I had the pleasure of spending time today (August 26, 2010) with a good friend from my Asbury College days, Rod Kalajainen. We were classmates and played on the same basketball team but hadn’t seen each other for 36 years. We both looked exactly the same, NOT. Rod is the senior pastor of Redeemer United Methodist Church in Dewitt, MI. He has been at the same church for 23 years, the longest serving pastor in the same church in the Western Michigan Conference. Redeemer was almost on the verge of closing when he went there and now averages 500 in worship attendance. In the last five years attendance has increased by 8%. Virtually all of the church building has been completed during the time that Rod has been there. Their mission statement is “connecting people to the love and life of Jesus Christ.” It is written in large letters above the entrance into the sanctuary and every person associated with the church knows and understands it. It guides everything that they do.

A few years ago Rod and his staff decided that they wanted to “give back” some of what they had learned and experienced over their ministry together. They started something called “one-eighty, A Turnaround Church Conference.” They invite pastors from the Western Michigan, Detroit, and West Ohio Conferences of the UMC to participate. It is a one day conference designed to help pastors and church leaders get started in transitioning their congregations through change. In March of 2010 they had around 200 persons in attendance.

It is very exciting to hear and see some of the successful initiatives that are occurring within the UMC.  Rod Kalajainen and Redeemer UMC in Dewitt, MI are one really good example.