BLOOM MAGAZINE. Get Ready For A New Season Of Growth!

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1 BLOOM MAGAZINE Get Ready For A New Season Of Growth!

2 WELCOME Welcome to the first, and likely last, edition of Bloom Magazine. In these pages, you ll discover the people, programs and passions that make up The Peoples Church. This congregation, which is home to more than 850 mid- Michigan residents, is looking for a unique Senior Pastor. Why unique? Because Peoples combines American Baptist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist traditions into one interdenominational fellowship. This ecumenical heritage is an important part of the church s history and continues to be a part of its identity in the present day. Peoples is a church where theological diversity, open conversations and a questioning spirit are encouraged. All are truly welcome. While it s impossible for these pages to give a complete picture of what Peoples is like (you ll have to visit us in person in order to do that) we hope you finish reading with a greater understanding of our congregation and what makes Peoples The Great Experiment that it is.

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 ABOUT 4 COMMUNITY 5 CAMPUS 6 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 8 MINISTRY OPPPORTUNITIES AT PEOPLES CHURCH 10 MUSIC 12 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 13 ADULT EDUCATION AND FELLOWSHIP 14 HISTORY 16 OUR FACILITY 18 BY THE NUMBERS 20 BUDGET AND FINANCES

4 ABOUT The Peoples Church of East Lansing, Michigan, founded in 1907, is an interdenominational Protestant congregation. It is uniquely affiliated with four denominations: the American Baptist Churches USA, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Methodist Church, and the United Church of Christ. This multi-generational congregation is located in the heart of the growing Lansing region, adjacent to the campus of Michigan State University, and in close proximity to the Michigan State Capitol. Peoples Church is a welcoming and inclusive fellowship focused on living out the good news of Jesus Christ through an ecumenical expression of hope. Church members are active in social justice issues, work in community service projects and also support environmental projects. The congregation's membership currently numbers around 850. Established in 1951, the earth-friendly Peoples Church Preschool is NAEYC accredited (20 years) and strives to connect children to the natural world wherever possible. In 2016 the Outdoor Classroom recieved national regoniztion as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom. Historically, the focus in selecting and calling clergy and staff is on theological and denominational diversity as well as a respect for the ecumenical spirit among worshippers at The Peoples Church. The church s Statement of Faith has never wavered: We believe the teachings of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and with the help of God, we will strive daily to live the life of purity, unselfishness and service which He exemplified to the world. THE FOUR FOUNDING DENOMINATIONS OF THE PEOPLES CHURCH INCLUDE: 2 Bloom Magazine

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6 COMMUNITY The Peoples Church is rooted in downtown East Lansing, Michigan. With its proximity to Michigan State University and the State Capital, East Lansing offers a small, college-town feel with the diversity and opportunities of a big city. East Lansing proper is home to nearly 50,000 people, but is part of the larger Lansing-East Lansing metropolitan area, which is comprised of more than 450,000 residents. Large employers in the area include MSU, the State of Michigan, two General Motors assembly plants and growing health care and insurance sectors. Entertainment options around East Lansing include the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Big Ten sports, a minor league baseball team, and Michigan State s Wharton Center for Performing Arts, as well as numerous city, county and state parks and trails. From East Lansing, it s an easy drive to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids or Great Lakes beaches. 4 Bloom Magazine

7 CAMPUS Peoples Church Campus Ministry is a welcoming place for college students to gather in community for fellowship, service, Bible study and free meals! Although PCCM primarily includes Michigan State University students from undergrads through doctoral candidates students from Lansing Community College and other college-age young adults are also welcome. The Campus Ministry has two weekly gatherings. Lunch & Lounge takes place each Sunday following 10:30 a.m. worship and includes free lunch and good conversation on a variety of topics. Dinner & Bible Study gives the group a weeknight opportunity to study and discuss the scripture passage for the upcoming Sunday services while enjoying a homemade meal. The study is designed to engage both lifelong Christians and those new to Bible study. In addition to weekly meetings, PCCM also serves the local community, enjoys fun seasonal events like a cider mill trip and kayaking local rivers, and does an annual service learning trip to Peru and Florida in alternating years. Students are also welcome and encouraged to participate in the wider church community, and many assist with youth group, children s activities, and serving on church committees. Bloom Magazine 5

