Which Side is the Cross On?

Good morning and God bless you. In our Church’s Historic Examination for Admission into Full Connection for pastors, this is Question 14: “Will you diligently instruct the children in every place?" (The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2012, Paragraph 336).

I married a gifted teacher of children. Beverly’s ministry with children is engaging, creative, fun, and based on trusting the faith of children to learn. I, on the other hand, am nervous about each Children's Message in worship. I don't feel creative. I think I am too abstract most of the time. So, I am thrilled when an image or object comes to mind. And then there is the graceful experience of the teacher learning in the moment…

The 9/21/14 worship theme was Peace as the Fruit of the Spirit, part of our September-October worship series. For the Children's Message I got the folding changing pad from the Nursery and used it as a dividing wall between the children in the center in front of the altar table. I told them to look only on their side of the church as if it was the whole church; and not to look at the other side because they did not belong. I asked them if that was really a good way to think about the Church. Then I looked up from the altar table with its gold cross to the large wooden cross on the front wall, and in that moment (not before, mind you), I asked, which side is the cross on?

We had divided up quite evenly down the center aisle, but the cross disrupted that view. It was on neither side. Or was it on all sides? In that moment, telling the children that Jesus breaks down the dividing wall between us and unites us took on a much deeper meaning. We could literally see that the Cross was on the side of the whole world.

In the sermon we considered the walls of the church building, especially the sanctuary. Are they walls behind which we hide and learn to hate by more precisely defining our enemies? In Christ, God reminds us that dividing walls of hostility are not load-bearing walls in the household of God.

Faith is not supported by investing in separation. Rather, we gather within the sanctuary walls to build trust in God who in Christ is reconciling the world to God-self and breaking down walls. With a global awareness of peace (God reconciling the world) we have local opportunities to practice it. On this spiritual journey, God is always creating more room to live together.

How Do Things Grow and Change Here?

(Written for the September 2014 Wayland UMC ARK newsletter)

Good morning and God bless you. I don’t remember if I asked all these questions in the introductory meeting Beverly and I had with the Pastor Parish Relations Committee in March, but they were part of my preparation:

• What is ready to happen here?
• What are you on the verge of, that with encouragement and blessing you can enter into?
• How do things grow and change here?

These are questions not only for Committees, but for all gatherings of this Body of Christ including our worship. I feel positive momentum building in creatively working with our Worship Team and education leaders as we enter the fall season of ministry.

One approach to these questions about growth and change is through the Biblical themes of fruit and fruitfulness. “We believe the Bible begins and ends with an image of fruitfulness and that Scripture throughout leads us to conclude that churches as the body of Christ on earth, are intended by God to be fruitful” (Weems and Berlin, Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results, 1).

Another insightful author encourages us to be patient and keep moving in fruitful directions.

"The skill that seems most essential for such leaps is a certain feel for ripeness. It is having the patience to abide the growing season and develop a subtle sense of touch and the understanding that whatever the outcome of risk, of letting go of the tree, the point is always the moving on of life” (Gregg Levoy, Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, 252).

Together let’s seek the Spirit’s fruit for our ministry to serve as a beacon for Christ in our community. Together let’s notice what is ripe and ready to be received and used in God’s service.

Wisdom, Wonder and a Year of Learning

(Written for the September-October 2015 Wayland UMC ARK newsletter)

Praise the source of faith and learning that has sparked and stoked the mind

With a passion for discerning how the world has been designed.

Let the sense of wonder flowing from the wonders we survey

Keep our faith forever growing and renew our need to pray.

(The Faith We Sing #2004)

“Wisdom begins in wonder” (Socrates)

Good morning and God bless you. With this edition we enter the new school and ministry year. Children’s Sunday School will take a new shape this fall beginning September 27 after worship with an intergenerational learning format. Stay tuned for more details. Adult Sunday School continues after worship each week. Boy Scout Troop 97 (Monday 7-8:30 pm) and Scout Venturing Crew 2097 (Sunday 6-8 pm) resume their weekly meetings here at Church. We are working on possibilities for middle high ministry as well.

I am the son and brother of educators. Beverly and I are also first-time grandparents. Braxton Kai Sherd was born August 18th to our daughter, Lindsey, and son-in-law, Callan, in Lincoln, Nebraska. I look forward to all we will learn with him. Education is a strong and clear generational value for us, and I am so thankful. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ involves a life of love and learning. This affirmation is found in many places.

• Moses told the people of Israel before they entered the Promised Land: “These are all the commands, laws, and regulations that the LORD your God told me to teach you so you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and so you and your children and grandchildren might fear the LORD your God as long as you live” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2).

• After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you…That is the path of blessing (John 13:12-17). I like the way one of our teachers concludes her email messages, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand ~ Confucius”.

