Pastor's E-Letter

Pastor's E-Letter

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Pastors E-Letter 2/5/21

When I was 15 years old, I began to hear a whisper, that I later identified as God’s voice, speaking to me about a call to something bigger than myself: God’s church. 
 
At the time, I was pretty naive. I knew that this call was a big deal, but there’s truly no way at 15 and 16 years old to know what a call to God’s church in ordained ministry would mean. And the longer time went on, the more “Who, me?!” moments I had that were akin to Isaiah’s, “I am a man of unclean lips, from a people of unclean lips.” Or, Moses, “I can’t do this!” Doubt and faith, darkness and light, grief and assurance accompanied me on my journey to accepting this call completely. A bush was never set on fire for me, but graciously, God’s voice continued to speak through the work of the church and the people around me, encouraging me forward.
 
This process of call and response followed me along through the United Methodist Church’s (arduous!) ordination process. At 19 years old, seven years ago, I was confirmed as a candidate for ministry. (In a weird, small world way, it was Pastor Annette serving as my District Superintendent that first accepted me to begin this process. Isn’t God cool?!) I still didn’t know what I was doing. But as I continued, God’s Holy Spirit worked mischievously. In 2015, it brought me to Duke Divinity School. In 2018, it worked in the Board of Ordained Ministry to have me confirmed as a commissioned elder, and it brought me to you at Suntree. On Wednesday, the Holy Spirit whispered Her affirmation again when the Board of Ordained Ministry graciously approved me to be ordained as an Elder in Full Connection. In regular people's language, I’ve made it through my probationary period and they see me fit to continue in ministry with less direct supervision from the Conference. This is very good news!
 
In more plain people speak, that’s all, folks! There’s no other news attached to this celebratory affirmation. For now, I plan to continue in mission and ministry as the Associate Pastor here at Suntree. I cannot begin to thank you all for the affirmation and this welcoming, loving place to live out my call. Really, seriously. I can’t imagine a better first appointment, a better senior pastor, a better staff and leadership team to work with. Of course, the church is always an imperfect body. But I feel profoundly called and affirmed to work alongside you for the building of God’s kingdom here. 
 
And there is much to celebrate! This week, we’ll conclude our Healing Practice of Celebration sermon series with Celebration in a Divided World. Jesus prays for his followers in John 17 “... that they may be one.” What an intimate, important, difficult word from Jesus to God! Yet, this isn’t didactic. It is an invitation for that same Holy Spirit that whispers wild and wondrous dreams to God’s people to indwell in us, binding us, God’s church, together in real unity. Real unity isn’t false niceties, either. It is hard, sometimes painful, always growth-oriented work to see people as the children of God that they are. And when we do it right? Well, that’s cause for a big celebration! 
 
The church as a whole and this church, in particular, have transformed me as a person living in this divided world. Each day, living in mission and ministry with you, I feel the same whispers of the Holy Spirit inviting me into a stronger relationship with God, and with God’s church. I am a better person, daughter, sister, and friend because I have been challenged to love those who are different from me in God’s church. The same call I heard at 15 has a lot more shape now, but it is still one to a purpose and love larger than myself: God’s kingdom at work here on Earth. It isn’t just my call, either; it is all of ours! And it is a call to the hard, good work of unity in the body and unity in the Spirit.
 
So, in case you forgot: God is still in the inviting and calling business! God calls each of us to be a part of this unified body, sharing God’s grace with the world. There is much to celebrate! 
 
Thank you for all you do, and who you are. I wouldn’t be me without you. Really, seriously. 
Peace,
Pastor Allee 
Posted by Allee Willcox with

Pastors E-Letter 1/29/21

My earliest memory of failure comes from 1st grade. I had been in 1st grade for a few months and was accustomed to getting papers back with a “smiley” face stamped on it – meaning I had done a good job. Up until this point in my educational career – I had only seen “smiley” faces. But this day was different. I remember getting a paperback where I had very carefully practiced writing the letter “N” all the way across and down the paper, on every line. I must say, they were beautiful “N”s. Very neat. Very consistent. But there was one problem. They were all backward. So, instead of seeing the “smiley” face stamp on the paper, there was a “straight face”, meaning it wasn’t a frown face (thank goodness), but it also wasn’t smiley. It was somewhere in between. It was the teacher’s way of acknowledging that though my work was carefully executed, it wasn’t accurate.
 
I took one look at the “straight face” and was crushed. I’ll never forget the feeling of “shame” that rose in me, and no doubt spread across my face. I couldn’t have named the feeling as shame at the time, but I know now that shame is what I felt. In my little first grade mind, I was a complete failure. And I made up my mind, on the spot, that I would never be guilty again of the tragic mistake of making my “N”s backward.
 
You can see from that story that even as I child, I was not wired as one who would easily embrace and endure failure. In fact, that experience of shame in response to failure would become a pattern in my life that for many years drove me to work and work and work in the hope of avoiding failure and the possibility of the shame that might follow in its wake.
 
But somewhere along the way, no doubt due to the work of God’s grace in me, I ever so slowly began to discover that failure could lead to more than just shame. Over time, I began to discover that failure, when viewed through the light and love of God and the grace of Jesus, could be transformative in my life. I might still be embarrassed or feel some shame in the wake of failure. But I also discovered that God could use the experience of failure in my life to teach me things that I needed to learn, to grow my heart, and to enable me to walk alongside others in the wake of their failures.
 
This week in worship, we will continue in our message series, “The Healing Practice of Celebration”, shining the light on the experience of failure and the ways that God is present with us to lead us from shame and regret to growth and even gratitude. We will be using the story of Jesus’ call of Levi, the tax collector, found in Luke 5:27-32. There we discover that Jesus came to call not the righteous, not the folks that have never known failure or regret, not the folks who always have it all together, but sinners, and failures, and misfits. And in the call of Jesus, we can discover the grace that forgives us, heals us, and moves us past our failures and flops and into a life of service, meaning, and purpose where no experience is wasted and where God can work again and again for our good. This is good news! This is news worth celebrating!
 
I pray you will join us in worship this week, either online or in person. And be prepared to make some noise as we celebrate and give thanks to God for the power of Christ to lead us from failure to hope, to life, to joy!
 
Grace and Peace,
Annette
Posted by Annette Stiles Pendergrass with

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