2025 Ministry Report & Steps Forward in Ministry

Who? How? In What Spirit? 

At least since 2021, we’ve been developing a clearer sense of God’s vision for what it means to be Kearney First United Methodist Church by asking, “Who? How? In What Spirit?” See the attached document for more details about how we’ve answered these questions. The ways we answer these questions are clarifying our identity, mission, and values – they are shaping, reinforcing, and directing us toward both who we are and who we are becoming by the grace of God.   

Simply put, we are a community seeking to love God, love others, and grow as disciples of Jesus through our methods or practices of talking with God, listening to God, partnering with God, growing like God, and sharing God’s good news of grace and transformed lives. In both descriptive and aspirational ways, we are a people of holiness, caring, graciousness, and equipping – character traits of God in whose image we are made and by whose grace we are becoming.  

2025 Focus: Engagement & Two-Way Interactions 

The year 2025 was, by the discernment and direction of the Administrative Council and the Church Conference, the year of “Engagement.” Our assumption or belief is that we grow more when we’re involved more. We set increasing engagement and two-way interactions as related goals for the entire year. During the past year, we’ve sought to develop some systems of tracking engagement in worship and groups: e.g., passing attendance pads during worship; focusing on informational and inspiring “mission moments” during worship, and taking steps toward reinvigorating and revisioning our Sunday hospitality ministries. Obviously, most of these things relate to Sunday ministries. We have more work to do in defining, tracking, and encouraging engagement in other areas of ministry.   

2025 Celebrations of Engagement and Interactivity 

By having the focus of seeking to offer short- and long-term ministries that are contextually appealing, relevant, and transformational, we have experienced signs of increased engagement and interactivity, some of which we celebrate here.  

• Pass It On participation: In this funeral lunch ministry, we’ve seen members who aren’t overly active bring salads and desserts, and members who have lost a loved one whom we’ve done a meal for start to come and help do other meals for other families. Pass it On is about serving with others for others – an approach to ministry that truly is Christ-like.  

• Funeral ministries: As a congregation, we take pride in the fact that we offer funereal ministries for anyone, regardless of church membership or affiliation. This ministry has been a witness of God’s grace for the community, and specifically for a number of families who have not had any other church connections. 

• Ministry Fair: We hosted a ministry fair in the fall of 2025 to highlight many of the ways people can connect, grow, and serve through the church. There was palpable energy in the Narthex during this event between, during and after worship. Some people found new groups to participate in through this event, and it provided an opportunity for people of the church to learn about ministries we don’t always see.  

• Health & Wellness: This group continues to promote whole-life health through donation drives, health screenings, participation and promotion of community health activities, and the GriefShare ministry. They’ve included new people in their leadership team and they continue to serve new people through their ministries. With some changes in the lives of their leaders, they’ve developed a shared or collaborative approach to leadership, equipping a broader group to lead in their areas of passion or giftedness.  

• Facilities – Narthex, Fix-It-Crew, & Trustees: Throughout the year, these groups have faithfully served as stewards of the church’s facilities, offering much needed repairs, improvements, maintenance, and renovation. They’ve promoted a long-term giving tool – the Birthday Builder’s Club – with a party; they’ve used these and other non-budgetary funds for a major remodel of the Narthex; they’ve been making their way through the entire building’s exhaust vents; and they’ve spent countless hours dreaming, scheming, and laboring together in order to provide a safe, clean, hospitable environment in which to do ministry together. They’re doing ministry so we together can do more ministry.  

• New Classes/Groups & a Changed Sunday Schedule: At the beginning of the summer, we changed the Sunday ministry schedule, reducing the number of worship services to two. While this has not been universally appreciated, it has fostered some increased energy in each of the worship services. Perhaps more importantly, it has made a space and time for additional interaction, conversation, connection, and learning. During the Connect and Grow hour (10am), we now have two new youth classes, two new adult classes, an and an artistic devotional group. There are plans in development for a young adults/college-aged class. And, we hosted the Methods:Membership class during this hour.  

• Care Team & Card Team Ministries: Pastor Jo Ellen has continued to develop and recruit new people into visitation and care ministries. She has also created a card team ministry group that seeks to send cards to different members for the sake of care and connection.  