We thank God for the students, educators, staff, administrators and Board members in our schools and on our campuses. Our West Michigan Conference supports five campus ministries (Central Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley, Michigan State and Western) and two United Methodist-related colleges (Adrian and Albion). The Church takes education seriously and I am so thankful.

So, what do you want to learn this year about God? The Bible? Faith? Discipleship? I look forward to our conversations and what we will learn together.

The Years Past and Ahead

(Written for the July-August 2015 Wayland UMC ARK newsletter)

Happy One-Year Anniversary, Wayland UMC! We entered our shared ministry last July. Thank you for welcoming us in many ways and supporting our transition into ministry here. We have lived through one cycle of the Church year and our outstanding Harvest Dinner.

Worship music has been offered by Mitchell Lapham, Mickala Kohtz, Maggie Anderson, Roxie Muczyinski, and our handbell choir, and we have welcomed Somi Yoon and Andria Savara as our regular and substitute pianists. In funeral and memorial services we have celebrated the lives of Effie Greenawalt, David Wood, Edith Clack, Tom Andrews, and Janet Haight.

And how about our motivated Mission Team! Their trip to Red Bird Mission and Henderson Settlement in late April/early May will be followed by a second trip later this year because their dedication and creativity are overflowing.

I have come to see the tradition of Scouting in our congregation. There have been Wayland city celebrations to introduce us to the spirit of our community. And I have experienced challenge and blessing in serving as Chairperson of our West Michigan Conference Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry.

In personal ways, this past year has included the death of my dad in January, Beverly's new job in May, and the news that we are expecting our first grandchild in August.

So much fills a year! I find blessing in reflection and am grateful for the many dedicated leaders in our congregation.

Together we continue seeking to reach our 2015 Congregational Goals:

1. Worship: Grow to average 100 people in worship.
2. Leadership: Increase our church leaders by 10%.
3. Discipleship: Have at least 40% of our worshipping congregation involved in small groups for spiritual development.

Finding and maintaining focus on the mission of the Church is an ongoing challenge given the many troubles and distractions that fill our lives. I appreciate our times of worship to be recalled to the Center of our life, Jesus Christ, and sent forth to extend Christ's outreaching love in the world.

As we enter our second year, I want to deepen my understanding of the character of our congregation and how we can best move forward in ministry.

In their book, Grace for the Journey: Practices and Possibilities for In-Between Times, George and Beverly Thompson offer these questions for reflecting on congregational life:

1. Remembering your entire experience at this church, when were you most alive, most motivated, and most excited about your involvement? What made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe how you felt.
2. What do you value most about our church? What are its best features?
3. What three wishes do you have for the future of our church?

I find when we are in touch with the heart and soul of our common life as the Body of Christ, God uses us in amazing ways to share compassion, hope and love. May God bless and guide us in the coming year.

We’ve All But Forgotten How to Do This

(Written for May-June 2015 Wayland UMC ARK newsletter)

When the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer,” and again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, another Rabbi, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, “I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to the latest Rabbi to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: “I am unable to light the fire, and I do not know the prayer, and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient.” And it was sufficient. God made man (sic) because he loves stories (Storytelling: Imagination and Faith, William J. Bausch, 15-16).

We try so hard to be faithful in our lives. We want to follow the practices that we inherit in our faith traditions. But over time and in successive generations, things change. We forget details or have different memories of how things used to be. There can be a sense of resignation in the losses that accumulate through the years. We can grieve those losses by giving up on current attempts to participate in our life with God. Or like each more recent Rabbi in the story, we can offer what we know and do not know up to God, and ask that it be accepted and transformed.

These accumulated losses are felt on a community and nation-wide scale. I write this as the riots in Baltimore, MD are destroying their city following another grievous death of an African American man in police custody. We grieve for the people overwhelmed by violence and poverty, and the law enforcement community dedicated to, and so challenged by the call to serve and protect.

We are experiencing a convergence of grief and change in our congregation, and in our individual lives. The change is not bad. We are pursuing healthy growth goals, and expanding our leadership teams and their resources. We have been envirogated by the adult handbell choir during Lent (and possibly in coming months). Our Red Bird Mission/Henderson Settlement Team is on location in Kentucky as most of you receive this newsletter. And we grieve the losses of dedicated yet departed servants and friends.

So, this is our time to call out to God for help. We can lift up our hearts, tell our stories and ask that God use us in the divine plans for peace, healing and justice, even if we have all but forgotten how to do so.

The Grammar of Lent and Easter

March and April are the months that include Lent and Easter, two of the most spiritually powerful times in the life of the Church. I appreciate the seasons of the Church year and how they are organized around the life of Jesus.

