When One Voice Matters

Listening, Belonging, and New Life in Salem

When Kift Hyunjae Lee began his first appointment as a local pastor at a small United Methodist congregation in Salem, Oregon, [CC1]  in 2023, about fifteen people gathered for worship. The congregation faced many of the challenges familiar to small churches. The average age was around eighty. The church had limited resources, and the pandemic had taken its toll. Starting something new felt risky when there didn’t seem to be enough people to continue the ministries already underway. Pastor Kift didn't begin by asking, “What new program can we create?” Instead, he listened.

Today, forty to fifty people regularly gather; children and youth have become a visible part of congregational life, and the church is developing new relationships across generations and cultures. Perhaps the most important part of the story isn't the growth. It's what happened when people discovered their voices mattered.

Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, describes mattering as the experience of knowing we are valued and have something valuable to contribute. For this congregation, those ideas have taken shape through listening carefully to the people God has placed among them and inviting them to help shape the community they are becoming.

From Congregation to Family

When Kift describes the congregation, he frequently uses the language of family. People don't simply call him "pastor." They refer to him as "our pastor." That one word, our, offers a glimpse into the relationships that have developed. As the congregation emerged from the pandemic, Kift focused on strengthening relationships among those already present while making room for those beginning to arrive. Newcomers have included Korean immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, younger families, children, and youth.

Rather than expecting everyone to fit into a particular model or style of church, the congregation has worked to create an environment marked by welcome and respect. That is an important dimension of mattering. Belonging isn't simply being allowed into a room. It is discovering that your presence changes the room. For a small congregation, that can be especially powerful; a new child isn't one face among many; a new family changes the community; someone’s absence is noticed, and someone's gifts can quickly become important. The challenge is to make sure people experience that close connection as an invitation, not a limitation. That’s the work Kift has been seeking to do.

When Aiden Asked to Be Baptized

One story from the church captures the idea that one matters. A young person named Aiden wanted to be baptized, but he didn't just want baptism; he also had an idea of how he wanted to experience it: through immersion. For a small congregation with established traditions, it would have been easy to say, "That's not how we do things here." Instead, Kift listened, seeking understanding, and then he and the congregation found a way to honor Aiden's request. The baptism became more than a meaningful moment in one young person's faith journey. Something shifted within the congregation.

People saw a young person taking faith seriously. They experienced the energy of new life among them. Some older members began taking their own steps of faith. One person's participation created possibilities for others. That may be one of the clearest expressions of the One Matters Award. "One" doesn't mean only one. One person can change an entire congregation's imagination, and one baptism can remind a church why baptism matters. When taken seriously, one young voice can help an older congregation reimagine a future closer to God’s dreams.

Aiden mattered, not simply because he became another baptismal number on a statistical report, but because his voice was heard and his faith became a gift to the whole community.

Making Room Across Generations

That experience reflects a larger shift happening in the congregation. Despite an older membership, the church has intentionally nurtured children's and youth ministry. Today, around ten to fifteen young people participate. The younger generation has brought new energy into the congregation, but Kift hasn't responded by trying to create every possible new ministry. With limited resources, the church focuses on what it already has and does those things more intentionally. Existing ministries become places where people can discover gifts, relationships, and opportunities to lead. Kift hopes to develop a young adult group as another step in that process. People need to know they are valued, but they also need opportunities to add value.

The question therefore becomes more than, “How do we get young people to attend church?” It becomes, “How do we create a church where young people know the church needs what they bring?”

That is a different approach to ministry.

Discipleship by Showing Up Together

Kift's understanding of discipleship extends beyond Sunday worship. He enjoys pastoral visitation and invites members to join him in service, visiting hospitals, participating in food-bank ministries, and engaging with people throughout the community. Rather than just teaching what discipleship means, he models it and invites others along. That approach makes community engagement part of formation.

People learn to serve by serving alongside someone. They learn to listen by entering another person's story. They learn that ministry isn't something only the pastor does. It is something disciples practice together. This matters especially as Kift thinks about the congregation's future. His goal isn't to grow a ministry that depends upon him. He wants to strengthen lay leadership so that the congregation's relationships and ministries can continue long after his appointment ends.

Again, mattering provides a helpful lens. A healthy congregation does more than tell people, "We care about you." It shows them they are needed, that their gifts, experience, wisdom, and leadership matter, and that they contribute to God’s work there.

Listening as Community Engagement

The congregation is beginning to develop relationships beyond itself, including connections with Native American communities and ministries within the conference. Kift understands that these relationships require humility. A church program cannot overcome histories, cultural differences, and wounds. They require listening, that same posture that has guided much of his ministry. When asked what advice he would offer other pastors, Kift stressed the importance of listening to the congregation and, whenever possible, respecting what people ask for.

That might sound simple, but it represents a significant approach to community engagement. Too often, churches begin with an answer: “Here's what we're going to offer.”

Listening begins somewhere else:

Who are you?

What matters to you?

What gifts are already here?

What might God be doing among you before we arrive with our plans?

That is where asset-based community engagement and mattering meet. We stop viewing people by what they lack and start paying attention to the gifts, wisdom, relationships, culture, and possibilities already present.

What Other Congregations Can Learn

This congregation's story offers several practices that don't require a large budget or staff.

Listen before deciding.
Sometimes the most important ministry strategy is taking someone's request seriously.

Build with what you already have.
Rather than constantly creating new programs, look at existing ministries and ask how they might become places for relationship, leadership, and discipleship.

Give younger people meaningful agency.
Don't simply create ministry for children and youth. Listen to them and let their faith, questions, and gifts shape the congregation.

Model discipleship together.
Invite people to accompany pastors and lay leaders into hospitals, food ministries, neighborhoods, and other places where relationships are formed.

Develop people, not dependence.
Healthy ministry helps people discover that the church's mission belongs to them, not only to the pastor.

The Power of One

A congregation of fifteen can look at itself and see scarcity.

Not enough people.

Not enough young families.

Not enough money.

Not enough energy.

Or it can begin looking closely at what—and especially who—God has already provided.

One retired pastor who can mentor a new pastor.

One cooking team.

One young family.

One community relationship.

One teenager asking to be baptized.

And sometimes, one is enough to begin changing the story.

That's what makes the One Matters Award more than recognition for moving a number from zero to one. Behind every "one" is a person whose story deserves to be heard. And when a congregation listens deeply enough to communicate, “You are valued here, your voice matters here, and you have something to contribute here,” belonging begins to grow. Perhaps that is one of the gifts small congregations can offer the wider church. They can remind us that transformation doesn't always begin with a crowd. Sometimes it begins when one person speaks—and a church listens.