February 10, 2009
Dear St. Paul’s Family,
I realize the Super Bowl is old news by now, but I’m still thinking about a by-product of last week’s big game.
If you watched the commercials, you may have caught the one for Denny’s Restaurant advertising a free breakfast to anyone from 6am to 2pm the following Tuesday. Throughout the country, millions of people crammed into their nearest Denny’s for what was essentially a free $5.99 meal. Putting aside the marketing benefits this publicity stunt produced for the restaurant chain, I was fascinated by how this move elicited an overwhelmingly grateful response among the 2 million people who stood in line. Newspapers the next day chronicled the reactions:
"It's a great day," said Carolyn Mieritz of Phoenix, Arizona. “This is unbelievable.”
“It’s definitely a blessing,” said Josh Richardson, of Greenville, South Carolina.
“I’m very grateful,” said Jennifer Haslam, of Newark, Delaware.
Such is the reaction when people receive a surprising gift, with no strings attached.
Denny’s isn’t the first company to tap into the power of the genuinely free gift. In the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath, I am reminded of the example of Nordstrom’s department stores. What would compel people to continue shopping at a high-end luxury store whose goods are often more expensive than other retailers? The answer: surprising and complimentary acts of generous customer service.
Past Nordstrom’s employees have:
• Ironed a new shirt for a customer who needed it for a meeting that afternoon;
• Cheerfully gift wrapped products a customer bought at Macy’s;
• Warmed customers’ cars in winter while they finished shopping;
• Made a last-minute delivery of party clothes to a frantic hostess;
• And even refunded money for a set of tire chains – although Nordstrom doesn’t sell tire chains.
Now, does any of this make sense? Why would Nordstrom’s employees go to such outlandish lengths to reach out to customers? And why would Denny’s give away 5 million dollars of breakfast food – for free?
Maybe, in a world saturated with false promises and strings-attached offers, we’ve grown cynical to the idea that free might really mean free. And every once in a while, when a surprising gesture of uncommon generosity breaks through, we stop and pay attention.
Somewhere, there’s a lesson here for the church. Jim Harnish, the senior pastor at my previous church, is fond of saying that when it comes to sharing the gospel, the church needs to make fewer sales pitches and offer more free samples. Maybe we should take a page out of the Denny’s and Nordstrom’s playbooks and realize all of the free samples at our disposal:
• In offering forgiveness where others would expect retribution.
• In forming true friendships in a culture of increasing isolation.
• In welcoming others with uncanny hospitality and open-mindedness.
• In introducing people to a God who, since the very beginning, has specialized in joyful surprises.
The church must never lose its ability to surprise. To share with the world something greater than a six-dollar breakfast or freshly pressed shirt. We alone can offer the gift of God’s grace, which no one deserves, no one can earn, and that God gives freely and eagerly to a hungry and hurting world. If we ever did get about the business of offering this free gift and making it known, imagine the lines snaking around the corners. If we really did our job of transforming lives, improving the community, and changing the world, imagine someday hearing these same responses:
“It’s a great day. This is unbelievable.”
“It’s definitely a blessing.”
“I’m very grateful.”
May God strengthen us for holy task, so that responses like these will come – as no surprise.
It’s still great to be the church,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Fax: 712-225-1276
http://www.cherokeespumc.org
PROPERTY ACQUISITION UPDATE
The church is moving forward with plans to add additional property for the purposes of expanding parking adjacent to the handicapped-accessible west entrance. Read through the following “Frequently Asked Questions,” and direct questions and comments to Magrey, Dave Appleby (Trustees), John Cook (Finance), or Keith Willis (Building Committee).
Q. What properties are being considered?
A. The two houses on 6th Street, adjacent to the south alley of the church. They were purchased by a consortium of church members years ago with the intent of selling them to the church in the future.
Q. What are the terms of the purchase?
A. The sale price is $25,000, with terms of the transaction involving a five-year, unsecured note, interest-free, with no payments necessary until the end of the five-year term. Whenever payment is made, the consortium would use that money as seed money for possible future acquisitions.
Q. What will be done with the properties?
A. The properties would be demolished and the ground leveled to provide additional parking for those who prefer to use the accessible west entrance. The Building Committee is receiving a number of bids for demolition, and should have one to recommend at Charge Conference. The current bid for demolition stands at $45,000, but we are confident that the final bid will come in much lower than that.
Q. Does this fit our mission?
A. This is a key piece of the “Facilities and Campus Renovations” segment of the 20/20 Vision Plan that was adopted last Fall by the church. It will greatly enhance our hospitality to people with special parking needs.
Q. How will the church pay for this?
A. The Finance Committee will explore a number of options, but the likely scenario is that the money to purchase the property may be lumped into a larger Capital Campaign that will start in the next 18-24 months that will include renovations to the education wing and Kitchen/Fellowship Hall. The cost for demolition may need to be secured in the short-term through a bank loan.
Q. What is the timeline moving forward?
A. Because estimates for demolition are lower during the winter, we are wanting to move efficiently and quickly. The Administrative Board will be meeting on February 19, and our District Superintendent Bernie Colorado has called a Charge Conference for Monday, February 23, at 7pm for the church to take action on this. Every member of the church is a voting member of the Charge Conference.
THE GREAT CHEROKEE PANCAKE RACE
Attention, race fans! Gentlewomen, start your frying pans! The first-ever Cherokee Pancake Race will take place on Shrove Tuesday, February 24, at 5:30pm. This event carries on a tradition from Olney, England, in which women dressed in aprons and kerchiefs carry cast iron pans and pancakes along a 415-yard race from City Hall to St. Paul’s. After the race, prizes will be awarded at a Shriving Service in the sanctuary that will prepare us for Lent, followed by a pancake supper where we will receive free-will donations to support the local food pantries. Registration forms for racers are available at the church office and on the website.
NEW FAX MACHINE
The church has a new fax machine, and can receive faxes via 225-1276. Please use 225-3955 for all regular phone calls to the church.
WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
We continue our worship series “Life’s Three Big Questions” with another sermon based on our new value statements that define the unique character of the people of St. Paul’s. Come hear a sermon titled, “Who are We? A People in the Center,” based on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.
No comments:
Post a Comment