8 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Peoples Church supports, assists and empowers communities locally, nationally, and internationally through gifts of money and volunteer hours. One example close to home is the Edgewood Village Non-profit Housing Corporation: Peoples members join in tutoring all ages, mentoring high school students on the path to college, providing food baskets, personal need items and Christmas gifts, helping with the gardening and sewing projects, and offering transportation to events. On a national level, youth and adult groups go to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to understand the Lakota culture and construct bunk beds, outhouses, and other home improvement projects, as well as help sustain community gardens. Internationally, our college students travel to Villa El Salvador, Peru, to immerse themselves in the culture and help at a local community kitchen. Additionally, many members of our congregation support students at the Nyaka Orphan AIDS project in Uganda. These are just a few examples of our congregation s outreach. Our hands, both literally and through our giving, reach around the world to bring God s love to those in need. 6 Bloom Magazine

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10 MINISTRY OPPORTUNTIES AT THE PEOPLES CHURCH 8 Bloom Magazine

11 SHORT TERM PROJECTS Charity Walks/Runs Children s Christmas Program Mission Trips Vacation Bible School MONTHLY MINISTRIES Building and Grounds Campus Ministry Community Engagement Christian Education Finance and Stewardship LARGER GROUPS Council of Elders Welcome Worship Women of Peoples Church Edgewood Village Partnership SMALLER GROUPS Bible Studies Fine Arts Committee Earth Stewardship Flower Delivery Knitting Group Nominating Committee Prayer Chain Reading Group Sanctuary Decorations Sermon Prep Group Women s Circles Grief Support Group Visitation Team Dance INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS Bake/Bring in Treats Be a Worship Leader Be a Youth Group Chaperone Deliver Food Baskets Do Yardwork/Gardening Greet People on Sunday Mornings Help in the Kitchen for Wednesday Night Live or other All-Church Events Play Bells Prepare Communion Elements Serve Coffee Sing in the Choir Sing or Play an Instrument in Worship Teach Sunday School Usher Visit Homebound Members Bloom Magazine 9

12 MUSIC Music is a vital part of worship and fellowship at Peoples Church. From hand bells to bagpipes, vocal soloists to a robed choir, and hymn-singing with pipe organ accompaniment, Peoples embraces a wide range of musical gifts. Members of all ages and musical abilities are encouraged to participate. While the worship music leans toward the classical and traditional end of the spectrum, other musical styles are also appreciated such as a member on accordion at a local mission gathering! In the summertime, there s even a Wednesday night pick-up band on the patio for any kind of stringed instruments. It s all part of the music at Peoples. Students in first through fifth grade participate in the Carol Choir, which performs six times a year, including a Christmas Pageant in December. The Youth Choir for sixth graders through high school seniors also performs six times a year. Children and youth are all invited to be part of the Coppertone Ringers, which performs traditional English hand bell music. Clarion Ringers is the church s adult bell choir. People s 40-member Sanctuary Choir sings every Sunday throughout the school year and is joined by an orchestra to lead worship at two major festival Sundays each year. The church also invites soloists and musicians from MSU and the East Lansing community to join in Sunday services. 10 Bloom Magazine

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14 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH Our Christian Education ministry is tasked with nurturing each young person s growth in the Christian faith. This growth happens with every Sunday School lesson and every Children s Message during church services. It continues in the summer with a week of Vacation Bible School where, daily, we combine adventurous nature study with interactive Bible lessons. Peoples Church Youth Group provides middle- and high-school age youth a place to deepen and cultivate their faith journeys in many ways: through devotion time and group discussions, local service opportunities and mission trips across the country, lock-ins, Cedar Point Amusement Park trips, and other fun activities to build community. We provide a safe, accepting environment for our young people with the goal of helping each one move forward in faith. 12 Bloom Magazine

