Transformation process brings dual vision,
new ministries to First UMC, Mercedes

Fred Gonzalez (far right), a member of First UMC, Mercedes, joins (from left) Sarah Goodman, Ashley Freeman, Gabriel Gonzalez and Morgan Jones in the congregation’s efforts to reach out to the community through folkloric dancing classes and performances.

 

 

 

By Melinda Ramirez
Administrative Council Chair
First UMC, Mercedes
What a dilemma! Last year First UMC, Mercedes, like all congregations in our district, went through the “Who are we, and what is our vision?” process with anguish.
Our small congregation met with Dr. Don Nations many times. The meetings were so challenging and painful the first few times he met with us. He threw out many suggestions that were valuable. They made us realize our true situation as a struggling church family.
However, the suggestions were killers as well. CHANGE? “We just can’t do THAT!” was the immediate reaction of the vast majority of us.
But Nations, with godly, gracious boldness, kept suggesting what our options were and said that if we didn’t do something, it looked like we would eventually die. What a horrible thought.
Nations helped us come up with three visions for our congregational transformation.
One was to focus on our community by developing a new worship service and vigorous outreach program to our local community.
The second option was to place all our efforts into becoming a mission center known throughout the United States. We would continue to worship at our church, but our focus would be to provide people the opportunity to do mission work in Mexico while staying at our church campus.
The third option was to have a dual vision, that is, focus on our local community and grow our hospitality mission to those wanting to serve in Mexico.
Thankfully, our pastor, Roberta Goodman, gently and consistently guided us through this terrifying process. Her calm and assurance helped us face our future with timid courage.
As a congregation, we voted for the dual vision. As Administrative Council chair, I was floored. That was the hardest vision to implement. It required the most work and participation from our congregation. Could we really do it?
I prayed to God while trusting He was in control of our church, and I just knew He would come up with a plan that would work—because I felt we had “bitten off more than we could chew” and wouldn’t be able to accomplish our vision without divine intervention.
The next difficult task was a Pastor-Parish Relations Committee meeting to decide if we needed a pastoral change or not. In light of our decision to reach out to our community, the PPR committee felt we needed a Hispanic minister—or at least someone who could speak Spanish.
When I told Pastor Goodman of our decision, she was at peace about it because she, too, felt a change needed to be made in that direction. I was so sad. I didn’t want to lose Pastor Goodman. She had become such a source of spiritual encouragement and strength to me personally.
Meanwhile, Pastor Goodman and her husband, Devlon, were being called by God into a family ministry involving their daughters as well. Devlon is a gifted man who was the music director at First UMC, Harlingen.
They requested a pastoral appointment in a church where they could serve together. That was a real “leap of faith” for them but a dream they had shared for years. It was also a case of being “now or never” since Sara, their daughter, would be graduating from high school in just a few years.
God, in his wisdom, did not lead the bishop to appoint a Hispanic minister to our church. God did not provide an appointment for Pastor Goodman and her husband to pastor. He placed both of them with us! How perfect!
Devlon left his position in Harlingen, which he had already decided to do, and came to be our music director without pay. Pastor Goodman and he led our congregation in worship and have reached out to our community using their talents of music and drama.
This past summer we had our first music camp led by Devlon. Many new little faces came to the camp and participated fully. The week concluded with a performance that filled our pews.
God had encouraged us greatly, just one month after giving the Goodmans to us.
Now they have developed the Mercedes Community Theater. A new, different combination of community talent has joined us for our current project—the holiday production: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.”
And they have already notified the next edition of the Yellow Pages of a new community worship gathering that will meet at 9 a.m. Sunday mornings as a contemporary alternative to our traditional 11 a.m. service.
Praise Team rehearsals for the new service have begun, and we are hard at work promoting and recruiting for the new service projected to begin Jan. 21.
Our hospitality mission for Mexico mission works continues to thrive and to grow. It is so exciting to see our church campus full of groups experiencing spiritual growth and life-changing experiences as they minister to families in Mexico.
It’s so tremendous to see how our awesome God worked behind the scenes to direct us in the way He wanted us to go as a church family. As we anxiously continued forward in the vision process, we kept trusting God. And to our great delight and humble gratitude, He came up with an answer to our dual vision that far exceeded anything we had imagined as a church family.