a Ministry Situation
A. Situation: The following case study describes a situation that took place at Grace United Methodist Church where I am appointed quarter time as licensed local pastor. The lay leader of the congregation contacted me by email asking for the approval of a five hundred dollar expenditure to help our building superintendent – who lives on-site – settle a financial debt that would lead to serious legal trouble if unpaid. Both men wanted me to sign off on the expenditure without the approval of the other church members. I preferred to include the church in this decision for institutional and theological reasons.
B. Background: I began my appointment as a quarter time licensed local pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in Tacoma, WA on July 1, 2014. Grace is one of two churches that I oversee day-to-day operations. Grace is also served by Clyde, an African American man in his seventies who was the appointed lay minister for three years before my appointment and now functions as a paid lay leader. In addition, the church rents its second floor that includes a room converted into …show more content…
All of the church’s land and that of the surrounding neighborhood were once owned by the tribe and a large casino owned and operated by the tribe parallels the church property. East Tacoma is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington State. Population growth is stagnant and economic development and the job opportunities are nonexistent. Thus the neighborhood is low income across the board and has a mixture of young low-income families of color and long-time aging white residents who founded the neighborhood following World War II. Grace United Methodist was constituted in the first quarter of the twentieth century as a missionary outpost serving farming families that lived on the outskirts of greater
A. Situation: The following case study describes a situation that took place at Grace United Methodist Church where I am appointed quarter time as licensed local pastor. The lay leader of the congregation contacted me by email asking for the approval of a five hundred dollar expenditure to help our building superintendent – who lives on-site – settle a financial debt that would lead to serious legal trouble if unpaid. Both men wanted me to sign off on the expenditure without the approval of the other church members. I preferred to include the church in this decision for institutional and theological reasons.
B. Background: I began my appointment as a quarter time licensed local pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in Tacoma, WA on July 1, 2014. Grace is one of two churches that I oversee day-to-day operations. Grace is also served by Clyde, an African American man in his seventies who was the appointed lay minister for three years before my appointment and now functions as a paid lay leader. In addition, the church rents its second floor that includes a room converted into …show more content…
All of the church’s land and that of the surrounding neighborhood were once owned by the tribe and a large casino owned and operated by the tribe parallels the church property. East Tacoma is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington State. Population growth is stagnant and economic development and the job opportunities are nonexistent. Thus the neighborhood is low income across the board and has a mixture of young low-income families of color and long-time aging white residents who founded the neighborhood following World War II. Grace United Methodist was constituted in the first quarter of the twentieth century as a missionary outpost serving farming families that lived on the outskirts of greater