I was raised in a faith tradition that did not observe the full Christian calendar year…we celebrated Christmas and Easter, period.
As a Methodist, I have found richness in my spiritual journey by marking the different seasons of the year, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Kingdom time.
I am sure when I was younger, I must have heard the word Pentecost, and probably my understanding of Pentecost was based on hearing about our brothers and sisters of the Pentecostal Church fellowship.
I know that from their descriptions, Pentecost seemed a bit scary. It wasn’t an accurate description of the celebration of Pentecost.
Pentecost as you may know is celebrated after Easter. Many people refer to Pentecost as the Birthday of the church. Not a specific church, but rather, the church universal, or the body of Christ. It is the day when a group of really scared followers of Christ encountered the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives and began to speak out and act as people who followed a resurrected Christ. The color for Pentecost is red to symbolize the tongues of fire that came upon the people in the upper room.
I invite you to join us for a Birthday Party on June 12! The theme is celebrating the life and work of our church as a part of the body of Christ. The preferred attire is red. Please invite all of your friends and family to the party!
Happy Birthday!
Pastor Kathleen
Showing posts with label News and Views. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News and Views. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Wilder View - April 2011
I remember the first time Jim and I visited Lafayette Park UMC. We were active members at another church and I guess someone from Lafayette Park just asked us to come one Sunday and worship with them. I was working in corporate America at the time, never dreaming that one day I might be a pastor serving at Lafayette Park. I remember walking in the door at the front of the church and seeing two people standing in the area by the sanctuary door. There was a big sign that had a bunch of name tags on it, and the two people had name tags as well. They were smiling at us and greeted us warmly when they handed us a bulletin. I thought wow, these people have their stuff together.
We found a seat towards the back and before we could really sit down, someone came up and talked with us. They let us know where the bathrooms were just in case we needed it at some point in time. They also introduced us to someone else and we had several lovely conversations before worship began.
The service began and then there was the passing of the peace and we watched as the whole church jumped up and starting walking around and hugging each other. People walked from one side of the sanctuary to the other and there was such a great energy in the room. I remember thinking how great it was to be greeted so warmly. I left that day thinking, you know if I were looking for a church to be part of, Lafayette Park would be a great church.
Sometimes we can get busy on Sunday taking care of the various ministries we are involved in. Dare we confess that sometimes the passing of the peace is the time that we connect with various people on our ministry teams to work out logistics of the next activity? Dare we confess that we might just miss the opportunity of greeting that new visitor who is looking for a place to belong, a place where they can plug in and make a difference in the world?
We have been having new visitors each Sunday and I anticipate that as we draw closer to Easter we will continue to have more and more visitors. Easter Sunday I hope and pray that we will be a full church with people who want to connect with God but really haven’t had an opportunity to find a community where they feel welcomed and wanted.
I invite you in the next several weeks to be intentional about praying for God to draw new people to worship with us during the week. I ask you to be sensitive to new faces and ask that you be intentional about connecting with them. Who knows, what might look like a new face to you might be someone that has been worshipping here for a few months! Perhaps you might consider volunteering to be one of those smiling faces at the door who greet people and welcome them. Or perhaps you might be intentional about greeting the new folks who are visiting each week.
Lafayette Park UMC is a great church and we can extend God’s grace to people by how we greet them. Let’s be intentional to reaching out on Sunday mornings and welcoming people so that when they leave us they say, “Wow, it was great to connect with God today. If I were looking for a church, Lafayette Park UMC would be a great church.”
~Pastor Kathleen
We found a seat towards the back and before we could really sit down, someone came up and talked with us. They let us know where the bathrooms were just in case we needed it at some point in time. They also introduced us to someone else and we had several lovely conversations before worship began.
The service began and then there was the passing of the peace and we watched as the whole church jumped up and starting walking around and hugging each other. People walked from one side of the sanctuary to the other and there was such a great energy in the room. I remember thinking how great it was to be greeted so warmly. I left that day thinking, you know if I were looking for a church to be part of, Lafayette Park would be a great church.
Sometimes we can get busy on Sunday taking care of the various ministries we are involved in. Dare we confess that sometimes the passing of the peace is the time that we connect with various people on our ministry teams to work out logistics of the next activity? Dare we confess that we might just miss the opportunity of greeting that new visitor who is looking for a place to belong, a place where they can plug in and make a difference in the world?
We have been having new visitors each Sunday and I anticipate that as we draw closer to Easter we will continue to have more and more visitors. Easter Sunday I hope and pray that we will be a full church with people who want to connect with God but really haven’t had an opportunity to find a community where they feel welcomed and wanted.
I invite you in the next several weeks to be intentional about praying for God to draw new people to worship with us during the week. I ask you to be sensitive to new faces and ask that you be intentional about connecting with them. Who knows, what might look like a new face to you might be someone that has been worshipping here for a few months! Perhaps you might consider volunteering to be one of those smiling faces at the door who greet people and welcome them. Or perhaps you might be intentional about greeting the new folks who are visiting each week.
Lafayette Park UMC is a great church and we can extend God’s grace to people by how we greet them. Let’s be intentional to reaching out on Sunday mornings and welcoming people so that when they leave us they say, “Wow, it was great to connect with God today. If I were looking for a church, Lafayette Park UMC would be a great church.”
~Pastor Kathleen
Monday, June 7, 2010
Wilder View - June 2010
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1
I have had the privilege of sharing many seasons with Sharon. Our first season was when we were both in the exploration and wonder of going into ministry. We were both part time staff members at Webster Hills UMC and were filled with wonderment that God could call us and use us in ministry. It was a season of newness.
We shared another season as I was first appointed to Lafayette Park and Sharon served as our intern while she was in seminary. A season of questions – why do you do this, have you thought about doing this. What is the story behind… what if we tried this? This was a season of experimentation and learning.
And then we shared another season… a season in which we served the people of Lafayette Park. Time was spent on how we could better care for those we serve. This was a time of perfecting pastoral skills and learning administration. It was a season of preparing to be a seasoned pastor.
Now a new season begins. A season of soaring above the clouds! Shortly, Pastor Sharon will begin a new season, a season of serving as pastor to two churches. She will start the season of falling in love with more of God’s people. She will learn the unique gifts that are within those churches and will help those gifts become nourished and begin to grow.
We at Lafayette Park UMC also enter a new season. This will be a season of discernment as we seek out specific areas where we would like to grow. We will call forth gifts of ministry within the congregation so that we all may grow into using the gifts that God has placed within us.
Every season contains joys and sorrows, life and death, tears and laughter. Let us enter into this new season with the expectant hope of the God that is the giver of life and love, and ask God to plant within us the new growth we hunger for in our churches.
May God bless Pastor Sharon and her two new churches as they enter into this new season of hope and growth. May God bless Lafayette Park as we enter into this new season of hope and growth.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
~Pastor Kathleen
Time with Sharon: Practicing Our Goodbyes
 |
| From Lafayette Park UMC-Pastor's Blog |
June 2010
Now the LORD said to Abram: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” - Genesis 12:1
Some years ago, when I began the exploration of my call to Ordained Ministry, I met with a mentor, whose task it was to help me make some sense of the intense yearnings of my heart scrambled together with a boatload of objections coming from my head. When I finally realized I must leave my home church of nearly 20 years to go onto a new place for ministry, I was hit by the profound impact of leaving the community that I had grown to love and serve. My wise mentor suggested that if I was to become a United Methodist pastor, then I had better start practicing my goodbyes. She was referring, of course, to the itinerant nature of our ministries, moving from church to church as our bishop finds need for our gifts and graces.
