July 1, 2024. That was the day I was officially appointed to begin ministry here at North Judson United Methodist Church. Bishop Julius Trimble and Rev. Dr. Marti Lundy, along with the rest of the cabinet, prayed for direction as to who to move to take on guiding the mission and ministry of this congregation and community. In the end, they felt God through the Holy Spirit was leading them to send me.
Quite a bit has happened in these last 12 months:
- June 30, 2024 the church was in a bit of a financial crunch but squeaking by. Today we have room to breathe and look further outwards into what is next for this church’s mission and ministry.
- June 30, 2024 this congregation could not afford to pay it’s tithe to the United Methodist Church because the funds were needed for day to day expenses. I have negotiated what was in arrears to zero on the agreement that we begin paying just 2% of the 11% tithe the church asks for (10% gets sent to the Indiana Conference of which they keep a portion for conference expenses and the greater part is sent to the United Methodist Church to fund all of the programs it runs worldwide – 1% stays within the North District to fund scholarships, camps, programs within the North District). Today, we contribute 4% (we raised 1% at the beginning of 2025) because we are working on keeping the finances in order.
- June 30, 2024 there was a monthly community meal. Sadly, that meal wound down when its leader moved away and nobody stepped up to take it over. Will it ever come back? I don’t see why not. The fact of the matter is that this church is stronger today than it was then. And God willing, we will find the support needed to start a community meal again.
- June 30, 2024 Kid’s Closet was just that – a source of clothing and school supplies for children in Starke County. Today, Kid’s Closet is preparing to move even further ahead to be able to lend aid to children that have been removed from abusive situations and into foster care by supplying clothing and toiletries at any hour of any day.
- June 30, 2024 this church collected funds to go from store to store and purchase food to be given to children for the weekend during the school year. Today, we still collect funds, but we do not need to shop or assemble those care packages. Instead, we are supplied by the Food Bank of Northern Indiana. They are able to purchase in large quantities and assemble packages for us and many other organizations at a far lower cost – then deliver it to us so that all we need to do is drop it off at the school. We are taking what we have and stretching every dollar as far as we can to serve as many as possible.
- June 30, 2024 we had an empty parsonage that we still had to pay for insurance, water, gas, and electric as well as maintain. We received permission to sell the parsonage and put those proceeds to good use. We now have about $250,000 working for the church. While we need permission to use those funds, we can use the interest generated as we need. By doing that, we can pay bills like insurance and utilities without tapping into donations – opening more and more ways we can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
These are just the highlights. So much more has happened in what is really just a short time and I believe this is an exciting time for the North Judson United Methodist Church.
When I came here, my plan was twofold:
- First, try to stabilize the church finances and I believe we as a church accomplished that goal.
- Second, I wanted to listen and learn. I really have not done too much so far because I wanted to get a good idea about how you are; hear your stories; listen to your dreams.
So moving forward, my prayer for the next appointment season (July to June) is that we can bring back or start something new that showcases what the people of NJUMC can do and bring glory to God in the process. I hope all of you share my vision and we can make something beautiful together.
Call (574) 896-5927