In Lent, we intentionally encounter our human condition, need for grace and desire for a change in our elevation; a desire to see our lives in the context of God’s love, and Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Easter brings us the amazing news that God’s love was lost and found in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and that we are given new life on earth right now through faith in Jesus Christ! The life we are given is faithfully demonstrated for us in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In a story attributed to, or used by, Herb Miller, a noted authority in congregational health and effectiveness, the news of a Revolutionary War battle was being communicated by smoke signals. The first signals that appeared in the sky were WASHINGTON DEFEATED. Then cloud cover ensued, effectively stopping or interrupting the communication. Those who saw it were discouraged. Washington was the passive subject and his army was defeated. However, a little later in the day with clearer skies, another message appeared, WASHINGTON DEFEATED THE ENEMY.

The full message was completely different than the initial message! Washington was not the defeated passive subject, he was the active subject and his army prevailed. Looking at Lent and Easter this way, we can appreciate the power of reversal and reconciliation and renewal that comes to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can examine the ways we are defeated in this earthly life by sin and death, and feel the pain of separation from God. That partial message seems to be the whole message and it is easy to feel discouraged.

The Good News of Easter is that the partial message is not like the whole message. Jesus suffered the separation and forsakeness of God on the cross. The message there was JESUS DEFEATED, a passive victim. But God’s saving power embraces even death, and the Easter message is

JESUS DEFEATED THE ENEMY.

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15: 54b-55)

Thanks be to God for making Jesus Christ the active subject of our life and ministry together.

Goals to Start the Year

(Written for the January 2015 Wayland UMC ARK Newsletter)

Good morning and God bless you. We enter 2015 with hope and expectation following strong worship services in December, including our Children’s Christmas presentation and hand bell choir on 12/14, Blue Christmas on 12/14, Christmas Eve with a congregation of more than 150 people, and the reception of six new members on December 28th! I am grateful for the ways God is calling us to life here.

While 2015 presents opportunities to make individual resolutions, as a congregation we are resolving to grow in faith toward the three goals we adopted at our annual Church Conference on 11/23/14. Our District Superintendent complimented us on how specific and measurable our goals are. This of course helps focus our efforts and release creativity to love God, our neighbors and ourselves in the coming year. These goals will be prominently displayed on our printed materials, meeting agendas, web site, Facebook page, and other communication sources.

Congregational Goals for 2015
Our objective is to create a balance among our inward focus and outward focus.

1. Worship participation: Grow average church attendance with regular attendees to a goal of 100 in worship and sustain the goal.
2. Spiritual Growth: Increase the number of leaders and committee/team members by 10%.
3. Discipleship: Grow our education department and learning opportunities to have 40% of attendees involved in something outside of Sunday worship.

These goals wonderfully reflect the identity and purpose of the Church as it expressed in the introduction to one of the Baptism services in our United Methodist Hymnal:

The church is of God, and will be preserved to the end of time, for the conduct of worship and the due administration of God’s Word and Sacraments, the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline, the edification of believers, and the conversion of the world. All, of every age and station, stand in need of the means of grace which it alone supplies.

I invite you to share in our common response of resolving to make a difference in 2015 as Wayland United Methodist Church.

Grateful for My Dad's Life of Learning

Good morning and God bless you. And thank you for your many expressions of compassion and support for our family in the death of my dad, Charles Williams, on January 9th. He died in his sleep. While his death was not unexpected, he had been living with congestive heart failure since 2012, you are never ready for the phone call from your mom telling you that your dad has died.

Having been with families as their pastor in preparing for a funeral, I now know first hand the disorienting experience of making many plans in a few days; bursting into tears and almost bursting into tears; having great composure; being very silent and laughing loudly; being fixated on small details; and, well, just grieving. I felt the comfort of being ministered to by Rev. Kim Bloom and the Clay United Methodist Church, mom and dad’s home church in South Bend.

In the days since his death and funeral I have noticed that I find myself in times and spaces of emptiness, not agitated or accompanied by a flood of tears, but more like a wave that has crested and exhausted itself on the shore. But in those concentrated days of preparing for a funeral and meal, and being consoled by people with big hearts and fond memories of my dad, there also was and is a profound sense of gratitude.

I am moved by the memory of my dad’s life of learning and commitment to education. He contributed greatly to the advancement and relevance of public education. I treasure our family pictures at graduations. Dad was the first person in his family to get a college education, eventually earning his Doctorate in Education from Ball State University. My sister, Dr. Lori Tagger, has followed with a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Indiana State University. And our oldest daughter, Lindsey Sherd, is earning her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Nebraska. It’s no surprise that I hold a profound commitment and appreciation for learning and teaching in the life of faith. And I am thankful for the many ways the Bible expresses the values of wisdom and knowledge.

My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you,

making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding;

if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures—

then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God…

Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;

for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

prudence will watch over you; and understanding will guard you (Proverbs 2:1-5, 9-11).