Leaving my home church was painful and some of the goodbyes tear-filled. I had raised my children there, developed close friendships there, and come to a deeper, more vibrant faith there. Sort of like Abram, only in a car instead of a camel, and on a highway in stead of on a desert path, I trusted in God as I left what I knew and set out on a journey into the future. God’s path for me, via Highway 44, brought me to this place,
Welcoming and sending. Gosh, when you think about it, that’s an integral part of what we do in the church. Into our midst and heart, we welcome visitors in worship each week. We welcome as littlest members, babies fresh with the splash of the baptismal waters still upon their cheeks. We welcome home long-missed folks returning from journeys to other lands. And we welcome new workers to the vineyard. Together, we pray, we worship, we hear the Word spoken, and we respond. But it doesn’t stop there. If it did, eventually, the gospel message would die. No, at the end of our time together, we are commissioned, scattered, sent out. Like little Abrams, we journey with God to our places of work and leisure, to witness our faith in “the land that God will show us.”
And so, goodbyes are every bit as important a part of our loving God and each other as our hellos. I leave you, my friends, to take up a new appointment in the Gateway Regional District. My little rural churches are in a far-off land from LPUMC. As my season with you ends, I am assured of your blessings, and your love. I shall saddle up my little Prius, packed full of memories and experiences. Confident that you will continue the work of welcoming and sending that defines us as Christians, I will head west, “to the land that God will show…to me.”
Goodbye, and may God bless you and keep you always,
 |
| From Pastor Sharon Kichline Ordination |
Pastor Sharon
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wilder View - May 2010
During the month of April our sermons have focused on ‘playing in God’s garden.’ We have been challenged to sow seeds of God’s love and justice wherever we go in the world. We have also been encouraged to look at the weeds in our lives differently – to find the value that they might bring to our lives and community. Finally, we were challenged to dream of what God’s vision for our community might look like.
What dream has God planted in your mind? Is it ending violence? Protecting children? Stopping hunger? Ending homelessness? Growing mature, spiritual youth and children? Do these dreams seem too big? Do they seem too impossible? The truth is that with God all things are possible.
We are in the midst of creating a community garden with McKinley Classical Leadership Academy. (The big school located on Russell Blvd. between Missouri and Mississippi) In the days and weeks to come, we will be tilling ground at the school, building raised bed gardens, and planting plants with the students, staff, and neighbors of McKinley. We will also create container gardens at Centenary that will be used for food at the Bridge and possibly even start a social entrepreneurship from our garden. Everyone is invited to participate in this exciting adventure.
This is only the beginning. We have been invited to sow seeds of tutoring in each of the schools we are connected to McKinley, Sigel, and Hodgens. There are construction projects we will be doing this summer in our various schools to create more nurturing learning environments.
Most importantly, we have been invited to sow life changing seeds through the process of mentoring one child at a time for a school year (or longer) if it is a good match. Just imagine meeting with a boy or girl for a year and building trust with them. Think about the power of cultivating dreams in young people who may have had their dreams crushed out of them.
It is exciting and great fun to play in God’s garden. So, roll up your shirt sleeves, and dig in! The harvest is great, and laborers are needed.
See you at the Harvest Party!
Pastor Kathleen
What dream has God planted in your mind? Is it ending violence? Protecting children? Stopping hunger? Ending homelessness? Growing mature, spiritual youth and children? Do these dreams seem too big? Do they seem too impossible? The truth is that with God all things are possible.
We are in the midst of creating a community garden with McKinley Classical Leadership Academy. (The big school located on Russell Blvd. between Missouri and Mississippi) In the days and weeks to come, we will be tilling ground at the school, building raised bed gardens, and planting plants with the students, staff, and neighbors of McKinley. We will also create container gardens at Centenary that will be used for food at the Bridge and possibly even start a social entrepreneurship from our garden. Everyone is invited to participate in this exciting adventure.
This is only the beginning. We have been invited to sow seeds of tutoring in each of the schools we are connected to McKinley, Sigel, and Hodgens. There are construction projects we will be doing this summer in our various schools to create more nurturing learning environments.
Most importantly, we have been invited to sow life changing seeds through the process of mentoring one child at a time for a school year (or longer) if it is a good match. Just imagine meeting with a boy or girl for a year and building trust with them. Think about the power of cultivating dreams in young people who may have had their dreams crushed out of them.
It is exciting and great fun to play in God’s garden. So, roll up your shirt sleeves, and dig in! The harvest is great, and laborers are needed.
See you at the Harvest Party!
Pastor Kathleen
Time With Sharon - May 2010
On May 24th, 1738, John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, felt something remarkable happening to him as he attended a worship service in London. He later wrote in his journal:
“In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street…and I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine…”
Together with his many brothers and sisters, John Wesley has been involved in church his whole life. His father was an Anglican priest in the Church of England, and his mother, a strong, caring Christian whose stalwart faith greatly influenced her 10 surviving children. John studied at Christ Church College in Oxford, and at the age of 25, was ordained as a priest in the Church. But it wasn’t until that evening on May 24th that he experienced the power of God’s Holy Spirit stirring within him, affirming God’s love for him as a beloved child of God. It was that service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly movement of God’s Spirit that propelled his ministry to re-vitalize the church with greater zeal and dedication.
This month, we will celebrate the 272nd year since John wrote about the occasion of his warm heart. Maybe you have your own heart-warming experience. I’d sure love to hear about it. Or maybe you are still waiting.
God’s Spirit can move anyone at anytime, under any circumstance. But it seems that when we place ourselves in service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly wings, and to others, like being hit with a brick (in a nice way). But most certainly, it leaves the recipient amazed and craving another encounter.
So I invite you to find a way to serve others with your gifts and graces. Cook a meal, offer a ride, participate in a Hands in Mission event, sit with someone at Fellowship Time after church that is sitting alone. Give of yourself. And while you’re busy, and least expecting it, may God stir your soul, and your heart be strangely warmed.
See you Sunday,
Pastor Sharon
“In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street…and I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine…”
Together with his many brothers and sisters, John Wesley has been involved in church his whole life. His father was an Anglican priest in the Church of England, and his mother, a strong, caring Christian whose stalwart faith greatly influenced her 10 surviving children. John studied at Christ Church College in Oxford, and at the age of 25, was ordained as a priest in the Church. But it wasn’t until that evening on May 24th that he experienced the power of God’s Holy Spirit stirring within him, affirming God’s love for him as a beloved child of God. It was that service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly movement of God’s Spirit that propelled his ministry to re-vitalize the church with greater zeal and dedication.
This month, we will celebrate the 272nd year since John wrote about the occasion of his warm heart. Maybe you have your own heart-warming experience. I’d sure love to hear about it. Or maybe you are still waiting.
God’s Spirit can move anyone at anytime, under any circumstance. But it seems that when we place ourselves in service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly wings, and to others, like being hit with a brick (in a nice way). But most certainly, it leaves the recipient amazed and craving another encounter.
So I invite you to find a way to serve others with your gifts and graces. Cook a meal, offer a ride, participate in a Hands in Mission event, sit with someone at Fellowship Time after church that is sitting alone. Give of yourself. And while you’re busy, and least expecting it, may God stir your soul, and your heart be strangely warmed.
