2024
A Letter from Pastor Andy: April 10, 2024
Dear U Park Family,
If you could create the perfect church, what would you design?
Would it be a close community, but one that was open to new people? A group passionate about serving the world beyond the walls of the church building? A place where we could talk together about hard questions, remaining one body in Christ even when we passionately disagree? A group of people working hard to live out their highest ideals? A place of profound worship experiences and deep spiritual life? A faith community committed to celebrating one another’s joys and shouldering one another’s burdens?
I think that question is important for two reasons. First, it’s a form of the question faced by the early followers of Jesus after his resurrection. Other messianic movements had arisen and died out; the first Christians were faced with the challenge of building something to last around the teachings of their resurrected Rabbi. So at a time when religious faith is declining, we could learn a thing or two by paying attention to the way of life they built, one that’s still with us 2000 years later. This Sunday, I’ll offer the second in our “What Now?” sermon series, examining the early experiments in Christian community that we read about in the Book of Acts and Paul’s letters. I hope you’ll join us for worship at 9:00 in Wasser Chapel or at 11:00 in our Sanctuary as we look at two passages in the book of Acts.
The second reason that “perfect church” question is important is that we’re engaged in a process of strategic planning. This is our opportunity to move in the direction of that perfect church we envision. We’ve assembled an experienced group of people to coordinate the effort and pull together what we’re learning. Thus far, we’ve set some basic goals and had very thoughtful and helpful discussions with groups in the church including adult Sunday School classes, the Men’s group, governance committees, and others. That process will continue, and you’ll have the chance to offer your thoughts – maybe even more than once. We want to develop a plan that guides our shared ministry for the next five years, and we’ll need your help. We’ll be sending out a congregational survey in the next month or so, and we very much want to hear from you about the goals we should set and how to achieve them.
As I mentioned this past Sunday in worship, we have an opportunity to contribute to a shoe drive through the organization Shoes 4 Good. The sponsoring organization gets shoes on the feet of people who need them, keeping the shoes out of landfills. And some of the shoes will be used to help start small businesses in regions struggling with poverty. You can help this week and this coming Sunday by bringing new or used shoes of any size and style to the church.
Remember too that this Thursday, Jim Van Someren of Metro Caring will join our United Women in Faith (UWF) group with a presentation about Metro Caring’s work to end hunger in our city. I’m delighted that we partner with that agency; I’ve followed their work for years because I believe that they’re one of the best front line food pantries in the city. They not only provide for people’s immediate needs, but work hard to ensure that over the long haul their services will not be needed any longer. I hope that you can be at the UWF meeting on Thursday at 10:00. All are invited.
Finally, we would love to have your help with this year’s Vacation Bible School. The dates are June 10 – 14, and you can work with our church’s children or work behind the scenes to create crafts and refreshments. Last year’s program was our first in five years, and this year will build on last year’s success. I always make it a point to help out at VBS. It gives me valuable time with our church’s children, and always helps me feel better about our future. If you can help, contact Bethany Hader Crabbs at the church or via email at bcrabbs@uparkumc.org.
Grace and Peace,
Andy
March 2, 2022
Dear U Park Family,
Blessed Ash Wednesday to you. I hope it’s been reflective and rewarding. We have services at the church today at noon and 6:00 P.M., and I hope you can join us for one of them.
I’ve talked with several Pastor friends of mine, and we are unanimous about one thing: traditional Ash Wednesday and Lenten themes don’t resonate very well this year.
Traditionally, Ash Wednesday is a time to reflect on the transience of life and to think about how we can appropriately use the time we have. It’s the beginning of Lent, and the Ash Wednesday liturgy usually includes what’s called the “invitation to the observance of Lenten Discipline.” Traditionally, when we make the sign of the cross in ashes on the hands or foreheads of worshipers, we say, “you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It’s meant to be a solemn reminder of our mortality, as the beginning to a season of reflection and repentance.
But discussing it this year, my friends and I all agree that we’ve had more than enough reminders of mortality over the past couple of years. Thank God, vaccinations continue to increase and the pandemic mortality continues to decline. But the pandemic is far from the only thing reminding us of our mortality lately. Climate change (complete with the recent, bleak IPCC report), escalating rates of violence in our nation, Russia’s sudden and disturbing attack on Ukraine: it seems like everywhere we turn we’re being told that we’re dust and to dust we shall return.
For that reason, I’ll be approaching Lent differently this year. What if the Gospel stories are not just stories about Jesus, but stories about us? What if the resurrection story isn’t just about Jesus’s miraculous triumph over death, but a template for us? In our Lenten reflections this year, I’ll be focusing on what we’re called to leave behind in order to be resurrected – to be formed into the joyful and thriving people we’re called to be. This Sunday in worship, I’ll focus on the story of Jesus’s temptation in the desert, found in the Gospel of Luke. I’ll be asking the question of what the story asks us to leave behind. I hope you’ll join us at 10:00 A.M. in the Sanctuary, or later that afternoon from home by watching on our YouTube Channel.
Speaking of things we’re leaving behind, this coming Sunday we’ll move from “masks required” to “masks encouraged” status. As always, I’m very grateful to our congregation’s medical professionals who have advised the staff throughout the pandemic. We’re all agreed that this is the right move. Of course, there are a number of people in the congregation who need or wish to remain masked, and we completely support that need and encourage you to do so. Others may decide to go unmasked. What’s most important, it seems to me, is that we continue to respect one another and support one another’s needs just as we have done throughout the pandemic.
On the 20th and 27th of this month I will be in Guatemala with our church’s mission team, serving a medical clinic operated by the nonprofit agency Salud y Paz (“health and peace”). Those two Sundays, we’ll have guest preachers – I’ll keep you posted here about who they will be.
May your Ash Wednesday and Lent strengthen and ground you in these unsettling times, as we begin this season of reflection.
Grace and Peace, Andy