• Growing Closer to Jesus: On the sermon input form, we asked the congregation to report about if and how they felt like they were growing closer to Jesus over the past year. Of the 125 respondents, 71 shared ways they have grown closer to or more like Jesus in the past year, the results of which are compiled at the end of this document. (Note: the number of respondents is much higher than previous “sermon input surveys”; however, it still shows room for improvement in feedback tools). 

• Fall Festival, Not Trunk or Treat: A change made is that we didn’t do a Trunk or Treat this year. Instead, Children’s Ministry is trying to grow and connect on a deeper level with more families and new community members that the focus will be a Fall Festival. The main goal this year is to focus on quality instead of quantity to better engage and connect with more people. 

2026 Focus: Continue Cultivating Engagement  

We believe engagement in the ministries of church is a way we grow closer to Jesus. This is a shift in focus and culture for this church and many churches. We are seeking to prioritize growing closer to Jesus, accomplished by participating in ministries and life practices through which the Holy Spirit grows us in love. This is a long-term project, so we will continue to focus on engagement and interactivity in the coming years. We will continue to develop tools to quantitatively measure and qualitatively assess engagement.  

We would like to continue promoting group development, which began last year, hosting at least as many community-focused events, and exploring additional opportunities for outreach.  

We would like to increase engagement through increasing the number of stakeholders in the groups that plan events and ministries. For example, most of the outreach-focused ministries have been led primarily by Children’s Ministry, and we would like to include others in these ministries, or launch new ministries with new people.  

Other ideas for increasing stakeholders and leaders include continued engagement with the Worship Ministry Team, creating a Mission Oversight Team or Committee to oversee both what exists and what could exist.  

We also recognize that, beyond the anecdotal data shared below, we have few tools to measure or evaluate if people are growing in love through the practices of Bible reading, prayer, worship, or service. We will continue to explore ways of measuring, sharing, and celebrating discipleship behaviors as a witness to growth in Christ.  

2026 and Beyond…. A Culture of Discipleship & Evangelism 

Over the past twenty years, and especially in the past five years, numerous books, studies, and other publications are suggesting the same thing: the challenge of the church in North America is its need to singularly focus on Jesus’ core mission – discipleship and evangelism. All the ways we’ve organized and the ministries we’ve done over the past 150 years as Kearney First UMC have included these practices to varying degrees. We have also contributed to, and benefited from, a blending or fusing of culture and Christian life that is less beneficial or faithful. 

That is not to say that the concept of church membership is dead. Rather, church membership can be seen as a covenantal relationship between individuals and the church broadly for mutual growth in Christ-likeness. We will continue developing, communicating, and training people into this sort of membership through the Methods courses, Confirmation, classes, and preaching. (See the attached document about the marks of membership).  

Additionally, the Administrative Council and other leadership groups in the church will continue to explore and learn about shifting the culture of a church toward practices of discipleship and evangelism. We found John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way helpful in sparking conversation and thought regarding discipleship, particularly. We’ll build from there to other conversations about church culture, community connection, and evangelism. At a certain point, we’ll know we have succeeded if we hear people of the church talking about meaningful ways they’ve grown closer to Jesus, and see evidence of their good news witness in increased numbers of guests and new members.   

Ways We’ve Grown Closer to or More Like Jesus 

Responses to the sermon input form’s question about growth were interpreted using Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant. People reported that they felt like they’d grown closer to or more like Jesus in the following ways in the past year.  

Personal Reflections on Spiritual Growth: Members shared how they are growing closer to Jesus through various practices such as: 

• Daily prayers and Bible reading. 

• Joining Bible studies and Sunday School classes. 

• Volunteering in church ministries. 

• Practicing gratitude, compassion, and kindness. 

• Leaning on Jesus during hardships and life challenges. 

• Building relationships and sharing faith with others. 

Engagement and Faith Practices: Examples of how members are engaging with their faith: 

• Following sermon reading plans. 

• Listening to Bible podcasts. 

• Participating in church events and ministries. 

• Reflecting on "God Winks" (moments of divine intervention) daily. 

Impact of Sermons: Members expressed appreciation for sermons that inspire faith and provide guidance for living a Christ-like life. 

Community and Family Growth: Members observed spiritual growth in relationships: 

• Watching family members grow in faith. 

• Strengthening relationships through shared devotionals and church activities. 

These reflections highlight the church's focus on helping members grow closer to Jesus through engagement, prayer, study, and service.