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Lewes Presbyterian Church 133 Kings Highway

Lewes, DE 19958

Phone: (302) 645-5345

Fax: (302) 645-2743

Website: www.lewespresbyterianchurch.org

PNC Contact: Jim Miller, PNC Chair

lpcpncsearch@gmail.com

Church Information Form

We are seeking to fill the position of a full-time Pastor/Head of Staff.

Portrait of Our Church

The Lewes Presbyterian congregation and leaders are guided by the mission of “Believing,

Growing and Sharing the Love of Christ.” Our vision is to worship God in spirit and in truth,

to make disciples as we study and grow in faith and faithfulness, to enjoy good fellowship, to help

each other in time of need and to reach our world with the good news of Jesus Christ by word and

deed.

Church Size:

Covenant Partners – 281 (2016)

Average worship attendance - 210

Average Sunday School Attendance:

30 children and youth 20-25 adults

Youth Group: (Grades 7-12) 14

members, 3 adult leaders

2017 Operating Budget: $458,698

2017 Mission Budget: $95,910

Total Budget $554,608

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Leadership Structure:

Session: 12 Elders elected for up to two consecutive, three-year terms

Committees of Session: Building Maintenance, Building Utilization, Cemetery and Grounds,

Christian Education – Adult, and Christian Education – Children, Congregational Fellowship and

Community Outreach, Endowment, Finance, Mission, Nominating, Personnel, Stewardship,

Worship and Music, Youth Council

Deacons: 9 Deacons elected for up to two consecutive, three-year terms

Major activities of the Deacons include the following: assist the Pastoral Care Coordinator and

Pastoral Care Provider to offer support to members in times of need; provide financial assistance

and food to the LPC family, when called upon; assist pastor with communion at the 8:00 am service

and offer home communion to shut ins; provide receptions for funerals if requested; provide

scholarships to high school graduates

Staff Positions

Pastor, (FT) – Reverend Dr. Harry (Buz) W. Hughes (will retire 6/30/18)

Assistant Pastor/Pastoral Caregiver (PT) – Reverend Dr. John A. Gilmore

Congregational Care/Children and Youth Coordinator (PT), Denise Barnes

Office Administrator (FT) – Christina Best

Business Manager (FT) – Cathy Heronemus

Music Director/Organist (PT) – Melanie Bradley

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THE HISTORY OF LEWES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (LPC)

In 2017 the congregation of the Lewes Presbyterian Church celebrates its 325th anniversary as a

worshipping community. The congregation at Lewes was established under Rev. Samuel Davis

in 1692, and the first church building was constructed in the early 1700s on a land grant from

Thomas Fenwick. Rev. Davis was one of the six ministers who, in 1706, formed the first American

Presbytery. The Reverend John Thomson became the first permanent pastor of the Lewes

congregation in 1717, and was a charter member of the New Castle Presbytery, serving three terms

as its moderator and serving two terms as moderator of the newly established Synod. He might be

best known as the author of the Adopting Act of 1729 that required all candidates for the ministry

to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.

Over more than three centuries of its presence in the Lewes area, the congregation persevered

through wars, financial depressions, epidemics and theological differences of our early church

leaders; yet, because of God’s grace and the faithfulness of its members throughout the years, the

Lewes Presbyterian Church has survived and thrived.

LPC’S DENOMINATIONAL AFFILIATION

The Lewes Presbyterian Church has been a member of the Covenant Order of Evangelical

Presbyterians (ECO) since early 2015. The change in denominational affiliation from the PCUSA

came after more than ten years of the congregation’s concern with the direction of the PCUSA that

culminated with a congregational decision to change denominations and begin a formal

discernment in 2012. After a period of intense negotiations, LPC’s relationship with the New

Castle Presbytery was dissolved, in exchange for a payment of more than $500,000, and LPC

established uncontested ownership of its name, building and other assets.

LPC fully embraces ECO’s vision to “Build Flourishing Churches that Make Disciples of Jesus

Christ,” the clarity of the Essential Tenets, and the covenantal expectations for sessions and

pastors. LPC is a member of the Heritage Presbytery that includes 14 churches in Delaware,

southeastern Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey. We are committed to the successful

functioning of this volunteer-led presbytery; LPC’s pastor serves on the Ministry Partnership

Team, the Assistant Pastor is the Chair of the Permanent Judicial Commission, and an elder is the

presbytery treasurer. LPC participates in a Mission Affinity Group that includes White Clay

Creek Presbyterian Church (Newark, DE), The Christian Life Center (New London, PA), and

Pequea Presbyterian Church near Lancaster, PA. Our pastors are part of a 14-member Pastoral

Covenant Group.

OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF THE LEWES

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

For more than 20 years, the LPC congregation and its leaders have been guided by the mission

statement of “Believing, growing and sharing the love of Christ,” and our vision is to worship

God in spirit and in truth, to make disciples as we study and grow in faith and faithfulness, to

enjoy good fellowship, to help each other in time of need, and to reach our world with the good

news of Jesus Christ by word and deed. We believe that all Christians are called and gifted in

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various ways for ministry, and we join together as a community of faith with the Holy Spirit who

guides us on our journey together as we seek the opened doors that have been put before us.

John Ortberg, author and ECO pastor of Menlo Church, quotes one of his seminary professors as

saying that an open door is symbolic of “boundless opportunities; of limitless chances to do

something worthwhile; of grand openings into new and unknown adventures of significant

living; of heretofore unimagined chances to do good, to make our lives count for eternity. An

open door is the great adventure of life because it means the possibility of being useful to God.”

In the past 25 years God has opened doors for LPC that through the vision of our pastor, leaders,

and members led us to ministries and actions that gave us possibilities of being useful to God’s

purpose. At this time of transition to a new pastor, we claim this promise and are praying that

the Holy Spirit guide us as we seek the “doors that God has opened for us that no one can close”.

As the first step in our pastoral transition process, the LPC Transition Committee hosted two

leadership retreats to identify the doors that might be opened for LPC in the next few years, and

to reflect on the current LPC programs and ministries that we see as continuing. About 40 LPC

leaders gathered for two, all-day retreats in early 2017 to review LPC’s mission of “Believing,

Growing, and Sharing the Love of Christ” in light of changes in our culture and the post

Christendom era in which we live, and to consider how our current programs and ministries help

us achieve this mission. In May 2017, about 100 congregation members attended a follow-up

congregational listening session and offered their ideas concerning the future of LPC, as well as

reactions to ideas from the leadership retreats.

The retreat and listening session participants shared the consensus that “Believing, Growing, and

Sharing the Love of Christ” remains a powerful statement of our purpose as a local church and

need not be changed. The leaders did, however, acknowledge that in the future we should move

toward being a “sending church,” rather than just a “consumer church”. The difference between

the two is that the sending church focuses on what happens on Monday morning out in the world

as much or more than what happens on Sunday morning in church.

The Pastor Nominating Committee members reviewed the results of the retreats and listening

sessions and identified a number of current programs that we consider strengths and noted open

doors for the future that we pray will help us more fully live out our mission. These present

strengths and future opportunities are described in the following sections.

Opened Doors

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the

one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can

close; and what he closes, no one can open. I know all the things you do, and I have

opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my

word and did not deny me. (Revelation 3:7-8 (NLT))

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CURRENT STRENGTHS

Worship, education, caring ministry, fellowship and mission activities are the primary way we

express our understanding of the purpose of the local church.

Worship

Sunday morning worship services are the primary expression of LPC’s vision to worship God in

spirit and in truth; all worship services offer strong, Biblically-based sermons. Over the past 20

years LPC has expanded its worship opportunities to include three Sunday morning services, and

during the retreats the leaders and congregation members felt strongly that the three styles of

service should be maintained because they provide three different doors into our worshiping

community.

8:00 am Contemplative Worship Service. This service, held in the Sanctuary, was

added in 2006 in response to the desire for a more reflective worship experience. The

service is traditional but is more limited in its liturgy and music than the 11:00 am

traditional service. Communion is offered each Sunday. The scripture readings and

sermon are the same as for the other two services. Average attendance for this service is

about 40 persons.

9:00 am Contemporary Worship Service. This service, begun in the mid-1990s, is

held in the Fellowship Hall. The atmosphere is casual, and most of our young families

attend this service since it meets at the same time as children’s Sunday School. The

Praise Band (drums, bass, guitars, electric piano) offers the contemporary music for the

service, and Communion is served on the first Sunday of each month. Average

attendance for this service is about 75 people.

11:00 am Traditional Worship Service. This worship service is held in our historic

Sanctuary with the Chancel Choir presenting a special anthem each week. Traditional

hymns are sung. Communion is served on the first Sunday of each month. Average

attendance for this service is about 85 people, including the 20-member choir.

Education/Discipleship

Over the past 20 years LPC has added and continues to offer a wide variety of learning

opportunities for both adults and children, most of which are lay led.

Sunday Morning Adult Studies

8:15-9:00 a.m. Bible Study This class follows the International Sunday School

curriculum and is designed to be convenient for persons who attend the 9:00 am service.

Average attendance for this recently established study is about 8-10 people.