See you Sunday,
Pastor Sharon
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Wilder View - April 2010
Some of my fondest childhood memories were watching my Grandparents look through their jars and envelopes of seeds on cold winter evenings. Looking at tomato, lettuce, cucumber, and watermelon seeds seemed to create a sense of hope on long winter nights. I remember both the joy of feeling the dirt in our hands each spring as we planted those same seeds in the garden, and the anticipation of the vegetables breaking through the dirt.
My grandfather and I would play pirates as we dug for the potatoes, finding buried treasures. We would share wonderful conversations as we hulled the peas, and snapped the green beans. They are all rich, wonderful memories, and all are connected to life in the garden.
Someone asked me recently how many times garden is mentioned in the Bible, and the answer is 52. It seems only proper to have a garden for each week of the year. The gardens range from Eden, to Gethesemene, to the resurrection. God is actively working through gardens that are planted throughout the Bible.
In April we are going to do a three week sermon series on Life in the Garden. Each week we will explore a part of the garden and how it impacts our lives with God and each other. I invite you to come and roll up your sleeves, dig in, and see what amazing fruit God can grow in your life as you putter around in your spiritual garden. The series will culminate in an Earth Day celebration on April 25.
Happy digging!
~Pastor Kathleen
My grandfather and I would play pirates as we dug for the potatoes, finding buried treasures. We would share wonderful conversations as we hulled the peas, and snapped the green beans. They are all rich, wonderful memories, and all are connected to life in the garden.
Someone asked me recently how many times garden is mentioned in the Bible, and the answer is 52. It seems only proper to have a garden for each week of the year. The gardens range from Eden, to Gethesemene, to the resurrection. God is actively working through gardens that are planted throughout the Bible.
In April we are going to do a three week sermon series on Life in the Garden. Each week we will explore a part of the garden and how it impacts our lives with God and each other. I invite you to come and roll up your sleeves, dig in, and see what amazing fruit God can grow in your life as you putter around in your spiritual garden. The series will culminate in an Earth Day celebration on April 25.
Happy digging!
~Pastor Kathleen
Sharing Time with Sharon: Hope
April 2010
“…and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5:5
I went walking in Lafayette Square last week. As I write this, we are just on the cusp of spring, and there is more brown than green showing in the park. So I was encouraged by the bits of green shyly peeking out from under a sheaf of dead leaves. This green was slender new reeds of grass poking out of the earth; they looked far too delicate to push through the heavy mass of leaf matter that laid like a heavy blanket upon them.
Yet, these determined little green needles were coming up anyway. This week, they had pushed through the brown blanket, and were standing rather proudly, I mussed, above the dank darkness, reveling in, and being filled by, the warm sunshine.
Hope is like that. It starts as just a tiny seed that, nurtured just a bit by God’s breath, breaks open and begins growing, imperceptivly at first. The darkness actually provides a place where it can be nurtured, until the day it punches through into the light, and God’s presence working in our lives becomes visible to us and others.
The tomb where Jesus was laid was dark. No light reached him. Yet, like tender green shoots of spring, hope was born in the darkness and began to stir. The Apostle Paul declared “hope does not disappoint us”. That is a stubborn and glorious truth of God’s presence in our lives; Hope, planted within us and nurtured by God’s breath, triumphs over darkness. God’s light can permeate any heavy mass under which we have become buried, calling forth something new, resilient, and beautiful to unfold. God’s breath…God’s holy spirit is working within us.
Is there a place of darkness in your life? Invite God’s spirit to permeate it, soak through it, and use it to nurture hope. Because hope will not disappoint. Hope triumphs over darkness. Let this be our prayer as we await for hope to burst into the sunshine.
Grace and peace+
~Pastor Sharon
“…and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5:5
I went walking in Lafayette Square last week. As I write this, we are just on the cusp of spring, and there is more brown than green showing in the park. So I was encouraged by the bits of green shyly peeking out from under a sheaf of dead leaves. This green was slender new reeds of grass poking out of the earth; they looked far too delicate to push through the heavy mass of leaf matter that laid like a heavy blanket upon them.
Yet, these determined little green needles were coming up anyway. This week, they had pushed through the brown blanket, and were standing rather proudly, I mussed, above the dank darkness, reveling in, and being filled by, the warm sunshine.
Hope is like that. It starts as just a tiny seed that, nurtured just a bit by God’s breath, breaks open and begins growing, imperceptivly at first. The darkness actually provides a place where it can be nurtured, until the day it punches through into the light, and God’s presence working in our lives becomes visible to us and others.
The tomb where Jesus was laid was dark. No light reached him. Yet, like tender green shoots of spring, hope was born in the darkness and began to stir. The Apostle Paul declared “hope does not disappoint us”. That is a stubborn and glorious truth of God’s presence in our lives; Hope, planted within us and nurtured by God’s breath, triumphs over darkness. God’s light can permeate any heavy mass under which we have become buried, calling forth something new, resilient, and beautiful to unfold. God’s breath…God’s holy spirit is working within us.
Is there a place of darkness in your life? Invite God’s spirit to permeate it, soak through it, and use it to nurture hope. Because hope will not disappoint. Hope triumphs over darkness. Let this be our prayer as we await for hope to burst into the sunshine.
Grace and peace+
~Pastor Sharon
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wilder View - March 2010
Putting God First Update!
In January’s newsletter we told you that as a faithful congregation, we are putting God First in every part of our daily church life. Thus, we have faithfully written a tithe check each week to ministry beyond our church. As of February 28, 2010 we have contributed $2,973.00. This completes our commitment to World Service. World Service funds a large number of ministries; theological education in Africa, age level programs, camps and retreats, Christian education, colleges and universities, media, global mission, as well as peace and justice issues to name a few.
This past December, I heard about a young 18 year old woman from Kenya who was helped by the World Service fund. She is the oldest of three children who had lost their father to AIDS when she was 12 years old and their mother to AIDS when she was 14. World Service provided missionaries who supported her family through the loss of their parents. They taught her how to farm, raise goats, and care for her two younger brothers. This Christmas, as a result of the efforts of those World Service Missionaries, she was able to provide Christmas dinner for other AIDS orphans in her village. World Service is dramatically touching lives and changing communities. Thank you for your support of ministry around the world.
"And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, . . . They . . . pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.”--Acts 2:44-45
As of February 28, 2010 we have sent $3,402.25. for Haiti relief through UMCOR – United Methodist Committee on Relief. 100% of this money will go directly to Haiti. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of millions.
~Pastor Kathleen
In January’s newsletter we told you that as a faithful congregation, we are putting God First in every part of our daily church life. Thus, we have faithfully written a tithe check each week to ministry beyond our church. As of February 28, 2010 we have contributed $2,973.00. This completes our commitment to World Service. World Service funds a large number of ministries; theological education in Africa, age level programs, camps and retreats, Christian education, colleges and universities, media, global mission, as well as peace and justice issues to name a few.
This past December, I heard about a young 18 year old woman from Kenya who was helped by the World Service fund. She is the oldest of three children who had lost their father to AIDS when she was 12 years old and their mother to AIDS when she was 14. World Service provided missionaries who supported her family through the loss of their parents. They taught her how to farm, raise goats, and care for her two younger brothers. This Christmas, as a result of the efforts of those World Service Missionaries, she was able to provide Christmas dinner for other AIDS orphans in her village. World Service is dramatically touching lives and changing communities. Thank you for your support of ministry around the world.
"And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, . . . They . . . pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.”--Acts 2:44-45
As of February 28, 2010 we have sent $3,402.25. for Haiti relief through UMCOR – United Methodist Committee on Relief. 100% of this money will go directly to Haiti. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of millions.
