Asbury United Methodist Church
926 11th Street, NW
Washington, D. C. 20001
202-628-0009 - Office
202-783-0519 – Fax
Rev. Dr. Louis Shockley, Pastor
www.asburyumcdc.org
Members of the Design/Lay Leadership Team
Rev. Dr. Louis Shockley, Pastor
Rev. Dr. James Shopshire & Carol Travis, Co-Chairpersons
Isham Baker
Adelle Banks
Brenda Bland
Kelvin Childs
Judy Jackson
Thelma Johnson
William Johnson
Christine McDaniel
Cardell Richardson
Ruth Scarbrough
Ingrid Simmons
Claudia Thompson
Pastor’s Report
2009
Vision
Ordained Episcopal priest and noted author Loren B. Mead, who as president emeritus of the Alban Institute is renowned for his work to strengthen religious institutions. In his book, “Transforming Congregations for the Future,” Mead says of Apostolic task of the Church, “If the Churches are in the middle of stormy times, facing perhaps unprecedented challenges, it is important that they are clear about what they are needed as a congregation to be.”
The heart of the matter says Mead, “begins in a gospel story in which Jesus goes to his own roots of meaning. Jesus has returned to his hometown after a period in a decent community, found himself in his family synagogue, and was invited to read from the text, these words which are the foundation for ministry and mission today in every Church of Jesus Christ.”
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. He has sent me to announce Good News to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind: to let the broken victorious go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” - Luke 4:18.
If we at Asbury United Methodist Church, in this the twenty-first century, are to have a role in the proclamation of these words, we must go deep into the well of our spirits and pull up the courage to be the very hope proclaimed in the words from Luke.
I am convinced that this vision plan will open our hearts, minds, and spirits and set into motion the actions needed for Asbury’s ministry to the people of God for the next ten (10) years.
And if we accept Mead’s challenge to the church, we must ask ourselves two questions: What is our purpose and what does this community want from its faith center today?
Disciples: Accomplishments
Making and engaging disciples continues to be a leading challenge for Asbury and other churches in urban settings. We face myriad issues, including gentrification and construction of massive business and government office buildings. As a congregation we have worked over the past several years to identify our ministry as more of a “Metropolitan Fellowship”. With that mindset; we have started to look more closely at our neighboring communities of Prince Georges County, Montgomery County and Alexandria, Virginia with an eye toward appealing to and attracting more young adults.
To help us address the challenges we face as we attempt to make new disciples, a 9 Point Project vision plan has been proposed and adopted. In the category of Missions, we will be:
A. Expanding our outreach to include building Mission Partners for Global Transformation.
B. Inviting individuals from the community and the metropolitan area to develop a partnership with Asbury Church as it builds new missions opportunities, such as building an elementary school as part of the Asbury United Methodist Church, Sierra Leone, West Africa.
C. Completing a water well project in East Africa.
D. Assisting with the refurbishing of one senior citizen or disabled person’s home each year in the metropolitan area.
E. Expanding our “Nets” Project in Zimbabwe, and
F. Continuing to build the local church base in an effort to create financial partners for the United Methodist Church’s Africa University.
Roadblocks or Challenge Points
A. Asbury’s membership has been declining for the past 20 years.
B. Asbury has consistently been losing more members to death each year than we have gained by profession of faith.
C. Asbury continues to lose youth and young adult members.
D. Participation in the Asbury Sunday school is not growing.
E. Our Ministry to the poor has been a vital part of our ministry, but the number of local partners has been decreasing over the years.
F. Worship attendance has fluctuated, but has never reached the levels experienced in previous years at Asbury.
G. Our giving has not been meeting the budget needs for over 15 years – the need is $150,000.00 per month, without that base we can never meet ministry needs.
Church Statistics and Improvement Plans
New members:
· two by profession of faith;
· three reaffirmations;
· five confirmations;
· three transfers.
Total of 13 new members for the 2009 calendar year.
Average worship attendance:
· 8:30 am - 100
· 10:30 am - 300 – 400
Apportionments:
We have paid 75 percent of our apportionment
Community service:
Approximately 25 of our members are engaged in volunteer and community service projects.
Building for Asbury’s future
Project 1
We have worked to strengthen and expand a ministry that Asbury has been doing very well in for many years – caring for the poor and the needy, in order to attract more youth and young adults. We want to increase the number of bag lunches and meal opportunities that Asbury provides. We believe this effort will allow us to gain greater support and participation from high school, college and young adults in the Greater Washington Metropolitan who will want to be a part of this mission opportunity.
Project 2
One area of ministry that has offered us an opportunity to attract new disciples is the Drama Ministry; starting small with Scripture dramas; fifteen-minute Bible dramas, and two major productions a year has greatly assisted in recruiting and making new disciples. We are also experiencing seekers coming into the ministry as new believers. This is a very slow and engaging process, so we celebrate our accomplishments.
Project 3
As part of our vision, we plan to create “Highlights in the Capitol.” This program will transform the Asbury building into a workforce spiritual haven in downtown Washington, DC, daily, between the hours of 11:30 am- 2:30 pm. We envision that our building will become a learning center or a mini-resource center; center for noon recitals and concerts; art shows; prayer cells; and other opportunities to be identified by the downtown workforce.
Project 4
We will be inviting our Global Missions Partners to provide mini-workshops on social justice issues and world missions. Local artists will be invited to share their gifts in all art disciplines.