9:00-10:00 a.m. Sunday School. This long-standing Sunday School class of about 20-

24 persons explores four to five topical studies each year, many of which have

accompanying video lessons, from authors such as Tim Keller, John Ortberg, N. T.

Wright, Kenneth Bailey, Ravi Zacharias, Philip Yancey, C. S. Lewis, J. I. Packer, and

Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

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12:30-1:30 p.m. Bible Project. The Bible Project, a non-profit animation studio in

Portland, Oregon, produces short videos that provide overviews of each book of the

Bible, key word studies, and major biblical themes. The 10-12 members of this class

view and discuss these videos as a way of gaining a richer understanding of the big

picture of the Bible.

Weekday Adult Studies

Men’s Monday Morning Bible Study

About 10-12 men get together to study the Sermon on the Mount sermons by the great

British Pastor, D. Martyn Lloyd Jones.

Men/Women’s and Women’s-Only Bible Study

For the past 18 years, a dedicated lay person has taught a Bible Study class at three

different times each week. The class is offered on Monday evenings for men and

women, and then twice on Tuesday afternoons for women. For the fall of 2017 the study

is using Ephesians: Live Abundantly, by Lenya Heitzig & Penny Rose. A total of about

60-70 people participate in these three classes each year, and about a third of them are

from outside of LPC.

Crosswalk—Study & Fellowship Group for Young Families

This group for couples with young families meets once a month on Monday evenings for

dinner and study. The current study is It Starts at Home by Matt Chandler, Gerry

Thomas, and Kurt & Olivia Bruner. The group of 10-16 people includes a number of

non-LPC members.

Whole Congregation Sermon-Based Study Series

In recent years LPC has offered several congregation-wide, sermon-based studies. The

most recent, in 2016-17 was the Believe series by Randy Frazee, that included 30 weeks

of sermons and weekly discussion-group study. The Story by Max Lucado was the

content for a similar sermon/small group study in 2012. Attendance for the small group

gatherings ranged from 8 – 20 persons and included both LPC and non-LPC members.

Non-LPC Sponsored Bible Studies

LPC members actively participate in the Bible Study Fellowship programs for both men

and women that are hosted by other churches; about 10 LPC women travel to Milford,

DE, and about 8-10 men travel to Georgetown, DE for these weekly meetings.

Children’s Sunday School

Each week of the school year six dedicated teachers provide Christian nurture to four classes,

covering from three years of age through high school. Average attendance during the fall –

spring is 27-30 children and youth,

Kids for Christ (KFC)

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KFC meets the second and fourth Friday of each month of the school year and is open to Pre-K,

and K-6th graders. This gathering includes dinner, learning about and building faith in Jesus

Christ through music, drama, Bible stories, crafts, and game time. The average attendance is

about 55 kids who are about equally divided between Lewes After School Program students,

LPC church members and kids from the community. Twenty-five leaders and helpers prepare

the dinner, teach, and help with the other activities.

Vacation Bible School (VBS)

LPC hosts a week-long Vacation Bible School in the evenings of the last week of July or first

week of August. About 40 leaders and helpers teach and provide activities for about 70, three to

twelve-year-old children. VBS is a major outreach program; only about a third of the

participants are LPC members’ children; two thirds are from the community including about

eight students of the Lewes After School Program.

Youth Group

The Youth Group meets two Sundays a month during the school year and about 15 students

participate, led by three leaders. The L:PC youth, plus a number of non LPC students, attend a

major youth rally in January of each year in Ocean City, MD. In addition, in 2016 a number of

the students and leaders attended a mission trip to the Kayenta Bible Church in Arizona where

they conducted a Vacation Bible School program for approximately 50 young members of the

Navajo Nation. The youth also help out with many other LPC programs including stocking the

food pantry, and assisting with the Operation Christmas Child program in the fall.

Library and Online Video Resources

The John Vessels Memorial Library provides a variety of Christian resources including

commentaries, videos, fiction and non-fiction books, and children’s materials. LPC subscribes to

two online video library resources, RightNow Media and Study Gateway, that are available

free to the LPC family. These video resources are used by both adult and children’s Sunday

School and small groups, as well as for individual study and growth. Over 100 members and

friends have registered to access RightNow Media, and about 30 have done so for Study

Gateway.

Deacons’ Caring Ministry

Our mission of sharing the love of Christ includes our local church body and extends to our

community and the world. We care about and support each other within the congregation

through our Deacons’ Caring Ministry efforts and our fellowship activities.

