Pastor's Annual Report

From Your Pastors
For the ordained ministers whom you have "called" to this historic and visionary church "in the heart of the city with a heart for the city," this has been a very productive and challenging year. It's been a year of visionary planning and acting as members and friends have stepped forward to engage new frontiers of faithfulness, new understandings of in-reach and outreach, windows opened to new possibilities and responsibilities, and multiple persons seeking to continue the journey of faith exploration and action while caring, sharing, reaching out and gathering to worship the God who calls us all to love kindness, do justice and walk humbly with the Creator. It has also been a year of immense personal and communal challenges while seeking to keep our eyes on the prize of God's purposes for us. We believe, as your pastors, that we are clearly moving toward a new frontier as a strategic community of faith invested in the Spirit of a Living God who melts us, molds us, fills us and uses us as partners on the journey. The journey of AHCC this past year has been challenging in the loss of great leaders and friends, the continued effects of an economic downturn, the reality of severe consequences in the homes and lives of many of our members and the subsequent impact on church programs and possibilities. Yet, we continue to believe that for this church family its greatest days are yet to come.
With faith and hope, we see indications of new life and meaningful guidance all about and around us. It is this new life and abundance which suggests that absolutely nothing is impossible for those who love the Lord. And we are able to note this, even as we observe the injustice that still abounds, the trend toward unkindness as a culture and the cherishing of power in contrast to the humble spirit and presence. It is a day to be hopeful and to work toward the fulfillment of that hope embodied.
Furthermore, we as your "ordained" pastors believe that the commitment to worship, education, service and fellowship continues to grow in the belief that we are pastors, priests and prophets to and for one another. We believe that the "priesthood" of all believers grows daily in the family we know as Asylum Hill. In conversation and celebration, we accentuate the conviction that every voice needs to be heard just as we know that everyone and every voice comes with its own special story … replete with joys and sorrows, hopes and dismay, tears and laughter. And God looked at everything to which God had given life, and proclaimed it to be good. What a miraculous thing to say and believe!
For your pastors, an annual report is much more than percentages, figures and financial bottom lines. It is more than visits made, members received, classes taught, budgets attained and figures on attendance. With our hearts, spirits and minds clearly still open to God's wondrous vision and voice, we believe, in the best sense, that an annual report needs to reflect the spirit of a family and of a "body" that respects and honors its history and joyously anticipates its future. We are excited by the story of the church and the Savior we struggle to serve. We are grateful for all of the staff and parishioners with whom we serve. We are indebted to those who have come before. We are preparing for those who are yet to come. We are thankful for all that you are and all that you do!
Respectfully submitted,
Senior Minister Rev. Gary L. Miller