May your learning be accompanied with thanksgiving for the people in your life who seek wisdom and knowledge and understanding, especially if they happen to include your dad.

What Falls On and In Our Hearts

Anne Lamott recalls in her book, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith (73): There's a lovely Hasidic story of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, "Why on our hearts, and not in them?" The rabbi answered, "Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside."

The potluck meal following worship on July 13 was wonderful. Thank you for your many delicious contributions. Shared meals are great occasions for fellowship. They are times to be fed spiritually and physically.

The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 was the sermon text for worship that day. There is power in gathering together in God's Word, especially as we get to know one another. The unity we share is in Christ and God's Word even though we are not yet well acquainted personally. Committed time in Scripture can prepare us for whatever may come our way in ministry. That's where Anne Lamott's Hasidic story affects me. Like the seeds scattered by the sower, most do not make it in good soil. They remain on the surface to be lost to birds, weeds or the sun. Likewise, our time in God's Word, whether in worship or personal devotions or small group Bible study, may not seem to bear fruit or result in a harvest. But then God uses some person or circumstance to break down or break through our spiritual soil, and we experience transforming power.

Are you aware of the primary entries on our Wayland UMC Facebook page? Kimberly Wolff, our Office Manager, makes almost daily entries of Scripture passages. I consider them seeds God uses to prepare us for growing opportunities.

Another dimension of the Parable of the Sower is Jesus' description of the harvest producing "a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!" (13:8). Research in Palestinian farming in Jesus' time indicated a yield of seven times what was planted was a reasonable expectation. That yield allowed them to keep farming on the landowner's property but also kept them dependent on the landowner. Jesus' declaration of the amazing yields also had within it the subversive message that God's transforming power could set them free. It could allow them to dream of a new life for their families and communities. Let's not miss the potential of Jesus' message as we gather in God's Word for worship, study and prayer, and go forth with the Good News of God's love for us and the world.

Good Morning, Wayland UMC!

Good morning and God bless you, Wayland UMC. Our shared ministry begins in July and I offer some introductory reflections. First of all, thank you for your welcoming contacts by Facebook and email, and for Lee's photography at Annual Conference that documents our transition. Keith's contacts with Beverly and me regarding the parsonage kept us up to date on their work and the decisions we could make. Time with Pastor Gary and Kimberly was informative and energizing. I look forward to good ministry together. When it comes to a big picture of our life with God, the best thing I can say is GRACE in all the Wesleyan ways we understand it...God loving us before we know it, opening doors by preparing hearts and minds for new relationships; reconciling, forgiving and restoring us to right relationship through Jesus Christ; and giving us a future with hope as we go on toward perfection in love in this life. Grace challenges, confounds and comforts me, and is the orienting power in my life and ministry. Grace was extended to me in the hospitality of Three Oaks UMC, my home church. Grace was at work when I joined my life with Christ the end of my freshman year at River Valley High School. The best people in my life are Beverly (my wife), daughter Lindsey and Callan (her husband), and daughters, Sarah and Amanda. Lindsey and Callan live in Nebraska. Sarah will be a senior at Western Michigan University and Amanda will be a sophomore at DePaul University in Chicago. So, Beverly and I unload boxes into an empty nest. I know that we enter as guests in the Wayland UMC family and I will become your pastor in time. But for now, I praise God and thank you for being the Body of Christ. I change "country" to "church" in this concluding quote from Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of the Morning": Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, And in to your brother's face, Your (church), And say simply Very simply With hope-- Good morning.

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

"Oh, only for so short a while you have loaned us to each other..."

(Praying Our Goodbyes, 69)

"The sure sign of God is that you will be led in ways you did not intend to go"
Local UMC road sign in Evanston, IL in the mid-1980's

I am writing at the end of a five-week period that has included half of Lent, Holy Week and Easter; and the announcements that I will be leaving Hartford UMC to serve Wayland UMC on 7/1/14 and Pastor Rey Mondragon will become the new pastor here after serving as Associate Pastor for 6 years at First United Methodist Church of Ypsilanti.

Our time together has been short, only three years. This ending is bittersweet. We are an engaging, active, passionate, prayerful congregation committed to mission and service in Jesus' name.

I am encouraged in these endings and beginnings by the faith that we belong to God and God has been working in our lives well before we were aware of the possibility of these changes. I also hold the perspective that we are part of the already-in-progress history of God in the Church.

The church is of God, and will be preserved to the end of time, for the conduct of worship and the due administration of God’s Word and Sacraments, the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline, the edification of believers, and the conversion of the world. All, of every age and station, stand in need of the means of grace which it alone supplies (The Baptismal Covenant III)

In my Easter sermon I highlighted God as the source of our beginnings and endings, and referred to the Greek letters on the front of our worship table that reflect Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." 