~Pastor Kathleen
Sharing Time with Sharon: Making Your Pilgrimage
March 2010
During the season of Lent, the New Testament scriptures place Christians with Jesus on a path toward Jerusalem. The journey that stretches before us is meant to provoke self-reflection and deeper spiritual connection with God. It will not necessarily be an easy one. Struggle, temptation, confession, self-discovery, self-sacrifice, and love will likely be the stones paving our road, as they were for Jesus. Some may stumble and fall, only to be helped up by a fellow traveler. Others of us may need to stay penitent upon our knees for a time, while our hearts find healing.
Christian pilgrimages have always been risky. As far back as the tenth century, faithful Christians were expected to make the journey at least once in their lifetime to Jerusalem. But over time, war and politics made it too dangerous to travel to the Holy Lands. As an alternative, church leaders designed cathedral labyrinths –stone or marble paterns. built into the floor by talented masons—by which Christian pilgrims could make the journey to Jerusalem symbolically, walking the narrow path upon the floor while meditating upon scripture or offering up prayers.
Well, not everyone could travel to a cathedral either. So over the centuries, personal prayer labyrinths began sprouting up out of bricks, flowers, paper, wood, canvas, spray-painted grass, and even on computer screens. While I was in seminary, a group designed and cut a labyrinth into the grass upon the lawn of the school, under the trees. There in the quiet of the morning, with the sunshine streaming through the newly budding trees of spring, I walked the labyrinth slowly, deliberately placing heel to toe, listening for God’s small, still voice in my heart. It was a profound experience.
As with all prayer practices, the labyrinth offers a prayer path for all times in life. Yet for me, there is remarkable power in traveling the labyrinth during the introspective season of Lent. Both Lent and the prayer labyrinth is about a faith journey, with clear beginnings, centers, and endings. Both draw me into a deeper faith connection through movement and prayer. As I move toward center, I prepare myself to be opened afresh to God’s promptings, perhaps discovering a word, a thread of scripture, or a nudge to action revealed. From a cloistered center of rest, I am drawn back out again, to return to the world with my new nugget, my blessing, from God. By the time I have completed my return journey, my heart is prepared to re-enter life again, only now changed a bit by my encounter with God’s divine presence.
During this season of Lent, I invite you to make use of the labyrinth that will be lovingly created at the church, as well as the prayer centers that will be set up in the Sanctuary that will provide multi-sensory places of rest and reflection. They are provided to stimulate and enrich your pilgrimage of faith to your “Jerusalem”.
Good journey, my fellow travelers
- Pastor Sharon
During the season of Lent, the New Testament scriptures place Christians with Jesus on a path toward Jerusalem. The journey that stretches before us is meant to provoke self-reflection and deeper spiritual connection with God. It will not necessarily be an easy one. Struggle, temptation, confession, self-discovery, self-sacrifice, and love will likely be the stones paving our road, as they were for Jesus. Some may stumble and fall, only to be helped up by a fellow traveler. Others of us may need to stay penitent upon our knees for a time, while our hearts find healing.
Christian pilgrimages have always been risky. As far back as the tenth century, faithful Christians were expected to make the journey at least once in their lifetime to Jerusalem. But over time, war and politics made it too dangerous to travel to the Holy Lands. As an alternative, church leaders designed cathedral labyrinths –stone or marble paterns. built into the floor by talented masons—by which Christian pilgrims could make the journey to Jerusalem symbolically, walking the narrow path upon the floor while meditating upon scripture or offering up prayers.
Well, not everyone could travel to a cathedral either. So over the centuries, personal prayer labyrinths began sprouting up out of bricks, flowers, paper, wood, canvas, spray-painted grass, and even on computer screens. While I was in seminary, a group designed and cut a labyrinth into the grass upon the lawn of the school, under the trees. There in the quiet of the morning, with the sunshine streaming through the newly budding trees of spring, I walked the labyrinth slowly, deliberately placing heel to toe, listening for God’s small, still voice in my heart. It was a profound experience.
As with all prayer practices, the labyrinth offers a prayer path for all times in life. Yet for me, there is remarkable power in traveling the labyrinth during the introspective season of Lent. Both Lent and the prayer labyrinth is about a faith journey, with clear beginnings, centers, and endings. Both draw me into a deeper faith connection through movement and prayer. As I move toward center, I prepare myself to be opened afresh to God’s promptings, perhaps discovering a word, a thread of scripture, or a nudge to action revealed. From a cloistered center of rest, I am drawn back out again, to return to the world with my new nugget, my blessing, from God. By the time I have completed my return journey, my heart is prepared to re-enter life again, only now changed a bit by my encounter with God’s divine presence.
During this season of Lent, I invite you to make use of the labyrinth that will be lovingly created at the church, as well as the prayer centers that will be set up in the Sanctuary that will provide multi-sensory places of rest and reflection. They are provided to stimulate and enrich your pilgrimage of faith to your “Jerusalem”.
Good journey, my fellow travelers
- Pastor Sharon
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Wilder View - January 2010
s our finance team met to plan for the New Year, the decision was made to put God First. What you may ask, does that mean? We always put God first don’t we?
In the simplest terms, for our church, it means that as a faith community we will begin by writing our tithe check of 10% of our budget gifts for God’s ministry beyond our walls (including apportionments). This check will be written first, each week, without fail. We will schedule our church building and activities with the focus of God First. Worship, faith development and small groups will be our first priorities. We will look for additional ways that we can give God the first of our time in service.
What might God First look like in our own home? Perhaps it might be that before we get out of bed we stop and give the day to God. “God, I want to put you first today. Show me ways that I can organize my time, and resources that put you first in my life. Help me to live so that others will see you active in my life.” It could be that you try a new spiritual discipline such as reading a devotional book each day, or reading a few verses of the Bible each day. It could be starting the day with a family devotion. It could also mean that when we get paid, the first check we write is for our tithe or pledge for God’s ministry.
I wonder what God First looks like in your life. I wonder what would happen if everyone in our church committed for one day, or one week, or one year in one way to put God First? Just imagine the impact we might have in our church and community.
I pray that 2010 is a great year for you. I pray that you encounter God’s presence and power in your life in dramatic and wonderful ways every day and I pray that you will join me in this adventure to put God First. God First,
Always In All Ways,
~Pastor Kathleen
In the simplest terms, for our church, it means that as a faith community we will begin by writing our tithe check of 10% of our budget gifts for God’s ministry beyond our walls (including apportionments). This check will be written first, each week, without fail. We will schedule our church building and activities with the focus of God First. Worship, faith development and small groups will be our first priorities. We will look for additional ways that we can give God the first of our time in service.
What might God First look like in our own home? Perhaps it might be that before we get out of bed we stop and give the day to God. “God, I want to put you first today. Show me ways that I can organize my time, and resources that put you first in my life. Help me to live so that others will see you active in my life.” It could be that you try a new spiritual discipline such as reading a devotional book each day, or reading a few verses of the Bible each day. It could be starting the day with a family devotion. It could also mean that when we get paid, the first check we write is for our tithe or pledge for God’s ministry.
I wonder what God First looks like in your life. I wonder what would happen if everyone in our church committed for one day, or one week, or one year in one way to put God First? Just imagine the impact we might have in our church and community.