Project 5
In the evenings, build an Urban Center for children and youth, to build on spiritual gifts discovered, and yet to be discovered in the areas of:
· Music Arts
· Theater
· Media
Project 6
We will build a partnership with the Mt. Vernon Square Ministry which includes Wesley Theological Seminary, Mt. Vernon Place UMC, Asbury UMC, and other community groups. Through this partnership we will create an Urban Laboratory, designed to:
· Understand issues of low-income and underserved communities;
· Create learning laboratories that help to address issues of city living;
· Create urban work teams.
Project 7
We will be working on increasing and building our worship services, including:
§ Redesigning Asbury’s worship services.
§ Ensuring that the 8:30 am service is no more than 55 minutes.
§ Adopting a blended worship service for the 10:30 am service; and planning a service that is no more than one hour and 30 minutes.
§ Developing new sites for small worship services and small groups.
Project 8
Establish an Asbury UMC Foundation
Establishment of the Asbury United Methodist Foundation
to support the work of the ongoing Endowment Fund
This foundation would be designed to support the ongoing work of Asbury’s Endowment Fund and provide us with opportunities to build relationships with corporations and
industries that have an interest in urban/community development. This ministry would seek partnerships for the purpose of creating support ministries for the community as we build an Acts 2 Congregation type ministry. Through the Foundation, we will seek to build services to help meet the needs of the community surrounding Asbury, including:
· A comprehensive shelter with educational and developmental opportunities.
· A 24-hour youth reestablishment center with programs for runaways and other challenged youth.
· A Mobile Medical Unit that would care for children during the day and the homeless and street people at night. This unit may well cost over a million dollars, and would require strong backing and support from area hospitals and training schools. The congregation’s role in project would be to:
· Establish a fund that would be endowed by each member of the
congregation taking out a $5,000 insurance policy in the name of Asbury UMC
If five hundred people would be committed to the ministries’ future, we could build a community of believers so strong that thousands would want to be in partnership with this mighty movement .
Project 9
Establish a Satellite Partnership Center
Partnership Mission Center
In light of the urban expansion of the downtown area of Washington, D.C., it is clear that we are growing apart from children, youth, young adults and many older adult populations who are now residents of Prince Georges County and Montgomery County and Northern Virginia. Each population is finding it more and more difficult to access the downtown ministries for gatherings other than worship. Our deep need is for a center that will give us the opportunity to have on-going meetings at night, rehearsal activities for our Children and Youth Ministries and other programs. One of the opportunities would be for the Asbury Church to become a Ministry Partner with a United Methodist Church family that has parking for 60 to 100 cars, and have or build space with classrooms and multi-use rooms. Many of our large suburban faith communities are suffering great losses and need such a partnership as much as we do. This project could help to build the ministry by supporting the present membership, and at the same time, giving us space that we would never be able to build or buy.
Mission
Luke 9:1-6 Luke 4:18-19
Call, equip, send and support the building of disciples for the building of the kingdom of God.
Vision
Philippians 2:1-11 Luke 4:
To become like Christ by offering the unconditional love of God through our ministries of mission, compassion and mercy.
Beliefs
· We believe we are created in the image of God.
· We believe God loves everyone and through Christ saves, revives and renews the world.
· We believe God through the Holy Spirit changes lives.
· We believe the church is the body of Christ with a mission.
· We believe the Bible is the word of God.
· We believe that God has gifted everyone and the church for the purposes of God.
· We believe discipleship is a continuing journey.
Values
I Timothy 4:8
· We value all persons of all persuasions
· We value diversity
· We value spiritual authenticity
· We value fruit bearing growth
· We value servanthood
· We value making disciples
· We value unity among believers
· We value change and risk taking
SMART GOALS
1. Find, call and equip ten (10) new spiritual guides for individuals in special needs areas in the life transforming process.
2. Find, call and equip a person to lead Asbury’s Prayer Ministry.
3. Build and equip a team of financial leaders in the life of this ministry.
4. Find, call and equip three (3) individuals to lead an effective Children’s Ministry.
5. Find, call and equip two (2) individuals to lead a Youth Disciples’ Ministry at Asbury in the year 2010.
6. Grow and support the Capitol Expansion Ministry of ASBURY United Methodist Church.
FOUNDATIONS FOR MINISTRY AT ASBURY
TEN POINTS OF MINISTRY
1. Build – Image and Mission
2. Build – Attendance (1000 in worship weekly)
3. Build –Confidence in management system
4. Build –Prayer Ministry
5. Build – Outreach to city’s needy
6. Build – Strong cash flow (Two million dollars)
7. Build – Ministry in three (3) locations to reach families currently not active in Asbury
8. Build – Effective transportation service to assist senior citizens, provide for field trips, increase ministry to poor and support other outreach services.
9. Build – Five (5) 501-C3 entities, such as gift Shops, history center, youth service center, business center and expand the Asbury Credit Union.
10. Build –Center for Family Ministry, including children,
youth, and senior group activities.
The Making /Shaping of Disciples for the Discipleship Adventure
A. Strive for five (5) Acts 2 Congregations
B. Building Disciples for Christ
C. Five Principles of Fruitful Effective Congregations
D. Six Principles for Risking Renewal Spiritual Entrepreneurs
E. The Presence Based Church -Teaching Book
F. Called to be God’s People – Kate Huggins
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