Prompted by what was perhaps the Spirit (or maybe not), I called on Jim Roush, church official closest to the scene, to kill the spider.  Eyewitnesses have differing accounts.  Some say he used his bulletin to squish it.  Others say he whacked it with his bare hands.  Over time, an apocryphal story has emerged:  inspired by the Joshua, who fought the battle of Jericho, Jim rose from his pew and began circling the spider—looking it right in its eight eyes.  He then began to lead the congregation in song:  “Rise Up, O Men of God,” in a beautiful, clear, tenor voice—that no one had ever heard him use before.  Finally, on the seventh stanza, the spider came tumbling down—dead, like the walls of Jericho.  Those of us who were there don’t remember it that way—but you know how stories get started.

Of course, scribes and scallywags congregated afterward to analyze what had happened--and usher it to a more profound level. 

Some say that Jim broke two of the Ten Commandments—right there in church!  (Thou shalt not kill.  And thou shalt not work on the Sabbath.)  Others thought that I was getting tired of my own sermon and made up an imaginary spider as an amusing diversionary tactic.  Others thought it was yet another change in worship:  bringing back the biblical practice of animal sacrifices. 

Animal lovers protested the cruelty.  Those suffering arachnophobia (fear of spiders) plan to invite all their friends to Grace Church now.  It is rumored that the Entwistles, who normally sit in that pew, may start sitting in the back of the church more often.  The boys from the middle school youth group are mum about whether or not they planted the spider that day.  Bob the Custodian informed me, “Did I know what a mess that left on the pew.” 

Old Testament scholars have recommended that in the future, I first save one male and one female spider—like in the days of Noah’s ark—before killing the rest.  Church historians have suggested that from now on we simply pick up the spiders and carry them out of the building—thus encouraging the development of a new cult of “spider-handlers,” kin to “snake-handlers.”  New Testament scholars have recommended that we all forgive each other and get on with life.

This whole matter, in the end, is an ethical issue, of course.  Was I right or wrong to call for the killing of this spider?  And it is at this point that I confess that I didn’t know enough about spiders to make an ethical decision.  The extent of my spider ethics is this:  if it has fur, step on it.  I did not know that there are over 30,000 species of spiders.  And I still do not know if some spiders with fur are our friends.  Sometimes we need to learn a thing or two more—before making righteous decisions about right and wrong.  So be it!            --JMS 

Church finances have been a big part of our conversations around the church.  Following are some facts I have been gleaning. 

            Fact:  Grace United Methodist Church depends primarily on the offerings of its participants to fund its various ministries.  We have no savings or endowments.

            Fact:  Our pledges four years ago (2001) were about $150,000.  Due to deaths, moves, and other circumstances, the people who gave nearly a third of that money ($48,000) are no longer with us.  Each year, we lose between $5,000 and $20,000 in contributions from the year before:  due to deaths, moves, people encountering personal financial difficulties, and people leaving the church for various reasons.  (There were 17 deaths in the church last year alone.)  Each year, those losses need to be made up by people who increase their giving—and new people joining our covenant.

            Fact:  The average “new family” in the church contributes $700 annually.  The average of “old-timers” is $1700.  In other words, the longer people are active in the congregation, the more they contribute.  If an older person giving $4500 to the church dies, it takes almost 7 new families to make up the financial loss.

            Fact:  In spite of our financial losses and disappointments in the last 4 years, we have had enough new money contributed to give us an 11% net gain over that time.  In other words, Grace Church grows about 2 ½ percent each year—in net financial contributions.

            Fact:  Our costs have gone up 23% ($60,000) during that same period of time (more than double the amount of our increased income).  The fastest growing costs (for us) have occurred in four areas:

            staff:  almost a third of our increase came about because the church was underpaying both the office manager and the music director.  The salaries were embarrassingly low.  We had a mind to correct those injustices.  We have!

            health costs:  the church contributes to the health care costs of both active and retired clergy.  These expenses have soared in the past four years.  To be continued…

            office expenses:  the maintenance contract on the copy machine, internet connections, a cell phone for the pastor, and increased newsletter expenses have added fast growing expenses.  These expenses should now stay steady at their present levels.

            building maintenance and improvements:  utility bills and loan payments on repairs (boiler and north side of the church) have outpaced our giving increases.  The tighter our budget, the more we have to borrow for necessary repairs…and the more those costs will be incurred in the future.

Fact:  Even though the church teaches people to tithe (set aside 10% of one’s income for God’s work through the church), most of our members don’t appear to honor this practice, yet.  The following shows our giving levels.