I pray that 2010 is a great year for you. I pray that you encounter God’s presence and power in your life in dramatic and wonderful ways every day and I pray that you will join me in this adventure to put God First. God First,
Always In All Ways,
~Pastor Kathleen
Time with Sharon: Like Jesus
January 2010
I joined an enthusiastic bunch of folks at The Bridge this past week to help cook and serve supper to about 200 men, women, and children of our city’s sojourners. These are folks who, for a bunch of different reasons, have found themselves gathering for shelter, camaraderie, and a hot, tasty meal at this warm facility, housed at our sister church, Centenary United Methodist Church at 16th and Olive. The Bridge serves three meals a day and is open from 6am to 6pm, providing warmth from the cold and a cool reprieve from the heat. LPUMC folk gather from 4pm-6pm to help prepare and serve supper there on the first Tuesday of each month.
It was a cold evening…with record freezing temps and snow expected the rest of the week. As the dining hall emptied out, I wondered, where will they all go now? My eye caught sight of a little boy, maybe 12-15 months old, bundled up in a stroller between his parents. I wondered about this little guy, and I’ve been wondering about him since.
I began pondering: what can I do for this little boy to keep him warm and safe? In a few years, will he go to school? What if he gets sick? My imagination has been concocting all kinds of dire circumstances for his fragile future. As a follower of Jesus, the One who fought for justice for “the least of these”, I went home thinking about what I could be doing for him, and those like him, facing a deep freeze in these uncertain times.
So I made phone calls. And I learned about emergency numbers to call for housing resources and warming shelters in our city. I learned about a blessed group of volunteers, called the Winter Outreach, who go out in the night armed with blankets, sleeping bags, and coats, seeking to help people who are cold. Yes, good people are doing much. Still, the thought tugged at me, what am I doing to love this little boy like Jesus?
Then, in prayer, God’s spirit reminded me that every time we pray for the children of our city, we are loving them. Every time we help a child read a little bit better, we are helping to pry open their potential so that they can be all that God wants for them. Providing new school supplies nurtures their intelligence and creativity. The donated coats, hats, and mittens we share help make these cold days and nights warmer. The hot meals we stir up and serve help them grow stronger. The financial gifts that we make to our collaborative United Methodist ministries help to provide training, housing, medical care, and spiritual support. At LPUMC, we are already part of God’s ongoing work to bring hope and wholeness to the children of our city.
A sense of peace covered me as I thought about how the little boy visiting The Bridge has been and still is in God’s care. And God will continue to provide for him and his family through the work of the many who share and care. I want to be part of that, and I bet you do too. May 2010 be a great year for him. And may 2010 be the year we reach out a little further to help make it so…for him, and for all the children of our city.
Can I get an AMEN?
~Pastor Sharon
I joined an enthusiastic bunch of folks at The Bridge this past week to help cook and serve supper to about 200 men, women, and children of our city’s sojourners. These are folks who, for a bunch of different reasons, have found themselves gathering for shelter, camaraderie, and a hot, tasty meal at this warm facility, housed at our sister church, Centenary United Methodist Church at 16th and Olive. The Bridge serves three meals a day and is open from 6am to 6pm, providing warmth from the cold and a cool reprieve from the heat. LPUMC folk gather from 4pm-6pm to help prepare and serve supper there on the first Tuesday of each month.
It was a cold evening…with record freezing temps and snow expected the rest of the week. As the dining hall emptied out, I wondered, where will they all go now? My eye caught sight of a little boy, maybe 12-15 months old, bundled up in a stroller between his parents. I wondered about this little guy, and I’ve been wondering about him since.
I began pondering: what can I do for this little boy to keep him warm and safe? In a few years, will he go to school? What if he gets sick? My imagination has been concocting all kinds of dire circumstances for his fragile future. As a follower of Jesus, the One who fought for justice for “the least of these”, I went home thinking about what I could be doing for him, and those like him, facing a deep freeze in these uncertain times.
So I made phone calls. And I learned about emergency numbers to call for housing resources and warming shelters in our city. I learned about a blessed group of volunteers, called the Winter Outreach, who go out in the night armed with blankets, sleeping bags, and coats, seeking to help people who are cold. Yes, good people are doing much. Still, the thought tugged at me, what am I doing to love this little boy like Jesus?
Then, in prayer, God’s spirit reminded me that every time we pray for the children of our city, we are loving them. Every time we help a child read a little bit better, we are helping to pry open their potential so that they can be all that God wants for them. Providing new school supplies nurtures their intelligence and creativity. The donated coats, hats, and mittens we share help make these cold days and nights warmer. The hot meals we stir up and serve help them grow stronger. The financial gifts that we make to our collaborative United Methodist ministries help to provide training, housing, medical care, and spiritual support. At LPUMC, we are already part of God’s ongoing work to bring hope and wholeness to the children of our city.
A sense of peace covered me as I thought about how the little boy visiting The Bridge has been and still is in God’s care. And God will continue to provide for him and his family through the work of the many who share and care. I want to be part of that, and I bet you do too. May 2010 be a great year for him. And may 2010 be the year we reach out a little further to help make it so…for him, and for all the children of our city.
Can I get an AMEN?
~Pastor Sharon
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wilder View - December 2009
Luke 2:7 …and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
It wasn’t a special day. I was living out my normal schedule. Running from one meeting to another, making phone calls as I traveled, and thinking about the things I needed to do in the free moments at stop lights. I pulled up to the church. Really quick now, I told myself, “you need to get in, get out, pick up ____, ____, ___, and get to the next place. Hurry!”
Then this verse came to my head. “…there was no room for them in the inn.” Wow, what an odd verse to run through my head when I am thinking about getting things accomplished. After all it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet! Why am I already thinking about Christmas? (maybe because it was getting close to the deadline for this article?)
“…there was no room for them in the inn.” The words came to me again. Hmm, I wonder… no, gotta fly, people are waiting on me. I need to get in, get out, and go.
“…there was no room for them in the inn.” Once again, these words floated through my mind. Finally I realized that it was probably the Holy Spirit working on me. So I stopped just a moment and wondered… could it be possible that there was no room in my inn? Well at least in my day? Wait a minute, I already had my personal devotional and prayer time, God; I made room for you this morning…what do you mean, there is no room?
Yet those words swirled around me once again.
My friends, we are entering a time when the world just gets faster and faster. Our calendars are getting fuller and fuller. Our commitments are becoming greater and greater, and maybe, just maybe, we are not making room for the real meaning of Christmas. Maybe the ‘inn’ is the place in our daily lives that we stop to invite the Christ child to help us see the world from the perspective of innocence and fun. How much room have we set aside in our calendar to experience the wonder of birth and life? How much room do we have in our day to be quiet and reflect upon the joy of God’s greatest gift?
This advent, I invite you to stop and intentionally make room…make room in your day; make room in your schedule, and in your life to encounter Emmanuel, God with us!
Happy Advent!
~Pastor Kathleen
Time with Sharon: Finding Hope
December 2009
Said the night wind to the little lamb, “Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night, with a tail as big as a kite.”
It was back in October, 1962, and the Soviet Union and the United States were involved in a crisis centered on missiles the Russians had installed in Cuba. The United States threatened military action if the missiles were not removed. The world trembled and prayed as these two nuclear powers stood eyeball-to-eyeball.
That October, as Noel Regney walked through the streets of New York, a sense of despair was everywhere. No one smiled. Everybody hung on the words of the radio newscasters, waiting, waiting, waiting, to learn if the security that they had known was on the verge of being obliterated.
Noel knew something about war and fear of death. Forced to serve in the German army during WWII, he secretly also served the French resistance, risking his life many times as he shared German plans for harm with the French freedom fighters.
