As published in the Allegan News
Worshippers at Plainwell’s First United Methodist Church will find a new format on Sunday mornings, beginning May 15.
The changes, church leaders said, weren’t skin deep, but reflected an attempt to find the approach and path that God wants for the church.
“Belong, Believe, Become” is the church’s mission statement. The new service is and the mission statement are part of a larger process, head of the church council Rex Bell said.
“I think we have had a spark of a coming together trying to figure out for this group of Christians here in Plainwell, what God has us here for and what he wants us to be doing here,” Bell said.
The church needs to consider its place in the world.
“The Methodist church is a fairly old, mainline denomination and we’re in a changing world,” Bell said. “I think what we’re trying to do is what has relevance to the community.
“There’s a need for love and grace in the community and those of us who are Christians have found that through love of Christ.”
The church had been holding a pair of services, one in a more contemporary style and one more traditional, now a new service is being created to attempt to bridge both.
Part of the problem is the practical notion of resources for the church, which has a congregation of about 250. Their long-time organist, Jane Smith, passed away.
“Part of going to one service is to strengthen what we do and do it better,” Brown said. “To focus all our resources on doing one service well.”
The service will begin at 10 a.m. and be followed by learning opportunities for adults and children from 11:15 a.m. to noon.
A lot of the effort was to bring new people into the church, Bell said.
“That’s the reality, there’s a whole generation of people who didn’t grow up in an organized church,” he said. “Yet in their lives, they have the same need for spirituality and need to develop a relationship with their creator.
“That’s our job here.”
They held an all-a church meeting in April to discuss the changes.
Bell said that some people had concerns that liked either service better.
“On both sides, I think there were people who wondered ‘Will I lose what I like?’ he said. “I think they trusted the process and the prayer that went into it.”
Gail Hill, who serves as the church’s coordinator of evangelism and missions, was one who said she’d miss somethings, including a particular hymn “Lift High the Cross.”
“I come all the way from Delton,” Hill said. “I come here because this church is special.
“I’m coming because we’re looking outside the walls of the church.”
She said that the church would have a wider effort outside.
“We want a presence in the community and to find something we can do with a ministry that we can for this community,” Hill said. “That’s where we are doing what we need to as a church.”
Contact Dan Pepper at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534 or (269) 685-9571.
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