As pastor and congregation we are involved in discerning God’s will as an ongoing process and practice of faith. We annually reflect on, and explore the meaning of what we have learned in ministry together. I am asked to be specific about my gifts, graces, skills, limitations, sense of calling to ministry, and family situation.

In this process we cannot know how long an appointment will last. However, we can devote ourselves to God, each other and the mission of the church with the time we have together.

The heart of our church is mission.

We are known as the church who helps people in need and

we respond directly to the effects of poverty in people’s lives.

That’s being Hartford United Methodist Church.

The chronic strain and burdens our people bear in employment, finances, medical bills, aging, housing and homelessness, utilities and transportation have emerged as a primary focus of my time and attention. I did not anticipate the significance or impact of working in this environment. For me there is heartache at such great need and inspiration at the eventual resourcefulness of people. This level of involvement was not apparent as we started life and ministry together. That’s why I have consistently reflected the positive value of social workers in our ministry setting. I have a deeper appreciation for the power of grace in times of despair because of our shared ministry.

From Bishop Donald Ott I learned the value of honoring three covenants in life. He taught that he holds covenants with God, his marriage and family, and the Church. And he holds them in that order. He emphasized that getting those covenant relationships right and keeping them healthy took care of a lot of other complications.

In my discernment about present and future ministry I have been blessed in the ways I experience grace, compassion, peace and love with God. I affirm a long-term commitment to Beverly’s vocational work as a medical Social Worker in Grand Rapids and our support for two daughters in college. And I am deeply grateful for the creative ways I have been able to serve God through the Church. I still feel that serving as a pastor is the best way to respond to God’s grace in my life.

That calling led to an openness to other ministry opportunities and the invitation to serve the Wayland congregation.

I rejoice in the ways that we have loved God and our neighbors and each other in this season of ministry. Thank you for your faithfulness and friendship. Our life together in God and as disciples of Jesus Christ continues even as we part ways at the end of June. I thank God for the mature leaders in our congregation who will sustain and guide Pastor Rey as you have guided me to find strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Don't Underestimate Cleaning Your Garage

Following Jesus is hard work. It is a mysterious combination of being and doing; grace and responsibility; stillness and action; surrender and victory. The range of this life is included in the seasons of Lent, beginning Ash Wednesday, March 5; Holy Week, April 13-19, and Easter, April 20.

Following Jesus leads us into uncomfortable circumstances and relationships where we learn how God's grace sustains us. We learn how to hold on and let go of commitments and plans for the sake of knowing and loving God.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense" (Ralph Waldo Emerson in Ready for Anything, David Allen, 24)

It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I've reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14; Common English Bible)

I continue to be intrigued and inspired by the work of David Allen and the Getting Things Done system. He has brought together the ways our brain works and provided practices for releasing the life-energy within us.

"One of the most effective ways to spark a dynamic vision is to clean your garage. Don't get me wrong. Writing a great strategic plan and creating a clean, well-ordered garage are very different activities. One requires a high-level focus and a willingness to see beyond the conditioning and details of current reality. The other requires an often brutal hand-to-hand combat with those details. Yet there is a strange and wondrous relationship between the two...when people want to get control of their work and life by 'setting priorities'...(m)y choice is always to go for cleaning up the garage of their work, their life, and their head. Then the priorities, the vision, and the plan emerge - grounded, with solid roots" (Ready for Anything, David Allen, 24-25).

The season of Lent is the opportunity to clean our spiritual garages; roll up our sleeves and pay attention to what needs to stay and what needs to leave in our hearts. Lent means attending to the hard work of faith but we don't always recognize it that way. "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work" (Thomas Edison in Ready for Anything, David Allen, 25).

Holy Week and Easter are the opportunities to hear and experience the solid grounding of our faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; to know and feel the love of God as the hardest work of overcoming evil, forgiving sins, and restoring right relationships.

I hope we are able to work hard to leave behind the burdens of the past and reach out for the possibilities of the future as we experience God's upward call in Christ Jesus. And I pray that in doing so we may find that our hard work depends entirely on the hardest work God does in Jesus Christ.

A Power Surge on the Road by the Sea

Church was canceled today due to the severe weather. Here is the download link for the sermon I did not preach and the bulletin we did not use.

Appreciating the Forest and the Trees in 2014

A common type of expression when we feel we have drifted from what is important or have lost sight of the greater plans God has for us is, "We've lost the forest in the trees." We attend to so many smaller matters in life that awareness of being involved in broader movements of the Spirit or being part of a greater Body of Christ is missed. We may feel disconnected or feel that our efforts are not contributing to a greater whole.

Regaining that sense of community can be a powerful blessing and multiply the benefits of our work in individual areas of ministry. Reclaiming a view of the forest or big picture can reveal the local beauty of our congregation.