Years later, he and his wife, Gloria, living in New York, worked as a song-writing team. Christmas was approaching, and Noel had been asked to write a holiday song. In this time of thick tension and cold fear, he could not muster any enthusiasm or inspiration.
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, “Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the tree with a voice as big as the sea.”
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the tree with a voice as big as the sea.”
But then one day walking home, he saw two mothers with their babies giggling at each other from their strollers. Their joy transformed him, and filled his heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs, and he began to muss, “Said the night wind to the little lamb....”As soon as Noel arrived home, he jotted down the lyrics, and Gloria set them to music.
I am struck how this story pivots on a peek into the world of God’s reign of tenderness and goodness, even in the midst of external fear and turmoil. While the East coast sat in the sights of a belligerent world power, God was revealed in the goofy, gurgling delight of children. Hope sprung forth for this songwriter, even as it did 2000 years ago for those who, beleaguered by their lives of poverty and oppression, gazed upon the Messiah child.
Our own era has known some major turbulence this past year too. There is certainly fear, for shrinking saving accounts, another rent check due, and the potential of impending illness. People are still hurting each other in our neighborhoods, in our cities, even in our service bases. There is no shortage of bullies, big and small. But during this season, we are reminded that God is still with us…and will show up in the most amazing places in the least likely container. Who could have imagined that he would choose to present himself where the cows and donkeys were stabled, as the baby of politically and economically invisible parents?
Said the king to the people everywhere, “Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere, listen to what I say!
The Child, The Child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.”
Pray for peace, people, everywhere, listen to what I say!
The Child, The Child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.”
As we await the celebration of the birth of Emmanuel, we are reminded that Hope is still alive through God’s presence with us. We are never alone, not ever. God’s purposes for healing and wholeness for us continue, even in the face of our present difficulties. Look into the sweet face of a child, and yet again, see the hope for tomorrow revealed. Find the truth on which we may take comfort…
“He will bring us goodness and light.”
May God’s peace and grace be upon you in this season of waiting,
Pastor Sharon
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wilder View - November 2009
It is the beginning of the holiday season…a time when people think about going home. Through our ministry at The Bridge, I find myself thinking about home, and what actually is home. I have had conversations with guests about home. For some, it is a physical place where their family lives. Others think of home as the community where they were raised, and some consider home to be where they are at the present moment. There is something really powerful about the feeling of being home. For most, it is a place that is safe, nurturing, and hopefully full of love.
One of the most joyful aspects of serving our ministry at The Bridge is being able to help many people go home. Whether through helping with transportation home, or providing referrals to places which provide transitional housing, or helping women escape a domestic violence situation and find safety in a new home, helping people go home is exciting!
This past month, our Juarez team built a new home for Jesus, Carmen, Jonathan, Candy, and Jose. I hope you hear some of the wonderful stories they have about how important it was to this family to help them build their home. Both Jesus and Carmen (husband and wife) worked along side of our team to build their home. Jesus took off two days of work. On the third day he worked from 8 am to 1 pm, dashed off to the factory where he worked a ten hour shift at his factory job. After returning home he mixed cement and put two more courses of block on top of his home and was waiting for our team when they arrived the next morning.
We have helped several families experience the joy of owning a home through our Juarez VIM teams. We have built 7 homes in Juarez in the last five years. Each year we visit the last year’s family (after all, they are now our friends.) It is always a great joy to see the improvements they have made over the ensuing year.
Back in the late 1980’s Lafayette Park was a home for people who had a strange illness, which was later named AIDS. People who were abandoned by their families of origin found deeply caring families and a home at Lafayette Park. The people of Lafayette Park adopted people who were struggling with AIDS, and lovingly cared for them as they lived and died with dignity.
I guess all these thoughts about home make me realize that I truly feel like I am at home at Lafayette Park. As I begin the season of Thanksgiving I am reminded of how thankful I am to be at home at Lafayette Park. Wherever your travels may take you this holiday season, I hope that you always feel the warmth and love of being home.
Grace and Peace,
~Pastor Kathleen
One of the most joyful aspects of serving our ministry at The Bridge is being able to help many people go home. Whether through helping with transportation home, or providing referrals to places which provide transitional housing, or helping women escape a domestic violence situation and find safety in a new home, helping people go home is exciting!
This past month, our Juarez team built a new home for Jesus, Carmen, Jonathan, Candy, and Jose. I hope you hear some of the wonderful stories they have about how important it was to this family to help them build their home. Both Jesus and Carmen (husband and wife) worked along side of our team to build their home. Jesus took off two days of work. On the third day he worked from 8 am to 1 pm, dashed off to the factory where he worked a ten hour shift at his factory job. After returning home he mixed cement and put two more courses of block on top of his home and was waiting for our team when they arrived the next morning.
We have helped several families experience the joy of owning a home through our Juarez VIM teams. We have built 7 homes in Juarez in the last five years. Each year we visit the last year’s family (after all, they are now our friends.) It is always a great joy to see the improvements they have made over the ensuing year.
Back in the late 1980’s Lafayette Park was a home for people who had a strange illness, which was later named AIDS. People who were abandoned by their families of origin found deeply caring families and a home at Lafayette Park. The people of Lafayette Park adopted people who were struggling with AIDS, and lovingly cared for them as they lived and died with dignity.
I guess all these thoughts about home make me realize that I truly feel like I am at home at Lafayette Park. As I begin the season of Thanksgiving I am reminded of how thankful I am to be at home at Lafayette Park. Wherever your travels may take you this holiday season, I hope that you always feel the warmth and love of being home.
Grace and Peace,
~Pastor Kathleen
Time with Sharon: Thanks”—giving
November 2009
It’s that time of year again. Time to begin thinking about sending my letter. Most of my writing happens through texting or email these days, but this special letter I actually write long-hand. Yeah, can you imagine? Here’s how it happened…
Some years ago, I began sending letters of thanks to folks who had offered me a hand of friendship somewhere along the way, provided care or comfort, or inspired me by their example. This practice began with our first next door neighbor, who 15 years earlier, had come over and mowed the lawn of newlyweds who couldn’t yet afford a lawnmower. With our first fall frost, this dear man came into our basement to show us how to light our furnace after we had slept in our coats and mittens. We were a couple of dopey kids who didn’t know squat, and he thoughtfully looked over us as we bumped through our first year of home ownership. Our first wonderful neighbor has long since moved away, and we have too. But every year, when it’s time to light the pilot light on the furnace, I think of his kindness, and wished we could thank him again for his care to us. I decided if I could not tell him, I would appreciate others in his honor. So I began writing letters.
One year I wrote to the man who taught me how to gently share my Christian witness with others, freeing me from the fear that had always kept me silent. Another year, I sent my thanks to my most memorable Sunday School teacher, who made every kid in the class feel like they were her family. Of course, I was family, but Aunt Marjorie never played favorites. Then there was my knee surgeon, who gave me back the hop in my skip, enabling me to take VIM teams to high places to build churches and provide medical care. There have been many letters over the years, and each time I finish one and post it, I giggle just a little inside to think of the surprise the recipient will feel upon receiving heartfelt thanks for long-past deeds. Moreover, it has blessed me to be able to remember their goodness, and to thank God for the gift of their presence in my life.