The nine-member Deacon board plus past-serving Deacons work together to reach out to the

sick, the friendless, and to any who may be in distress, both within and beyond the community of

faith. The Deacons’ Caring Ministry coordinates several prayer ministries, including a weekly

Intercessory Prayer Group, a Prayer Chain, Moms in Prayer small group. It also coordinates

several support groups, including Mothers Are Always Mothers, and Heart to Heart.

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The Kelly Class, a women’s group that started as a Sunday School class in the 1920-30s,

continues today as a group of up to 35 women who share monthly luncheons and fellowship.

The group, and also sponsors an annual rummage sale and Christmas Bazaar. The proceeds from

these fund raisers are used to purchase items for the church and to support local and national

missions.

For the past three years we have been fortunate to employ a part-time retired pastor and lay

person to coordinate and provide care for the LPC family. The church leaders, at the retreats,

reaffirmed their commitment to make funding of these positions a high priority in the future. We

feel our church’s commitment to care is fulfilling one of the goals of God’s Church.

Congregational Fellowship

The activities of the Congregational Fellowship Committee are also important contributors to the

loving sense of belonging, and the community feeling, and support evident within the

congregation. The committee encourages and supports our members to actively participate by

leading groups and programs, as the Spirit leads them. This fun-loving committee organizes four

or more lunches or dinners for the congregation each year, including an annual church picnic, a

strawberry social to recognize confirmands and graduates, an Advent dinner and a dinner for the

January Annual Meeting. In addition, the committee has also sponsored at least two pizza and

movie nights that are advertised within the community and well attended by non-members and

members alike. In the past two years, the movies shown included follow-up small group studies

also sponsored by the committee. This committee also oversees the welcoming of visitors,

Mission and Outreach

We accomplish our mission of sharing the love of Christ though our mission and outreach

activities that help us to reach our world with the good news of Jesus Christ by word and deed.

Our long tradition of sharing resources with persons in need, both locally and throughout the

world, is evidenced by our practice of separately pledging to mission and to operations so that

individuals intentionally commit to mission activities rather than limiting mission funding to

what is left over after internal operating needs are met. Mission giving represented about 20

percent of LPC’s total giving in 2016. If mission giving from special offerings, the endowment

fund, and the Kelly Class are included, LPC contributed about 25 percent of its total giving to

mission.

The Mission Committee recommends to the Session the allocation of the mission pledges to

various organizations and also approves all special offerings. In recent years, the allocation of

pledge giving was about equally divided between world mission and local causes.

Organizations and individuals receiving financial support in 2016 include the following:

World Mission Causes

• The Congo -- Bob and Kristi Rice, John and Gwenda Fletcher, IMCK Hospital,

Lungandu Congo School

• Korea – Art and Sue Kistler, Christian Friends of Korea

• Middle East – U.A.E. Project

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• Other – Emily and Jesse Ciccotti (Asia), Bill and Gale Johnson (France and Africa),

Witnessing Ministry of Christ (India), Mission Aviation Fellowship, Samaritan’s Purse

(Operation Christmas Child), Doctors Without Borders

Local Mission Causes

• Helping Organizations – Community Resource Center, New Coverdale Outreach Mission

• Nutrition – LPC Soup Ministry, Meals on Wheels, Lewes Senior Center, Cape Henlopen

Food Basket

• Housing – Sussex County Habitat for Humanity

• Evangelism – Solid Ground Church (Lewes), ECO Church Plant (New Jersey), ECO

Church Plant (Boston), Gideons, Chosen Peoples Ministry

• Prison Ministries – The Way Home, Alternatives to Violence

• Crisis Assistance – Sussex Pregnancy Care Center, Crisis House

• Substance Abuse – Delmarva Teen Challenge

• Education – Lewes After School Program

We feel that our relationship with the Lungandu Church in the Congo, the Lewes After School

Program, and our Soup Ministry represent our strongest and most sustained efforts to share

God’s love with the world.

Congo

More than ten years ago, LPC started our journey of partnering with our Presbyterian friends in

Lungandu Church. During these ten years we have exchanged visits to learn more about each

other and to share our faith. With the financial contributions from us, the Congo church labored

to build a school where about 9,000 children have received a primary education. Many of those

have continued on to secondary schools. The women received a grant to build a business center

for their sewing business which in turn allowed them to earn an income. Local labor was used to

construct the building. We know they have often had twenty-four-hour prayer vigils to

strengthen our partnership as well as for special needs we have shared with them. We have also

prayed for those who were sick and in need in their church. Our friends in the Congo truly

believe that God has brought us together for a special purpose. This personal relationship is what

has kept this partnership strong.