Each year in preparation for Church Conference with our Kalamazoo District Superintendent through the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee and Coordinating Council we create our Congregation's Profile. It describes us with information about the direction of ministry, church reputation, Hartford community and schools, desired pastoral skills, and a 10-year record of membership, worship and church school attendance, church expenditures and Ministry Shares paid. This is a word-picture of our forest, the big picture of who we are and where we are headed.

I offer these portions of the Congregation Profile as a guide for 2014. I want to know what you think about this bigger picture of our ministry. I will be sharing more about these dimensions in future newsletter articles and leadership meetings.

Congregational Core Beliefs

We are a moderate to conservative congregation with emphasis on fostering a biblical world view. We are mission oriented, worship oriented, pay our ministry shares, and have concern about the need to help build a relationship with Jesus Christ. We emphasize community outreach. We seek to apply biblical standards to social issues.

The main focus of congregational life is reflected in goals for the near future and the order in which to address them:

1. Our focus is to bring people together in small groups in a learning and caring environment, and to equip them to be disciples for Christ – we want social connection between people.
2. Our focus is also to promote growth in Christian education for children, youth and adults.
3. Our focus is to continue supporting and sustaining Senior Services luncheons and programs.

Congregational Mission Statement

It is our mission to follow the Holy Spirit through prayer, and our growing knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, in creating a ministry that draws others into dependence upon Christ’s Saving Grace and a lifestyle that is both obedient and pleasing to God. As a means to this end, we as individuals and as a congregation will engage in evangelism, teaching, mission and service to those in need so that others will both hear of and experience the Grace of Christ. Further, we also recognize the need to join with other congregations of like mission to establish any or all of these ministries.

Our mission belongs to the greater mission of The United Methodist Church "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

May God bring us a renewed sense of purpose and inspiration as we love God, our neighbors and ourselves in this new year.

Saints, Thanks, Advent and Christmas 2013

The most recent government shutdown has been resolved. As I write this in late October we are experiencing the costs and confusion of re-starting. This past week I was part of a group of pastors and fruit/vegetable/flower growers who met with two of Representative Fred Upton's staff on the topic of Immigration Reform. Next week I plan to attend the informational meeting at the Hartford Library on the Affordable Care Act. Nothing seems to be working as it should or as we hoped it would. Our human ways of visioning, organizing, planning and acting more often than not come out distorted and dysfunctional. I smile as I remember my grandmother's wisdom in knowing the humanness and foolishness of politicians and leaders.

But, we carry on anyway because there are breaks in the storm clouds, moments of clarity, and more than random acts of kindness and compassion. There is something in us that continues longing and searching for meaning in this earthly life.

One way we live in this tension of hope and fear is to celebrate the seasons and Sundays of the Church year which concludes on November 24 and begins on December 1 with Advent. I also have found it helpful to recognize the unofficial spiritual season that begins November 1 with All Saints' Day and includes Thanksgiving.

Saints are those beloved children of God in whom we saw the Light of the World and who are no longer with us. The blessing we speak in worship is that they are "Absent from us. Present with God." Thanksgiving grounds us in healthy dependence upon God, the giver of all good gifts, and healthy interdependence with each other as we affirm the need we have for community and to follow Jesus together.

Advent and Christmas show us that the birth of our Savior begins with pregnancy, expectation and preparation. In our Advent worship we light a new candle each week and confirm the work we do in the season: Hope, Prepare, Rejoice and Love. At Christmas we remember that God did not crash land or mistakenly come into this world. But through a gentle, strong mother, Mary; a humble, respectful father, Joseph; and Holy Spirit presence and creativity Jesus entered this distorted, dysfunctional world to disrupt and deliver us from sin and despair.

By faith we return to the people and stories of these seasons so that we can return to a world that is not finally shut down, but transformed and made new. Praise God for sharing this life with us in Jesus.

Methodists in Ministry and Life

In responding to God's call to bear fruit we can benefit from organizing our lives to cultivate fertile soil (Mark 4:1-9); invest wisely the talents we have been given (Matthew 25:14-30); embody the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22); see what is good, and meet the Lord's requirements to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

We seek God's blessing as we enter a new school and ministry year. The quality of students' and educators' lives is deeply affected by the way they organize their time and work. John Wesley and his brother, Charles, were part of an original group at the University of Oxford in England called The Holy Club. Out of this experience of active, disciplined devotion came the derisive term, methodists.

