Pastor's Desk Dear Shorter Family, Blessings and prosperity to you and yours! As we begin this Season of Celebration, I thank you for your steadfast love and continued support of the vision that God has given me as your servant–leader. Please know that this is not a time to rest on our laurels or to celebrate our own accomplishments. This is a time to celebrate who God is and to praise God for the past miracles, present blessings and future accomplishments.

This Conference year I am convinced that God is calling us to reach far beyond our capabilities and resources to do Kingdom work and community outreach.  Each time we have stretched beyond our limits God has been faithful to us. I believe that this year will be no different.

During this Season of Celebration, God is going to continue to shape Shorter Community AME Church to be a fellowship anointed by the fire of Social Justice with a Servant Spirit. We will be called to speak peace and strength to the least and lost of our community and in the world.

As we pray for God’s guidance, I respectfully ask you to consider the following vision of service and ministry for the 2011-2012 Conference Year and beyond.

This vision includes:

• The Shorter Community AME Church Social Justice Center - This will be a multipurpose center to house administrative offices, community activity space and an educational facility to be completed by the summer of 2013. A portion of the 2011-2012 Leadership Retreat will focus on getting your input on what such a facility should encompass. We will also dialogue about the timeline, scope and funding ideas for completing the project.

• Cutting Through The Crisis 4 “Jesus, Justice, and Jobs” - There are currently 14 million people unemployed in the United States. African-Americans make up the highest percentage of this number at a rate of 16%. This year we will focus on securing employment for every member of Shorter Community AME Church who is in need of work and who wants to work. Our goal will be to partner with a minimum of 100 churches, businesses, community organizations and individual employers to identify employment opportunities for persons in our community who need employment. Our goal will be to retrain, retool, assist, equip and employ persons who have been affected by the latest economic crisis.

• The continued expansion of present ministries and inclusion of new ministries - We look forward to the continued expansion and growth of the Young Empowered Servants Ministry under the leadership of Rev. Tawana Davis, and the Music and Performing Arts Ministry under the leadership of Reverend Dr. O. Bernard Corbett. New and re-emerging ministries for this conference year will include the Senior Saints Ministry and the Children’s /Nursery Ministry.

• The hiring of necessary ministry staff – As the Shorter Family grows it has become increasingly necessary to identify an Executive Minister to assist the Pastor in coordinating and directing the ministries, supervise the ministerial team of the church, and to assist with membership care. This year I recommend that we hire a full time Executive Minister to aide me in providing quality ministry.

• Creating, expanding and reviving Shorter worship opportunities – Worship continues to play a major role in the life of Shorter Community AME Church. The Pastor, in conjunction with the Ministerial Team, will look at ways to structure the worship services in a dynamic way. We will also explore ways to increase the worship participation and leadership in order to achieve a maximum spiritual growth by all of our members.

• The continued emphasis on small group fellowship through Celebration Circles – Last year we held Servant Circles in an effort to provide small group fellowship for the members of Shorter. This year we will increase the locations and opportunities for coming together in a spirit of celebrating God. Sister Marcia Williams will coordinate this effort and I encourage every member to get connected with a Celebration Circle.

In addition to these major vision priorities, I am excited about other potential opportunities for ministry growth and service. This year it is my hope that we will look back and celebrate God for doing the impossible and trust God to perform more of the impossible. This is A Season of Celebration. In the words of Paul as paraphrased in the Message Bible, “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!” Philippians 4:4-5.

Yours in the celebration of our gracious God,

Pastor Timothy E. Tyler