The Lewes After School Program

The Lewes After School Program (LASP) is a highly effective 14-year partnership between the

Lewes Presbyterian Church and the Shields Elementary School in the Cape Henlopen School

District. LASP specifically targets at-risk children, and the goal is to provide a high-quality,

after school program for these children to help them achieve success in school and life. Thirty

children participate in the program each year at no cost to the student. Slightly over half of the

funding is provided by a federal grant. The balance of the approximately $100,000 annual budget

is provided by LPC’s Endowment Fund, the proceeds of the special Easter Offering, the Cape

Henlopen School District, the Lewes-Rehoboth Association of Churches, the Lewes Lions Club

and the Greater Lewes Foundation. The program consistently receives outstanding evaluations

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from its funding partners as it meets and exceeds the program goals learning and behavior. LPC

also supports the program by providing leadership, classroom space, financial recordkeeping,

secretarial assistance and indirect overhead costs. In addition to four paid staff, the LASP is

supported by 45 volunteers who help with homework, crafts, and other activities. About half of

the volunteers are LPC members, and the balance are from the community at large.

Soup Ministry

Since 2005 LPC has operated a weekly soup ministry from October through May that serves an

average of about 80 people each Tuesday from the church’s modern commercial kitchen. LPC

provides the space, the leadership, and many of the volunteers who help each week. About half

of the volunteers are LPC members; the other half are from other churches and the community.

These volunteers have formed a dedicated, caring small group that is committed to showing

God’s love to others through their efforts. Freewill donations from meal recipients, contributions

from other supporters, and LPC funds cover the cost of this program. This ministry provides

more than a meal for lower income members of the Lewes community; it provides support, and

friendship. In addition, LPC members attend the lunch for this same support and sense of

community.

Community Thanksgiving Dinner

For the past 14 years LPC has organized and hosted a community-wide Thanksgiving Dinner and

Coat Ministry on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. In recent years, we have served more than

1,300 meals, including about 900 meals served in the church’s Fellowship Hall, and 400 take-out

meals. We also distribute annually 300-400 warm winter coats to children and adults in need.

Over 190 volunteers help prepare and serve the meals, including LPC members, the Delaware

Seashore Parrotheads, and the Knights of Columbus from St. Jude and St. Edmonds Roman

Catholic churches as well as individuals from other churches in the community. Funding is

provided by community organizations, LPC, and by donations received from patrons of the

dinner.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The previous sections have described the programs and activities of our church that are tangible

signs of God’s love and care for his people here in Lewes. The robust worship schedule, the

large offering of study opportunities for adults and youth, and the variety and scope of mission

activities attest to a church that has walked through many opened doors that God has put before

it in the past years. As we have prepared for the pastoral transition before us, the leaders and the

congregation have sought to discern God’s will for LPC in the next few years so that we can call

a pastor that can partner with us on that journey. Three initiatives that build on existing

programs and ministries, and that we trust will help us with our mission as a church, are

described below.

1. Revamp and Restructure the 9:00 am Contemporary Service One recurring comment

during the retreats we held in the spring of 2017 was that the current “contemporary” service is

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only partially contemporary. Several participants called it “Contemporary Lite” because it

includes the same sermon and much of the liturgy of the traditional services; only the music and

the casual atmosphere is contemporary. Since a contemporary worship service is more likely to

provide a positive worshipful experience for younger individuals and families than would a

traditional one, and since we are committed to offer a separate contemporary format, we should

seek to maximize its impact by changing our contemporary. Three of the ways to revise the

service include less of the traditional liturgy, a different, probably longer, more applied/relational

message, and better use of technology to enhance the message, the singing, and the overall

experience.

2. Build a discipleship culture at LPC through increased small-group ministries. LPC

offers a wide variety of small group studies to grow in our faith and promotes groups for

fellowship and support as well. However, participation in small groups that include Bible study,

accountability and other aspects of discipleship is disappointing. Only about 30 percent of

LPC’s members and regular attenders take advantage of the many studies we offer; some people

participate in as many as four or five groups, but 70 percent of the members do not enjoy the

benefits of small-group study and discipleship. Our new pastor can help us design an effective

small-group ministry, coach and train the small-group leaders, and teach or provide the content

for some of the studies. We might consider setting a goal within two years of having half the

congregation participate in some type of discipleship small group.

3. Become more of a “sending” church by providing encouragement and opportunities for

members to be involved in mission outside of the church. LPC has an excellent record of

financial contributions to both worldwide and local mission; however, we can have a greater

impact in sharing the love of Christ in the world by hands-on involvement in our local missions.

Pastoral leadership, teaching, and encouragement can guide us to this new understanding of

mission so that the church is the place from which we go out to help bring God’s Kingdom to the

world.