During the Thanksgiving season, we are prompted to think more about our blessings, and make a special point of saying thank you to God. Is there someone who has cared for you when you needed a helping hand? I believe God urged that person to help you, through the Holy Spirit working in their heart (even if they didn’t know it). That’s surely what prompted our good neighbor years ago to leave his warm house to go check on the two young goofballs living next door. I believe that God connects people with needs together with people blessed with resources through this Spirit-prompting. So if you think about it, for every good turn we receive, we really have two thank you’s to deliver. One to the person, and another to thank God for answered prayer.
So, whoever I send my thank you letter to this year, I’ll also be thanking God for sending them into my life.
Who does your heart yearn to reach out to with a letter or phone call of thanks? Do it…it feels as good to send these letters as it does to receive them!
Grace to you,
Pastor Sharon
It’s that time of year again. Time to begin thinking about sending my letter. Most of my writing happens through texting or email these days, but this special letter I actually write long-hand. Yeah, can you imagine? Here’s how it happened…
Some years ago, I began sending letters of thanks to folks who had offered me a hand of friendship somewhere along the way, provided care or comfort, or inspired me by their example. This practice began with our first next door neighbor, who 15 years earlier, had come over and mowed the lawn of newlyweds who couldn’t yet afford a lawnmower. With our first fall frost, this dear man came into our basement to show us how to light our furnace after we had slept in our coats and mittens. We were a couple of dopey kids who didn’t know squat, and he thoughtfully looked over us as we bumped through our first year of home ownership. Our first wonderful neighbor has long since moved away, and we have too. But every year, when it’s time to light the pilot light on the furnace, I think of his kindness, and wished we could thank him again for his care to us. I decided if I could not tell him, I would appreciate others in his honor. So I began writing letters.
One year I wrote to the man who taught me how to gently share my Christian witness with others, freeing me from the fear that had always kept me silent. Another year, I sent my thanks to my most memorable Sunday School teacher, who made every kid in the class feel like they were her family. Of course, I was family, but Aunt Marjorie never played favorites. Then there was my knee surgeon, who gave me back the hop in my skip, enabling me to take VIM teams to high places to build churches and provide medical care. There have been many letters over the years, and each time I finish one and post it, I giggle just a little inside to think of the surprise the recipient will feel upon receiving heartfelt thanks for long-past deeds. Moreover, it has blessed me to be able to remember their goodness, and to thank God for the gift of their presence in my life.
During the Thanksgiving season, we are prompted to think more about our blessings, and make a special point of saying thank you to God. Is there someone who has cared for you when you needed a helping hand? I believe God urged that person to help you, through the Holy Spirit working in their heart (even if they didn’t know it). That’s surely what prompted our good neighbor years ago to leave his warm house to go check on the two young goofballs living next door. I believe that God connects people with needs together with people blessed with resources through this Spirit-prompting. So if you think about it, for every good turn we receive, we really have two thank you’s to deliver. One to the person, and another to thank God for answered prayer.
So, whoever I send my thank you letter to this year, I’ll also be thanking God for sending them into my life.
Who does your heart yearn to reach out to with a letter or phone call of thanks? Do it…it feels as good to send these letters as it does to receive them!
Grace to you,
Pastor Sharon
Young Adult Ministry Update
November 2009
God truly is doing great and amazing things at LPUMC! This week, a group of young adults gathered to pray, converse, plan and dream for the future--and of course, eat. We will meet every 1st & 3rd Tuesday at 6:30 in the parlor. However, because we are dedicated to our mission of "being a church without walls," we will be discussing other opportunities for gatherings outside of the building. At our next gathering on Tuesday, Nov. 3, the topic of discussion will be outreach.
Some of the earliest European settlers in North America came to the frontier of this continent in order to establish a life in faith that would be free from the constraints of the old world churches. The founders of the Salem colony arrived in what would become Massachusetts as a community dedicated to God and one another. Their covenant to one another was "to walk together in all God's ways, known or to be made known to us, at whatever cost." This mission statement was a tall order, and one that they eventually would corrupt with power struggles and the notorious "Salem Witchcraft Trials."
But the ideals of this first generation were not that different from our own. The Salem pilgrims did not have to travel across the Atlantic, but were drawn to the promise of greater freedom and a deeper walk with God. The people of Lafayette Park UMC do not have any obligation to become part of the church, but are drawn here for similar promises of liberty of conscience and a spirit-filled community that walks in faith. As we gather together in Sunday worship and in smaller groups throughout the week, we think of all of our spiritual ancestors that had the same drive toward community that we have today.
Aaron Ban
Young Adult Minister
God truly is doing great and amazing things at LPUMC! This week, a group of young adults gathered to pray, converse, plan and dream for the future--and of course, eat. We will meet every 1st & 3rd Tuesday at 6:30 in the parlor. However, because we are dedicated to our mission of "being a church without walls," we will be discussing other opportunities for gatherings outside of the building. At our next gathering on Tuesday, Nov. 3, the topic of discussion will be outreach.
Some of the earliest European settlers in North America came to the frontier of this continent in order to establish a life in faith that would be free from the constraints of the old world churches. The founders of the Salem colony arrived in what would become Massachusetts as a community dedicated to God and one another. Their covenant to one another was "to walk together in all God's ways, known or to be made known to us, at whatever cost." This mission statement was a tall order, and one that they eventually would corrupt with power struggles and the notorious "Salem Witchcraft Trials."
But the ideals of this first generation were not that different from our own. The Salem pilgrims did not have to travel across the Atlantic, but were drawn to the promise of greater freedom and a deeper walk with God. The people of Lafayette Park UMC do not have any obligation to become part of the church, but are drawn here for similar promises of liberty of conscience and a spirit-filled community that walks in faith. As we gather together in Sunday worship and in smaller groups throughout the week, we think of all of our spiritual ancestors that had the same drive toward community that we have today.
Aaron Ban
Young Adult Minister
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wilder View - October 2009
Five years ago a new pastor of a small ‘struggling’ church in the urban core of St. Louis, had this really crazy idea. “Let’s host a pumpkin patch on the church parking lot.” She had heard it was a great fund raising opportunity, and since the church was somewhat cash strapped at the time, this seemed like an easy way to break out of the financial bind. Oh, there were some concerns…”Someone might throw a pumpkin through our stained glass window….What happens if someone steals the pumpkins (after all we are located in the big, bad city)….someone might smash them on our lot, and make a great mess.”
However, this small church stepped out in faith, and hosted its first pumpkin patch. One day a woman in a van stopped by the patch. She was from an agency that cares for children who have been severely abused. “Would it be possible for the children to come and play in the patch, even though we do not have money to buy pumpkins?” “Of course,” said the person working at the pumpkin patch and then they began to seek sponsors for children without money, so that every child could leave with a small pumpkin of their own. Even though the patch didn’t earn the huge amount of money that the church anticipated that year, the patch was rich in the joy and laughter of the children, children who had been traumatized, children enjoying a care free morning. It really was rich a return on the investment.
There is a saying, “mighty oaks from small acorns grow.” This crazy idea of a pumpkin patch grew and grew, and grew. Now the church is known as the Pumpkin Church. In just a few days the semi-truck will arrive and a group of people will help unload pumpkins that a Navajo tribe grew this summer. There will be volunteers who will share the grace of God and the beauty of pumpkins with our community. There will be children’s parties and animal blessings. There will be pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, and maybe even rolls this year. There will be new friendships created, more lives touched. There will be lots of pumpkins sold and lots of pumpkins sponsored. We make money to help the Navajo tribe, and even some to support the ministries of the church.This church isn’t small anymore, and certainly isn’t struggling either. It isn’t even as financially strapped anymore. However, there is one thing that hasn’t changed….our patch will once again be rich in the joy of children’s laughter, rich in the sound of children experiencing the carefree grace of God.