The number who give:

$100 or more per week:  4 families

            (this would be a tithe on income of $52,000 or more)

$75—99 per week:  6 families           

            (this would be a tithe on income of $39,000—51,999 per year)

$50-74 per week:  10 families

(this would be a tithe on $26,000—38,999 per year)

$30-49 per week:  26 families

(this would be a tithe on $15,600—25,999 per year)

$20-29 per week:  23 families

            (this would be a tithe on $10,400—15,599 per year)

$10-19 per week:  30 families

            (this would be a tithe on $5200—10,399 per year)

$1-9 per week:  42 families

            (this would be a tithe on income of $520—5199 per year)

less than $1 per week:  37 families   (Some of these folks are in nursing homes, not all.)

Fact:  We have collected $107,342 toward our 2005 budget, (as of June 14, 2005).  We have spent $90,310.  We have $24,260 in unpaid bills (as of June 14).  We need an additional $7,328 immediately.  If we do not improve our giving, we will have almost $15,000 in unpaid bills by the end of the year. 

The 1% Strategy:  We can do it!  The amount you and I put in the offering is always a percentage of our incomes.  My offerings to the church, for instance, are 10% of my income (a tithe).  Do you know what percent of your income you give to the church?  That percentage can be calculated by dividing the amount of your offering by the amount of your income—over the same period of time. 

Even though some of our members tithe, the bulk of our people are in the 2% range—or less.  And herein is the problem—we want our church to provide services and outreach that would cost a tithe.  But our wants have been speaking louder than our commitments. 

So here’s the solution:  if we each increased our offerings by 1% of our income, the church would receive approximately $50,000 more each year.  What does a 1% increase look like in our weekly giving?

If you make $5,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $1

If you make $10,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $2

If you make $15,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $3

If you make $20,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $4

If you make $25,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $5

If you make $40,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $8

If you make $60,000 a year, a 1% increase in giving each week would be $12

Fact:  We are collecting special contributions for installing a new heating and air conditioning system in the education wing.  No money from the general fund is being used to renovate the education wing of the church.  The rooms are being remodeled and the air conditioning/heating system is being paid for entirely by special contributions or restricted memorial funds.  The total cost of the project is $23,000.  The first $14,000 came from one family.  The remaining $9,000 is the responsibility of the rest of us. As of June 14, we have collected $6,630 toward our $9,000 goal.  We need $2,370 more to complete this project.  

Celebration of a life—Olive Bellenger 

Olive McQueen Bellenger, an active participant in Grace Church, died peacefully this past Saturday evening at 6 p.m.  She was born on a farm near Longview on September 28, 1914, in a family that would have 6 girls and 2 boys.  Later on, her own daughter, Joy Frick, would be born in the same house.  The girls in that family all lived long lives:  Olive was 92, her sister Laura (Gibson City) is 100, and her other living sister, Evelyn (a participant in our Grace Years program at Sunnycrest) will be 95 this summer.

Upon graduation from high school, Olive married Don McQueen, her high school sweetheart.  They had two children, Dave and Joy.  Dave now lives in northern Illinois, and Joy lives with her husband Ken in Sidney.  Olive and Don eloped.  When Don didn’t show up for breakfast one morning, his mother said, “Don didn’t come home last night, I guess they went and got married.”

Don and Olive started their lives by farming, but Don soon got interested in running an appliance store, and Olive helped him in the business.  When Don was only 46, he got to feeling ill one day and went to the funeral home (where they kept the ambulance) to get help.  He died of a heart attack on the way to the hospital.  It was probably the most difficult time of Olive’s life.  She was not only alone, but she needed to find work as well.  She faced that period of her life by continuing to be involved with her family and church, getting a job at the bank in Villa Grove, and maintaining a positive attitude.

Three years later, she married Harold Bellenger, a distant cousin from Michigan.  He remembered her from past reunions, and in 1963 came south to fetch her and take her to live with him.  The two of them enjoyed time in Florida after he retired.  And they enjoyed boating together.  They were married about 35 years--until his death. 

Olive grew up in the Roaring 20s, and even though her parents had strict moral rules, Olive decided to think for herself—and enjoy life.  Playing cards was one of her favorite life-long activities—even though her parents disapproved of card playing.  Olive also loved to dance.  Her children remember her showing off the Charleston in their living room.  She was a life-long Cub fan, but never saw them win a World Series. 

Olive lived through the Roaring Twenties into the Depression.  She often remarked that while she wouldn’t ever wish anyone to live through the Depression again, the lessons learned during that time were worth keeping for a lifetime.  She learned that true joy in life does not consist of how much one possesses.  It consists of good relationships and personal resourcefulness.  One can’t be happy if one dwells on what one doesn’t have.

Olive participated in church all her life.  She started out in the Longview United Brethren Church (later United Methodist).  When that small congregation (started by her family) closed, she began coming to Grace Church.  And Olive loved young people—especially kids middle school age.  She was always interested in them and knew how to ask questions and engage them in conversation.  Thanks be to God for the life of Olive McQueen Bellenger.  And the people said, “Amen!”