The first work of the Holy Club was the study of the Bible. The new movement was spiritual, humanitarian, but, first and strongest of all, scriptural. The searching of the Scriptures was earnest, open-minded, devout, unceasing. Wesley himself said: "From the very beginning--from the time that four young men united together----each of them was homo ur, ius libri; a man of one book .... They had one, and only one rule of judgment .... They were continually reproached for this very thing, some terming them in derision Bible Bigots; others, Bible Moths; feeding, they said, upon the Bible as moths do on cloth (Chapter V: The Holy Club at Wesley Center Online)

I appreciate our strong desire for Bible study; "to follow the Holy Spirit through prayer, and our growing knowledge of the Holy Scriptures" according to our mission statement. An organized approach to discipleship training can have a ripple effect throughout our lives, that is we can be methodists in ministry and life.

A playful and appealing resource I am integrating in my ministry and life now is called "Getting Things Done." It's author, David Allen, has some powerfully practical suggestions about why we struggle with our work and how we can respond differently to the demands of daily living. He recommends getting everything out of our minds, deciding what the next actions are, and recording them in a trusted system that is regularly reviewed and refreshed.

Your mind will keep working on anything that's still in (an) undecided state. But there's a limit to how much unresolved "stuff" it can contain before it blows a fuse. The short-term-memory part of your mind--the part that tends to hold all the incomplete, undecided, and unorganized "stuff"--functions much like RAM on a personal computer. Your conscious mind, like the computer screen, is a focusing tool, not a storage place. You can think about only two or three things at once (my emphasis) (Getting Things Done, 22-23).

The power to focus, to have a singleness of mind and heart, or to commit to a common mission can be exhilarating. This power is a source of stability and peace from God. As we enter this new school and ministry year, we can seek the blessing of a well-organized life that is inspired by God and leads us to ask, "What's the next thing to do?"

We are an active congregation who responds to clearly defined invitations, challenges, projects and missions. So together let's seek the blessing of a methodist season of growing in the knowledge and love of God.

Peace, Pastor Jeff

Wesley Foundation of Kalamazoo's 90th Anniversary

Thank you, Lisa, current students, staff, Board members and supporting churches for planning Wesley's 90th anniversary celebration! It is a great joy to be reminded of the grace and love that filled our season of ministry from February 1993 to June 2002. I remember the passion and laughter and tears that were shared as we grew up together at WMU and Kalamazoo College.

The 75th anniversary theme in 1998 was "Threads of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," based on Ecclesiastes 3:11, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. God has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end." In campus ministry we are growing up and ultimately going somewhere else. There is blessed and burdensome instability, and the reminder that any one manifestation of ministry is both beautiful for its time, and not final.

One of the profound benefits of campus ministry is that we are intentionally and directly involved with the most concentrated population of young adults in our culture. We are in the right place and doing the right thing to be personally present with continuing support and the theological commitment to serve campus communities whose intellectual growth needs to be accompanied by God's call to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

Beverly and I along with Lindsey, Sarah and Amanda are grateful for all the love shared in our time together.

The Means of Grace Really Work

In our Wesleyan heritage the "means of grace" refer to those faith practices that are dependable sources of experiencing God's grace. The primary ones are prayer, searching the Scriptures and receiving open Holy Communion. John Wesley preached, "By 'means of grace' I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby (God) might convey to (people), preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace."

Happy Anniversary, Hartford UMC.

Our 2-year anniversary is July 1.

As we enter our third year of shared ministry I enter my 25th year of ordained ministry in the West Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church. As an ordained Deacon I began serving Center Park UMC in 1989. I was ordained Elder in 1991. I am an introvert and therefore enjoy times of reflection. So I returned to a statement I wrote for Bishop Don Ott on the five-year anniversary of my Elder ordination:

Some of the most profound experiences of God's movement in my life have come during worship and especially while celebrating the sacraments. One memory of communion is particularly clear and, I believe, indicative of what the Realm of God is like. I visited an elderly widow of our congregation in a nursing home and brought her communion. It so happened that her three remaining sisters (one had recently died), all widows themselves, were visiting her at the same time. We were together in the room, I finished saying the prayer of thanksgiving, and was ready to share the bread and juice when one of the sisters remarked that this would be the first time since they were children that they would be having communion together. They had grown up, married, started their own families, and been active in different churches for all the intervening years. But on that day they were re-gathered around the bed of one of their sisters.

A related area of grace has been prayer time shared with other people. I have found a great freedom of expression in the spirit of prayer that I often cannot share in ordinary conversation. I have sensed this during prayer with members of the congregation in their homes and hospital rooms, and around their tables. I have known the power of prayer in the midst of tense and conflicted times when I have been given words of peace and compassion that I would not normally have. Times of meditation, silence, and contemplation are growing in importance  for me as well.