LPC Membership

The graph below, indicates LPC’s membership declining for the past ten years, while average

worship attendance, after an initial drop, has been fairly stable for the past five years; however, it

is still declining. The 1990s and early 2000s period was a time of growth and expansion in the

Lewes region that attracted retired individuals who joined LPC and provided strong leadership

along with the new pastor, Buz Hughes. The major building expansion in 2001-2002, and the

new opportunities for worship, study, and fellowship, combined with the call of an Associate

Pastor in 2004, led to membership growth and the startup of a number of ministries, such as the

Lewes After School Program, Soup Ministry, and Community Thanksgiving Dinner, that

continue to the present.

The decline in membership starting in 2007 can largely be attributed to the denominational

anxieties caused by the PCUSA’s drift away from its confessional roots. By 2012, when the

LPC Session declared its intention to change denominations, several families and individuals

loyal to the PCUSA also left the church. Offsetting these departures was the addition of a

number of new members who joined because of the prospect of LPC changing to a more

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evangelical denomination. Some of the losses were also due to “cleaning up” the rolls in

anticipation of a dismissal vote.

Worship attendance, on the other hand has remained relatively stable over the past ten years, and

the ratio of attendance to membership of 71 percent is favorable. One reason for this high ratio

is that LPC offers three different-style worship services each Sunday. The 8:00 am

contemplative service has an average attendance of about 40 persons; the 9:00 am contemporary

worship attracts about 75 worshippers each week, and the 11:00 am traditional service 85

worshipers. The 8:00 am service attendance has been declining slightly over the past few years,

while the 9:00 am service attendance has been growing slightly. The 11:00 am traditional

service attendance has remained relatively constant.

The map below shows LPC’s location; the blue circle indicates a nine-mile radius around the

church. A plot of member and regular-attendee addresses indicates that about 30 percent of the

members live within three miles of the church, while 20 percent live more than 10 miles from the

church. Several active families live 25-30 miles from the church.

229235

257

286280

299

317

335 336329

324

310303 306 305

291 293 291284 281

180185

195

209

226235

230

244 246

205213 212 212 208

202208 206 208

199

100

150

200

250

300

350

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Lewes Presbyterian Church Membership and Attendance Trends 1997-2016

Members

Worship Attendance

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Today, the average age of nearly all denominations of church members is usually higher than the

overall population, and LPC’s situation is no different; however, given the retirement community

character of the Lewes region, this difference is not as great as in other areas. As the table below

indicates, just under half of LPC’s members are 65 years of age or older; however, this statistic is

not significantly higher than the nearly 44 percent of the City of Lewes population that is over 65

years of age. On the other hand, it is significantly higher than the age distribution within the

nine-mile radius of the church, and of Sussex County as a whole. LPC’s proportion of youth

under 18 years of age is about the same as the nine-mile radius, but the proportion of working-

age persons is significantly lower for LPC’s membership as compared to the surrounding area.

LPC 2016 Data for Lewes, Sussex County and Nine-Mile Radius of LPC

Age LPC 9-mile Radius City of Lewes Sussex County

0-4 3.43% 4.25% 2.29% 5.83%

5-17 10.00% 10.52% 7.06% 14.62%

18-64 38.57% 51.37% 47.00% 58.72%

65+ 48.00% 33.86% 43.65% 20.83%

Total 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

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LPC Property and Buildings

The congregation of the Lewes Presbyterian Church has worshiped at the same location on Kings

Highway in the heart of Historic Lewes since Thomas Fenwick granted land “for use of the

Presbyterian Professors,” recorded in the Sussex County courthouse on May 13, 1707, for a

meeting house, school and burial grounds. Over the years, LPC acquired additional land

surrounding the original land grant so that the church building, manse, and cemetery occupy 3.28

acres. The current sanctuary, built in 1832, is the third one on the site. The building has

benefited from many additions and improvements over the years including the addition of the

Sunday School wing in 1914, and the 13,750 square-foot multipurpose activities building in

2002. The historic Sanctuary was fully restored in 2008/2009 and seats approximately 220

worshipers including 20 in the choir loft and 20 in the balcony. The Fellowship Hall in the

Multipurpose Activities building can seat more than 200 people for group meals, and about 200

worshipers for the contemporary service. The main church building now includes over 22,300

sq. ft. of usable space and is fully accessible to persons with mobility disabilities. The church

building is surrounded by a cemetery, and the balance of the land is used to provide 72 parking

spaces.

