A Christian Community in the Heart of Helena: Our Light Shines
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Matthew 5:14-16, Rev. Marianne Niesen, November 11, 2007
Since October 14th, we have been on a Stewardship journey, reflecting each week on one part of our statement of identity, of mission. We are grounded in hospitality - which means we strive to be a welcoming, open community. We are growing in faith - which means we commit to grow up in faith, to grow fresh and vibrant in faith. We commit to be learners and we proclaim that we are not afraid of the questions. Indeed questions, we affirm, are part of a growing faith. We are a community giving in service. We know that most of the good and important things in life and in a church do not just happen. Ordinarily people do not just wander by the church hoping there will be something for them to do. We have funeral luncheons and classes for children and Wednesday night dinners and bulletins ready and waiting each Sunday and newsletters in the mail because people like you and me have taken the time to commit to service. In the children’s sermon a few weeks ago, I defined serving as helping with love. I think that is pretty close to a great definition even if I do say so myself! We simply cannot be the church we are called to be, cannot do the good we could do, if each of us does not find and commit to our thing. (Or, even better, to our part of God’s thing.) And, finally, we are a church going in mission. We applaud that exciting reality every Sunday when we prepare to receive our offering. Every Sunday, by each of us giving what we can and by doing that together with others here, with others across our Conference and around the world, we are able to do far more than any one of us could do by ourselves. We have built and staffed a university in Africa, we support a ministry in the Philippines, we are rebuilding villages in Indonesia, we are providing disaster assistance in Glasgow, Montana, we are offering scholarships to seminary students, we are helping eliminate malaria , we are building bridges of understanding between Christians and Muslims - the list is amazing - and the needs continue. By the simple act of faithfully giving of our time and our resources, we are making a difference.
This past week, you received a letter from me on behalf of our Stewardship Team. Included with that letter were commitment forms. I hope, over these past weeks, the Stewardship Team and I have helped us all have a better idea of what we at St. Paul’s are all about. I hope you want to continue your involvement - and perhaps step up your commitment - to help make this church the best we can be. I firmly believe we have a mission, a ministry and an identity that make a difference in the world. It is a mission, ministry and identity that is uniquely ours. That doesn’t make us better than another church - it makes us us. And, without you and me committing together and working together, we’ll lose something of the fullness of who and what we can be.
In the letter you received, in addition to the service commitment forms, there were two opportunities for making a financial commitment to the church. One is a commitment that will support the regular budget of the church - a commitment that helps us be grounded, growing, giving and going. And the other is a commitment that will help retire the debt on our building which I believe will also help us be grounded, growing, giving and going. This wonderful, beautiful, spacious, impressive, open building is part of who we are and who we are called to be.
First let me give you some facts . . . we have a mortgage and it is a big one. Our mortgage payments are just over $25,000 a month. We owe about $2.5 million. We owe about $900,000 of that money to those of us who bought bonds 8 years ago to get us started. The remainder we owe to Intermountain. I am still so proud of the fact that we probably have one of the most creative financing plans ever. Intermountain, the Children’s Home right here in Helena founded by Methodist Circuit Rider Brother Van and the Methodist Deaconesses almost a hundred years ago - one of our ministries of healing - one of our missions - lent us the money to complete our building. About 5 years ago, the Intermountain Board president at the time talked to me about the possibility of Intermountain investing in St. Paul’s. After all, real estate can often give a good return on investment. Intermountain’s investments in the stock market were not doing as well as they might have done and the Intermountain Board thought this might be a way to care for their own interests, to benefit the ministry to the children and at the same time benefit a longtime supporter of the Home. The entire plan was examined carefully by financial experts and was deemed to be a good investment for Intermountain. The offer was made. In the meantime, we had secured another financing source with the United Methodist Development Fund. We discussed it, looked at all the options and decided to decline that loan and to enter into this partnership. I know some of you have heard this story but many of you have not. It is important, I think, because I want us all to remember that when we pay our mortgage, we are not just paying off principal and interest that goes into some profit margin. We are benefitting one of our own missions.
While it would be nice to not have a mortgage at all . . . the fact is that we do and we need us all to participate in paying it off. And, as much as I love Intermountain, we can support them in other ways once we repay our debt. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get on to other things . . . like finishing the part of this building project we haven’t built yet! The full size kitchen, fellowship hall and classrooms that will extend to the east.
That is the ‘nitty gritty.’ Those are the facts, man. But, what is also a fact is that this ‘place’ is not just a building. As I said before, it is part of our identity, our very mission. It is part of our ‘grounded, growing, giving and going.’ So, let me talk just a moment about the decision that was made to build this beautiful sanctuary. Over one hundred forty years ago, St. Paul’s came to be. We are the oldest church community in Helena and we have always been downtown - although at the beginning, the word ‘downtown’ hardly described the place! As the years have unfolded, St. Paul’s has grown with Helena. Our location has moved . . . check out the pictures in the hall downstairs outside the fellowship hall or the wood carving in the foyer . . .but we have stayed downtown. When discussion first began about the need to do something about the old building, the first thing that was explored was remodeling. But, the expense of doing that, coupled with the inadequacy of the old building, encouraged the leadership of the church to look at new construction. Some people did not agree with that decision and a few people left the church. But most stayed with it and began to explore the possibility of something new. It would have been easier and cheaper to build a new building in another location altogether. What would a St. Paul’s in the valley be like? That forced some soul searching - yes, churches have souls! - and the decision was made that, while a church in the valley might be a nice idea, it wouldn’t be St. Paul’s. The fact of being a downtown church has been part of our “DNA”. We are a church open to the community, accessible, visible - and a witness by our very being to the presence of faith in the ‘heart of Helena.’ And our involvement in the community is part of who we are . . . just consider the Art Walk last Friday night. Baked potatoes and artists right here in the heart of Helena at St. Paul’s! Things happen in this building, yes - but the very structure located here is a witness to life and light and hope - and faith.. That decision to remain downtown - made before I came - has remained strong and has been a guiding force in our planning and our building.
Some of you were part of those early discussions. Many of us were not. But all of us have been drawn here by the prophetic witness that this church is - by what we do and by where we are. Here. In the heart of Helena. Downtown. In a very real way, St. Paul’s has taken to heart the scripture text from Matthew about a light on a hill . . . let me read it for us now.
Let your light shine . . . we do that in so many ways. We do it through our ministries of education and caring, through our people, committed to working for justice and peace and we do it in a variety of settings. And we do it through this place . . . which is far more than four walls and a good sound system. This is a place with open doors proclaiming an openness and embrace that is uniquely ours to offer for we offer it not in the pursuit of commerce but in the name of Christ. This is a space where those who seek a safe and welcoming environment for celebrating a wedding or burying a loved one will find it. And it is made available for the love of God. This is a place where we really do leave a light on. And anyone who has driven by this building at night when the lights are on can attest to the witness of faith this place offers.
Several years ago, I heard a song that reminded me of our hope for St. Paul’s - actually several of us heard it and afterwards we talked about this song and how it said with music what we hope to be. Over two months ago, I talked to Dave Buness about it and together we found it and Dave invited Fred Cobb to sing it for us today ... listen as he sings Leave a Light On For Me written by songwriter Greg Ferguson.
Our gifts in support of this building are about so much more than this building . . . we contribute to a vision that we will truly be a church in the heart of Helena, a light in the heart of Helena, a promise of hope in the heart of Helena today and for the next 100+ years.
