Rev. Melinda Giese, Minister of Discipleship and Pastoral Cara
Puyallup UMC is now three months into our merger process. I say merger “process” because the merger between our two churches is just about completed on paper, but a true integration of two churches doesn’t happen overnight! Members need time to get to know each other, to learn about one another’s gifts and strengths, and to begin to work smoothly together.
Pastor Cara and I are also aware that in this merger, we are blending two different church cultures: the culture of a small church and the culture of a large church. You might not even be aware that churches have different cultures based on size…but they do! In an effort to highlight some of the major differences between small and large churches, Pastor Cara and I are making a short series of videos. In this week’s video, we talk about the different experiences of community in large and small churches. We hope these conversations will lead to deeper understandings as the Holy Spirit continues to bring us together as one church, not only on paper, but also in practice.