In addition to Sunday morning worship services, and education, the building is heavily used

throughout the week for Bible Studies, meetings, support groups, and major mission activities of

the church including the Lewes After School Program and the Soup Ministry. The building is

also available for rent to groups whose purposes and activities are compatible with LPC’s

beliefs, such as three 12-step programs, civic meetings, arts and craft groups, and others. In

addition, LPC makes its parking lot available for community activities since it is close to the

center of town, as long as they do not conflict with previously scheduled church activities.

The property also includes A 2,200 square-foot, four-bedroom, two-bath home, built in 1957 on

the northeast corner of the property for use as the church manse. In recent years this home has

been rented, and the rental income has been applied to the pastor’s housing allowance for his

own home.

The church building and manse are in good repair with no known deferred maintenance;

however, the activities building is now more than 15 years old and has required major upgrades

to a portion of the HVAC systems. The total value of the property, based on a 2013 appraisal

was $3.4 million.

Financial Information

God has blessed the LPC congregation with financial resources because the members and

visitors have been extremely generous in their giving, and God has met our needs even at times

when the needs seemed to be too great for us. Over the past 20 years, LPC has completed two

major construction/ renovation projects at a total cost of nearly $4 million, and paid over

$500,000 to settle the “trust clause” claim on our property by the New Castle Presbytery as a

condition of our transfer to ECO. LPC is debt free!

LPC has financial assets of just over $1 million; however, 90 percent of our assets are held in the

general church endowment fund or in an endowment and investment fund to meet our perpetual

care obligations for the cemetery. The income (about $25,000 per year) generated by the general

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church endowment fund of approximately $500,000, is used to fund outside mission requests and

one-time requests from within the church. By guidelines of the Session, the endowment funds

cannot be used for recurring operating expenses. The cemetery also has a nearly $300,000

endowment resulting from a recent, very generous bequest, and the income is used to offset the

maintenance costs of the cemetery, and for no other purpose.

As seen on the graph below, LPC’s income and expenditures have increased slightly over the

past five years, and income has exceeded expenses in every year. The table below provides more

detail on giving and expense patterns over the past five years. Note that the giving amounts

reflect giving to the operating budget, and do not reflect giving to the separate mission budget.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Total Operating Income $422,714 $404,657 $428,254 $440,689 $460,866

Total Operating Expense $383,426 $402,201 $423,266 $440,014 $425,408

Excess Income over Expenses $39,288 $2,456 $4,988 $675 $35,458

Pledge and Other Giving for Operations $396,371 $380,111 $398,256 $411,799 $435,923

Pledge and Special Offerings for Mission $112,021 $116,064 $106,309 $109,012 $114,857

Total Giving $508,392 $496,175 $504,565 $520,811 $550,780

Number of Members 291 293 291 284 281

Average Attendance 202 208 206 208 200

Giving/Member $1,747 $1,693 $1,734 $1,834 $1,960

Giving/Attendee $2,517 $2,385 $2,449 $2,504 $2,754

Portrait of Our Local Community

The Lewes Presbyterian Church is located in the heart of the City of Lewes, a small (2010

Census population 2,747), historic community located on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the

Delaware Bay in Sussex County Delaware. Founded in 1631, Lewes has a rich maritime and

fishing industry heritage. The population of the City of Lewes is about the same today as it was

$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

LPC Income and Expenses 2012-2016

Total Operating Income Total Operating Expense

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in 1950; however, it declined in the 1960s through the 1980s with the decline of the menhaden

fishing industry that employed many Lewes residents before closing down in the late 1950s and

early 1960s

Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing today, Lewes is in the heart of a rapidly growing

tourism and retirement community. The population of the city of Lewes will not likely change

much in the future because the city is fully built out; however, it may increase gradually as

retirees become year-round residents in their second homes, and the city grows slightly through

annexation of adjacent land. However, the population of Sussex County doubled between 1970

and 2000 with most of that growth occurring on the eastern edge of the county where the

majority of LPC members live. Continued rapid growth has been forecast for the next 10 or

more years. The population of the area within a nine-mile radius of the church was about

28,800 in 2000 and is estimated to be 48,000 in 2016, a 66 percent increase. The same area is

projected to grow by another 25 percent to about 60,600 population by 2026. This rapid growth

is primarily fueled by retirees moving to the area to enjoy its natural resources, the vibrant,

historic community, low taxes, and proximity to major metropolitan areas. Approximately two-

thirds of LPC’s new members in the past five years have been retirees moving to the area.

The explosive growth in eastern Sussex County over the past twenty years has brought with it

concerns about congestion, growth management and the ability of government to keep up with

the infrastructure needs. Residents and visitors complain about congestion on Rt.1, the eight-

lane highway that provides access to and through the area, and parking downtown on busy

weekends.