Won’t you please consider playing with us on our patch as we live out our vision of being “A church without walls creating a visual sign of Christ’s presence in our urban community, and beyond.”
~Pastor Kathleen of the Pumpkin Church
However, this small church stepped out in faith, and hosted its first pumpkin patch. One day a woman in a van stopped by the patch. She was from an agency that cares for children who have been severely abused. “Would it be possible for the children to come and play in the patch, even though we do not have money to buy pumpkins?” “Of course,” said the person working at the pumpkin patch and then they began to seek sponsors for children without money, so that every child could leave with a small pumpkin of their own. Even though the patch didn’t earn the huge amount of money that the church anticipated that year, the patch was rich in the joy and laughter of the children, children who had been traumatized, children enjoying a care free morning. It really was rich a return on the investment.
There is a saying, “mighty oaks from small acorns grow.” This crazy idea of a pumpkin patch grew and grew, and grew. Now the church is known as the Pumpkin Church. In just a few days the semi-truck will arrive and a group of people will help unload pumpkins that a Navajo tribe grew this summer. There will be volunteers who will share the grace of God and the beauty of pumpkins with our community. There will be children’s parties and animal blessings. There will be pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, and maybe even rolls this year. There will be new friendships created, more lives touched. There will be lots of pumpkins sold and lots of pumpkins sponsored. We make money to help the Navajo tribe, and even some to support the ministries of the church.This church isn’t small anymore, and certainly isn’t struggling either. It isn’t even as financially strapped anymore. However, there is one thing that hasn’t changed….our patch will once again be rich in the joy of children’s laughter, rich in the sound of children experiencing the carefree grace of God.
Won’t you please consider playing with us on our patch as we live out our vision of being “A church without walls creating a visual sign of Christ’s presence in our urban community, and beyond.”
~Pastor Kathleen of the Pumpkin Church
Time with Sharon: Traveling in the Darkness
Time with Sharon: Traveling in the Darkness
October 2009-
Today, I spent two hours getting my headlights replaced on my car. They couldn’t find anything wrong with them, but they had completely shorted out twice this week while I was driving home from church after dark. This was worse than if, when I first started the car, they had simply just not come on at all. I would have called my trusty friends at AAA , and we would have dealt with the issue before I found myself hurtling down the highway in total darkness at (or near) the speed limit.
After some time of checking, and making phone calls, the dealer agreed to replace the headlights. Their machines couldn’t find a problem, but they concluded that the risk of leaving them in place was too high. I agreed.
It’s a good thing when your lights turn on when you need them...but it’s a better thing that they stay on when you are trusting in them.
So it is with our faith, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. How often have we taken it for granted, expecting that, because we have once had a transformative experience in our life, our faith, will just be there for us and we’ll know how to access it when we need it? That transformative experience was catalytic, for certain, and probably propelled us into a deeper relationship with God. But if we don’t attend to our faith through connecting with others in prayer, Bible study, Christian conversations and fellowship, and reaching out to others, then we may have difficulty connecting with God just when we need it most critically. In other words, our faith might short out, just when we find ourselves hurtling at high speed in darkness.
A few weeks ago, that’s what happened to me. I was in route to see my critically ill brother, who had been hospitalized with a high fever and a mysterious and aggressive infection. It didn’t look good at all….in fact it looked really bad. I was driving numbed, filled with dread. I couldn’t even form the words of a prayer. But I had made a few phone calls before leaving, asking others to pray. And pray they did. The church prayer chain kicked in, and prayers started flying heavenward. A friend called and prayed over the phone for and with me for miles as I drove on. I was covered, drenched, saturated in prayers, as were my brother and his family. I felt the love, the assurance, the peace that surpasses all understanding.
My faith held me up through a connection with God via my church family. My headlights blazed on in the darkness, because of people of faith that surrounded me in prayer. I never felt alone.
Coming to worship is very good. But I encourage you, my friends, to stay after, talking and sharing. Come back in the middle of the week for bible study and prayer. Join others on a Saturday in risk taking a mission and service. Attend to your faith through the energy you pour into engaging with your faith family.
It will serve you well. For these people will remind you that God is right there; embracing you, loving you all the way. And you will never be alone in the dark.
Peace,
Pastor Sharon
October 2009-
Today, I spent two hours getting my headlights replaced on my car. They couldn’t find anything wrong with them, but they had completely shorted out twice this week while I was driving home from church after dark. This was worse than if, when I first started the car, they had simply just not come on at all. I would have called my trusty friends at AAA , and we would have dealt with the issue before I found myself hurtling down the highway in total darkness at (or near) the speed limit.
After some time of checking, and making phone calls, the dealer agreed to replace the headlights. Their machines couldn’t find a problem, but they concluded that the risk of leaving them in place was too high. I agreed.
It’s a good thing when your lights turn on when you need them...but it’s a better thing that they stay on when you are trusting in them.
So it is with our faith, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. How often have we taken it for granted, expecting that, because we have once had a transformative experience in our life, our faith, will just be there for us and we’ll know how to access it when we need it? That transformative experience was catalytic, for certain, and probably propelled us into a deeper relationship with God. But if we don’t attend to our faith through connecting with others in prayer, Bible study, Christian conversations and fellowship, and reaching out to others, then we may have difficulty connecting with God just when we need it most critically. In other words, our faith might short out, just when we find ourselves hurtling at high speed in darkness.
A few weeks ago, that’s what happened to me. I was in route to see my critically ill brother, who had been hospitalized with a high fever and a mysterious and aggressive infection. It didn’t look good at all….in fact it looked really bad. I was driving numbed, filled with dread. I couldn’t even form the words of a prayer. But I had made a few phone calls before leaving, asking others to pray. And pray they did. The church prayer chain kicked in, and prayers started flying heavenward. A friend called and prayed over the phone for and with me for miles as I drove on. I was covered, drenched, saturated in prayers, as were my brother and his family. I felt the love, the assurance, the peace that surpasses all understanding.
My faith held me up through a connection with God via my church family. My headlights blazed on in the darkness, because of people of faith that surrounded me in prayer. I never felt alone.
Coming to worship is very good. But I encourage you, my friends, to stay after, talking and sharing. Come back in the middle of the week for bible study and prayer. Join others on a Saturday in risk taking a mission and service. Attend to your faith through the energy you pour into engaging with your faith family.
It will serve you well. For these people will remind you that God is right there; embracing you, loving you all the way. And you will never be alone in the dark.
Peace,
Pastor Sharon
Welcome to our new Young Adult Minister!
October 2009
It is with great joy and anticipation that I bring in the new school year (and the Jewish new year) by starting my ministry here at Lafayette Park UMC. As many of you already know, I am a student at Eden Theological Seminary entering my second year of studies for a three-year masters program. I had the privilege of working with Kathleen last year at Centenary, and decided to continue our working relationship at her other “charge,” with a particular focus on building young adult ministries.
In addition to long walks on the beach, I enjoy singing, and my wife Caroline and I have already been fitted with choir robes. The community we have encountered through its central practice of worship here has been extremely warm and affirming. Instead of saying, “I have to go to work today,” it is my privilege to say, “I get to go serve the people of Lafayette Park!” The soil is indeed fertile for Jesus to sow new seeds, guiding our feet and opening our eyes in the presence of one another and the greater community.
Sincerely,
Aaron Ban
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