15 ADULT EDUCATION AND FELLOWSHIP Adults at Peoples Church are active and involved at work and with their families throughout the week, but they also make time to strengthen their Biblical knowledge and deepen their faith. Sunday mornings, our church offers a Peoples Forum speaker who informs and engages attendees on a variety of relevant local and national community topics. Monday Morning Bible study has had a faithful following for many years. Midweek, there is an evening program called Wednesday Night Live that provides a place for congregation and community members to eat together, pray together, and study together. Interspersed throughout the weekly schedule, the men and women of our church meet in many settings: The men have two weekly Bible study groups and deepen their study at annual retreats. The Women of Peoples Church have several robust circles that meet regularly to support and strengthen mission and fellowship within the church. They also organize a Strawberry Breakfast, an Advent Tea, and an annual retreat while raising funds to support a wide array of charitable projects. The adults at Peoples Church support each other and the whole church community to mutually strengthen each person s faith journey. Bloom Magazine 13

16 HISTORY One hundred eleven years ago, words like interdenominational, ecumenical, accepting, and diversity, rarely described churches of the day. Yet, four East Lansing residents had a vision of a new kind of church that was needed in the city. Prior to 1907, there were no Protestant churches in East Lansing. Four Michigan State University professors, including the school s president, met and decided to remedy the situation by establishing an interdenominational Protestant congregation. They desired a believers community that would embrace all Protestant faiths and be controlled by the membership. The explicit mission stated in the 1924 Articles of Agreement was ministry to the students and faculty of the then Michigan Agricultural College. In 1927, the congregation completed its current church building located at 200 W. Grand River Ave., on the border of the recently renamed Michigan State College campus. The congregation remained the only Protestant church in East Lansing until Initially being most like churches in Congregationalist tradition, the church was named the People's Congregational Church. Striving to be ecumenical in all areas worship, mission, polity, and education the church quickly grew to include congregants from more than two dozen recognized denominations. By 1924, the congregation reincorporated as The Peoples Church, ecumenical and interdenominational, and formally affiliated with four denominations who responded to the appeal of the founding MSU professors --American Baptist Churches USA, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Methodist Church, and United Church of Christ. This was one of the earliest such attempts at an interdenominational congregation in the United States and was thus dubbed "The Great Experiment" by then-pastor Dr. Newell McCune. 14 Bloom Magazine

17 EACH DECADE HAS BROUGHT CHALLENGES AND VICTORIES, YET THE GREAT EXPERIMENT HAS PROVEN ITSELF TO WORK. THE PEOPLES CHURCH CONTINUES... Helping to establish, in the mid-1950s, a congregation that would become Edgewood United Church Establishing, in 1951, Peoples Church Preschool, a nationally accredited program that provides full-time, year-round, highquality learning for infants, toddlers, preschool and school-age children Electing the first women to the Council of Elders in 1961 Rallying from a massive sanctuary fire in 1965 Establishing the Memorial Gardens next to the church in 1994 Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2007 Partnering substantively with Edgewood Village, a local affordable housing development for 422 low-income, senior, and disabled people, involving up to 100 volunteers at peak times Addressing multiple needs locally, nationally and internationally through financial support and mission trips Encouraging the creation of a multitude of ministries and programs, such as Peoples Forum, Women of Peoples Church, Graded choirs, Vacation Bible School, Youth and Campus Ministries, Monday Morning Bible Studies, Men s Retreats, Church Library, Fine Arts, etc. Being fiscally responsible through a generous endowment, facility upgrades for environmental responsibility, and frequent use by community groups And the list goes on, continuing "The Great Experiment into its 111th year! As one member said so well in 1927, This is the way it will be in Heaven. Bloom Magazine 15