Adjacent to the City of Lewes is Cape Henlopen State Park, a former Army and Navy

installation at the mouth of the Delaware Bay where it joins the Atlantic Ocean. The park,

located on over 5,000 acres of a former military base, offers outstanding swimming beaches,

sport fishing, camping, a nature center, hiking, biking, and youth camp facilities. Nearby is the

southern terminus of the Cape May – Lewes Ferry that provides year-round auto and passenger

ferry service to connect to southern New Jersey.

With over 1,900 employees, Beebe Healthcare, a level III trauma facility with 210 beds, is the

largest employer in the region. The main hospital is located in the City of Lewes, but Beebe

Healthcare also operates a major outpatient facility about four miles from Lewes, as well as a

number of lab, imaging and walk-in clinics.

The Cape Henlopen School District serves the Lewes, Rehoboth, and Milton communities where

most LPC members live. The high school is in Lewes, as is Shields Elementary School. Other

education providers in Lewes include the University of Delaware’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus that

serves as the research and teaching base for faculty in marine biosciences and oceanography. The

62-acre campus comprises offices, classrooms, two primary laboratories, a meeting and

conference facility, a fully equipped modern library, and electronic meeting facilities. The harbor

is home to state-of-the-art research vessels, including our 146-foot flagship, the R/V Hugh R.

Sharp. Beebe Healthcare also operates the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing a 33-month

program which enrolls more than 50 students, and is the only hospital-based nursing program in

Delaware.

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Job Description for Our Next Pastor

Lewes Presbyterian Church is a strong, vital member of the body of Christ. We are capable and

creative. We seek a pastor who will feed us biblically, and partner with us in seeking God’s

direction and carrying out His will for us.

Qualifications

Denominational Affiliation: ECO pastor or ordained by a reformed denomination and eligible

for ECO ordination

Education: Master of Divinity

Experience:

• Prior experience as Senior or Associate Pastor with major preaching responsibilities

• Prior church administrative experience

Compensation:

• Salary negotiable based on experience and qualifications, and within ECO guidelines

• Housing allowance provided

Desired Attributes of Our Next Pastor

We seek a candidate who is theologically evangelical and reformed, personable and

approachable, family-oriented, exhibits a positive attitude, and loves the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ideal candidate will have a proven history in the following specific areas:

Emotional and Relationship Intelligence

• Invests in the lives of the congregation

• Positive team building with both staff and boards

• Engages and becomes involved in the community as a representative of the

church

Preaching/Teaching

• Preaches truth of God’s Word with clarity and application for daily living

• Preaches the fullness of the gospel that all are born with a sinful nature, and that

eternal life and forgiveness of sins are provided by God’s grace alone.

• Uses preaching styles (expository and/or topical) necessary to help us grow as

disciples of Jesus Christ.

• Uses passionate, effective, preaching and teaching skills that exhibit a depth of

scriptural knowledge guided by the Spirit of God

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Leadership

• Will construct a clear and compelling vision for the congregation that aligns with our core values

• Has a passion for leading this congregation

• Will recruit, motivate, and build up leaders in the church

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide a solid, biblically-based preaching and teaching ministry to meet the needs of the

multi-generational congregation and attract new members

• Plan and lead all worship services, including developing the order of service; selection of

music, administering the sacraments, development of seasonal events and services

• Encourage and nurture the spiritual development and beliefs of the congregation through

regular Bible teaching

• Ensure that adequate pastoral care is provided for members in times of crisis

• Develop and communicate the vision for the church to staff, leadership and laity

• Conduct weddings and funerals, providing appropriate preparation and support

• Instruct new members’ class and facilitate the assimilation of new members into the life

of the church

• Stimulate the creativity of lay leaders, working with them to develop a well-rounded

ministry for spiritual growth, fellowship, evangelism and mission

• Administer the program of the church by leading, directing and supervising staff

members and lay leaders

• Lead regular staff meetings and retreats for team-building, sharing, planning and

communication purposes

• Work with the Personnel Committee to develop job descriptions, personnel policies and

procedures and performance evaluations

• Work with the appropriate committee(s) in selecting officers and leaders in the church,

based on their gifts and skills

• Moderate the Session, developing reasonable goals, communicating a clear sense of

direction and equipping the leadership for ministry

• Assist in developing and administering the budget and lead financial drives and giving

programs, as needed

• Represent the church by serving on appropriate committees of ECO

• Represent the church by serving in leadership roles of organizations in the community,

especially the Lewes-Rehoboth Association of Churches (LRAC)

• Schedule extended periods of time for study, preparation and planning to develop and

maintain a deep level of spiritual growth

• Actively participate in ECO Pastor Covenant Groups

• Other duties as required

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