TO: Pastors Serving in the State of Illinois
FROM: Mike Woodruff
RE: A heads up concerning changes and challenges headed our way
DATE: January 7, 2019
My name is Mike Woodruff, I pastor a church in the suburbs of Chicago and I am writing about the way Illinois’s fiscal challenges will shape the work churches and pastors will do over the next five years.
This is not a “the sky is falling” letter. Nor is it an effort to advance a partisan agenda. For that matter, I am not writing to ask you to sign a petition or send money. I am writing to simply say that while the future will always contain opportunities to proclaim the Good News and engage in good works, I believe it will soon contain escalating challenges for those of us who serve in Illinois, and I want to be sure we are looking ahead.
To be more specific, I want to be sure you are aware of four things:
- One: Illinois’s public pension challenges will soon force the state to reduce spending on social programs. By many measures, Illinois’s fiscal health is the worst of all fifty states. We should expect taxes and tensions to rise, while social programming and stability decline.
- Two: This will affect the people we serve. When the state is forced to dial back, churches and other NGOs will see a spike in the number of poor, elderly, mentally ill and other distressed people knocking on our doors looking for help.=
- Three: It will be important that we lead well during this season. As things get hard, some people will move, others will withdraw and many will complain. It will be important that pastors model hope, act with grace and lead with courage. This must start with helping people see how many things are going well and must include reminding God’s people of our call to love and serve others.
- Four: Now is the time to prepare. As you will see in the next section, I think it would be prudent for you to share some of this with your leadership team so you can identify steps you can take now to be better positioned for the events ahead.
In the FAQ document that follows I’ve attempted to answer pertinent questions. I’ve kept my answers brief. If you want to probe deeper, I have included additional details, graphs and documentation in an extensive footnote section.
My hope for this letter is three-fold: 1) It helps you lead your church (staff, elder board, congregation etc.) more effectively; 2) You help make it better by sharing your insights – or correcting my mistakes! – on the bulletin board we’ve created for that purpose; and 3) You will forward this email to other Illinois pastors.
Thanks for reading this.
Press On in 2019,
Mike Woodruff
Senior Pastor, Christ Church
Read the FAQ document and make sure to let me know your thoughts below
[coll_button url=”http://www.mikewoodruff.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IllinoisFAQ.pdf” target=”_blank”]Click here to view the FAQ document[/coll_button]