18 OUR FACILITY While the organizers of The Peoples Church first met in a little red schoolhouse in 1907, and the first worship services were held in the chapel of the Michigan Agricultural College (later Michigan State University), the congregation s first building, in the Greek Revival style, was dedicated in October, Quickly outgrown, this facility was replaced in 1922 by a temporary, flat-roofed, concrete block structure nicknamed by many as McCune s Garage after the pastor at that time. The current facility, designed in the Gothic Revival style by Canadian-born architect W. E. N. Hunter, was dedicated in Hunter was also influenced by the American Arts and Crafts movement and included numerous decorative details in this style, especially in the church s interior spaces. 16 Bloom Magazine

19 Originally designed to seat 1,300, a sanctuary fire in 1965 led to a $1.15 million dollar renovation. The remodeled auditorium now seated 900, with new stained-glass windows, pews, chancel furnishings and a new pipe organ (where the fire had begun). Also added at this time were new entrances at the northwest, northeast and southeast areas of the building as well as a new office wing on the east side. It is remarkable that other than the addition of a Memorial Garden in 1994, and regular maintenance items, such as new boilers in 2017, no significant changes have proven necessary since the 1966 rededication. Within four spacious floors and a mezzanine level, the church houses The Peoples Church Preschool, a college student lounge, the oft-used Robertson Room, a gymnasium, the Snider Social Hall (a large fellowship room with its own stage), the McCune Chapel (seating up to 80), numerous classrooms and other meeting spaces. Church, campus and community groups all enjoy the welcoming space at Peoples. In 2017, Peoples Church won First Place for energy savings in the Michigan Battle of the Buildings, a crusade against kilowatts and a barrage against BTUs, sponsored by the Michigan Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Peoples is also an Energy Star Certified Building for 2018 (two years certified). Bloom Magazine 17

20 BY THE NUMBERS CONGREGATION BY GENERATION CONGREGATION BY EDUCATION (ADULTS OVER 25) Builders (born 1901 to 1924) 0.9% Less than High School 3.2% Silents (1925 to 1942) 21.6% Completed High School 0.9% Boomers (1943 to 1960) 26.8% Some College, Trade or Vocational School 7.2% Survivors (1961 to 1982) 15.6% Collee Degree Associate 4.5% Millennials (1982 to 2001) 27.1% College Degree Bachelor s 35.3% Generation Z (2002 and later) 8.1% Post-Graduate, Master s/doctorate 49.8% CONGREGATION BY MARITAL STATUS (ADULTS ONLY) Single (never married) 12.6% CONGREGATION BY MUSICAL PREFERENCES Prefer music which is traditional 39.6% Married (first time) 50.2% Prefer music which is contemporary 25.7% Separated 1.8% Prefer both 31.0% Divorced 9.9% No preference 3.7% Remarried 16.1% Widowed 9.4% Prefer music which is performed by others 15.5% Prefer music which is participatory 26.2% Prefer both 50.3% No preference 8.0% 18 Bloom Magazine

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22 BUDGET AND FINANCES 20 Bloom Magazine

23 REVENUES AND SUPPORT 2017 BUDGET 2018 BUDGET General Fund Pledges 720, ,000 Preschool Income 1,123,692 1,217,000 Other income (endowments, fees, etc.) 382, ,000 Total Income 2,226,802 2,139,000 EXPENSES Personnel (non-pre-school) 748, ,500 Music and Worship Ministry 16,000 18,000 Campus Ministry 14,000 9,000 Christian Education 38,300 28,000 Wednesday Night Live 10,450 10,100 Community Engagement (Mission) 66,000 60,000 Welcome 3,110 3,400 Communications 8,800 8,800 Stewardship 2,500 1,100 Administration 72,450 63,500 Building and Grounds 396, ,600 Preschool Expense 850, ,000 Total Expenses 2,226,802 2,139,000 Bloom Magazine 21

24 Bloom Magazine THE PEOPLES CHURCH 200 W. Grand River Ave. East Lansing, MI ThePeoplesChurch.com