Duff Street United Methodist Church Pastor's Page

     Rev. Brian Seders and his wife, Susan, came to Duff Street United Methodist Church in June 2007. Rev. Seders had served at the Sistersville United Methodist Church for the previous thirteen years.

     Rev. Seders grew up in Weirton, WV and received his undergraduate degree from Alderson Broaddus College in 1988 and his Divinity graduate degree from Ashland Theological Seminary in 1994.

     Brian and Susan's children include Faith Seders, Betsy Richmond, and Timothy Richmond.

Have you ever wished someone could have heard the sermon on Sunday? Would you like to read the scripture again or meditate on the pastor's message? You can read Rev. Brian's message or sermon each week. Click on the blue word, "sermon", to read his message. Previous sermons can then be accessed from that page.

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An Update on the Sanctuary

I shared the following verse and story with the Building Study Commission in March:

(Proverbs 29:18 KJV) “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
     Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor, was once working on a head of Lincoln. A woman who was sweeping out his studio wondered what he was doing. One day she finally recognized the face of Abraham Lincoln emerging from the stone. Very much surprised, she turned to Borglum and asked, “How did you know that Mr. Lincoln was in that piece of stone?”

     Gutzon saw the potential in that stone. Finally, through his vision, a great work appeared. We too, have tremendous potential at Duff Street United Methodist. If we determine God's vision for our continued ministry and apply that vision, a great work will appear.

      For a number of years now, we have been trying to halt the progression of the church roof sag and the movement of the wall facing the educational building. If you drive down Duff Avenue from the top of the hill toward the church, you will easily see that the roof has sagged in the middle. According to the engineer's report, the scissor trusses are undersized above the dormers. The inability to properly hold the weight of the roof in this area has created a slow sagging over the years. Attempts to bolster the trusses have apparently worked against supporting the roof. The weight of the roof has pushed the wall out to some extent, creating a seam allowing rainwater to come in at different places. In addition, the grade of the land may be contributing to some additional erosion. This is not an official position, but the slope of the parking lot and standing water around the main building may indeed be complicating matters.

     Back in November, we placed a support inside the sanctuary to bolster a slipped beam casing and to keep the wall from moving any further. We have since measured at three separate points inside the sanctuary to see if the progression of the wall has stopped. Two of the three measurements show no movement. A third measurement was slightly off, but we had some trouble determining the actual place to make the comparison. Future measurements will give us a better indication of movement or lack thereof.

     The engineer's report estimates that it will cost approximately $100,000 to just halt the progression of the wall and to fix the roof sag. The Building Study Commission is concerned about putting this much money into a 93 year old building that has a number of other design concerns affecting ministry in a modern age, concerns such as: handicap accessibility to all three floors, sanctuary space for a growing church, storage space, space for hospitality and guest reception, rewiring, air-conditioning, water damage repairs, additional parking, etc.

     The Building Study Commission has met 5 times. Our number one goal is to determine God's will for our church. In these early stages, everything has been placed on the table. We are discussing renovating, rebuilding on site, rebuilding at a new location, merger possibilities with other United Methodist Churches and satellite ministry with one or more United Methodist Churches. One thing that we have clearly identified is our desire to continue ministry in some form in Stealey. We believe that the Multi-ministries building is a vital facility and must continue to service our area regardless of our choice.

     The Building Study Commission has a daunting task. We realize the enormity of the situation and the many diverse opinions amongst our church members and constituents. The Building Study Commission has set aside Wednesdays as a day of prayer and fasting as a means of determining God's will as we continue to meet and discuss. Please join us in prayer, and please pray for the Commission members. They are: Mike Crim, Terry Moore, Kyle Totten, Jim Harris, Rob Murphy, Bob Harrison, Joe Dearth, Carolyn Green, Monte Fike, Chuck Arnett, QV Baker and myself.

     The Building Study Commission will hopefully have a recommendation to make to the Charge Conference by late summer or early fall. This is the first step in the process. After the Charge Conference receives the recommendation, discusses it and votes on it, a Building Committee would convene and put together a plan for how to fulfill the wish of the Charge Conference. Next, the District Building and Location Committee must approve the plan. Finally, a Church Conference will be convened in which all church members present will vote on the plan.

     As you can see, the process is designed for thoughtful reflection and discussion, including as many in the process as is feasible. In the end, every member present at the Church Conference will have an opportunity to speak and vote.

     There is an old saying: "fear makes the bear seem bigger than it is." This might seem like a bear of a job, but let us remember that with God, all things are possible. If we obey God's will, then we know that success will follow. The blank stone will become a beautiful stone.

God bless you!

Prayerfully,

Brian

Rev. Brian Seders

You may contact Rev. Seders at (304) 624-7969 or send an e-mail to: blseders@gmail.com

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