Dear U Park Family,
I hope you’ve stayed warm over this past week. I’m glad that people stayed home and safe last Sunday, when it was so cold – but I have to say I was also pleasantly surprised at the number of people who did attend worship in person.
Because we expected low attendance, we rescheduled the dialogue sermon I had planned with my friend Logan Robertson for this coming Sunday instead. Logan is the Pastor at After Hours, an innovative United Methodist ministry begun by the Rev. Jerry Herships. After Hours is built around serving our unhoused neighbors in Denver, and Logan is both a Pastor to that congregation and a kind of street chaplain to many people living on Denver’s streets. He and I will talk about his work this Sunday, and I know that he will offer us thought provoking perspectives on his ministry and the people he serves.
I spent the first part of my time away at the annual Society of Christian Ethics meeting, hearing presentations and panel discussions and taking lots of notes. The SCE is an academic society comprised mostly of university and seminary professors in the field of moral theology (AKA Christian Ethics). As always, I came away from that gathering with new ideas and books to read, as well as plans for new sermon series. The United Methodist Church requires pastors to do a certain amount of continuing education, and I appreciate this congregation’s support when I go to meetings like that one.
The church staff and I spent about three hours yesterday in our quarterly extended staff meeting to plan programs and events at the church for the next six months. I came away energized and excited – we have worship and ministry opportunities coming up ranging from Vacation Bible School and Family Sunday School to the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Lenten studies, and Summer mission trips for our youth. We’ll keep you posted as the year progresses.
In the next two weeks, we’re wrapping up our stewardship campaign for this year. If you haven’t made a pledge of financial support to the church for 2025, I hope you’ll consider doing so. Our pledge total stands at $353,000 toward our goal of $370,000. We can still get there, but to do that we need everyone’s help. If you have any questions about our ministry goals and budget for the next year, please feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to answer.
Finally, we’ll be sending out our year end giving reports this week via email. When you receive yours, please check to make sure that our records match yours. If there’s a discrepancy, contact me and we can work to address it. Thanks to all who gave so generously this year to help us close 2024 in a better position than we anticipated.
Grace and Peace,
Andy