Bishop Ott concluded his invitation by asking what we believe "success" in ministry is:

In two words, I believe success is incarnation and communion. By that I mean that success in ministry involves an enduring vulnerability to God's presence in Christ through the Spirit and an openness to meeting other people where they are. The quality of that success is loving-justice, a term I used to describe the relational nature of the Kingdom of God in my theological paper for ordination. I am aware of the times that I have not risked offering hospitality or reaching out to persons in need because I did not want to get involved. I also know that when I have been open to God in contemplation, solitude, and Scriptural reflection, I have been led to greater depth of feeling and connection within myself and with others.

I can witness that the means of grace really work. And I am grateful for your countless outward signs, words and actions that have conveyed God's grace to me and the Hartford community. Let's have an excellent third year of our shared journey with Christ, celebrate the many ways we are sustained by God's love, and move forward in ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Seeking a God-Sized Vision

As Kari Unrath (Lay Member of Annual Conference), Del Troutman (Kalamazoo District Missions Coordinator) and I prepare for Annual Conference at Calvin College, May 29-June 1, we have been encouraged to read Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results by Lovell H. Weems, Jr. and Tom Berlin.

Tom's brother is a landscape architect. He once donated a landscaping plan for a new parsonage that Tom's congregation was building. Looking at photos of the site and the foundation of the house that was being built, his brother drew up a plan that showed trees, shrubs, and flowers. After everything was planted, Tom called him and suggested that there had been a mistake. The shrubs were too far apart. The trees should be closer to the home. The flower beds were too wide for the small greenery that they were planting. There was silence on the other end of the line and then a question, "Tom, can't you see what this will look like in five years?" (Bearing Fruit, 37)

When we don't account for the power of growth, creativity and repentance in our life together with God, we are tempted to think we can fix everything all at once; demand complete, instantaneous change in another person or in the church; or mistakenly substitute our short-term vision for God's eternal vision.

By contrast, when we focus on God's calling to us and seek God's vision:

• we learn that God is faithful and will provide what we need for the service we are asked to render.
• we discover that God is expansive, leading us to things that are often far beyond what we think is possible.
• we find that God knows exactly what will bring us the greatest joy, the greatest significance, and that God knows our limitations (Bearing Fruit, 40).

The most important thing you can do in your ministry is to discern what God is asking you to do with your life. The most important aspect of planning in your church is to ask what God''s desire is for your congregation in its setting (Bearing Fruit, 44).

Because I am drawn to the activity of daily ministry I need a call to lift up my head and look to the horizon; a reminder to take a deep breath to focus on the most important things; and encouragement to press on in the midst of difficulties. I also understand my calling as pastor to include this kind of work.

I am thankful for the long-term vision and work that God is sustaining in us, and for the memory of fruitful persons and ministry in our history.

May we remember and appreciate the long-term value of our faith journeys, and continue to seek a God-sized vision for our future.

An overview of this year's West Michigan Annual Conference is here: http://westmichiganconference.org/news/detail/2869.

How Old Is Your Hope Anyhow?

"I just want to celebrate another day of livin'

I just want to celebrate another day of life

I put my faith in the people, and the people let me down

So I turned the other way and I carry on, anyhow."

("I Just Want to Celebrate", Rare Earth)

March gives us both Lent and Easter. We know that Easter has special appeal in our culture. It is a time, along with Christmas and Mother's Day, when our worshiping congregation is larger than at any other time of the year. It is great to celebrate this defining moment in the Christian story of Jesus' resurrection. It is clean and pure and powerful.

However, Easter is surrounded in Scripture and in our congregational life with all kinds of opposing forces and actions. Our Lenten sermon series and adult Sunday School class are organized around Mosaic: When God Uses All the Pieces by Shane Stanford. How God uses our restlessness, regret, rejection, responsibilities, resources and rage to make a masterpiece in Christ challenges us to find strength for living in the face of severe contradictions.

Jesus, in his life, death and resurrection, becomes God's other way to turn and re-turn to the Source of Life as we face the opposing forces of sin, despair and disappointment. Such love and power come to us packaged as "old hope."

How often have you used hope early or preemptively to avoid difficult passages in your journey? Such as, "Oh, I hope that doesn't happen to me..."

Instead of this early, untested hope, God gives us hope that comes after passing through the complications and contradictions of our existence. 

And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings,

knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character,

and character produces hope,

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 5:3-5)

Thank God, we can celebrate, appreciate all our days of life, and hope together in the surpassing power of love and forgiveness that God gives to the world in Jesus Christ. Let God raise Christ in your contradictions and broken pieces.

Holy Week Schedule

Palm/Passion Sunday, March 24: 9:30 am Sunday School for all ages; 10:30 am Worship

Maundy Thursday, March 28: 7:00 pm Worship with Open Communion

Good Friday, March 29: 9:30 am United Methodist Women's Breakfast; 7:00 pm Worship

EASTER SUNDAY, March 31: 8:30 am and 10:30 am Worship services with light breakfast served between services; No Sunday School