Pastor's E-Letter

Pastor's E-Letter

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Pastors E-Letter 8/7/20

n our Staff Parish Relations Committee meeting this week, Clark Maxwell shared a devotion that involved letters and articles written by church leaders during the 1918 pandemic. I’ve seen several of these articles circulating on Facebook, many of which offer helpful words for us as we continue to navigate the realities of life during the coronavirus spread. But the one that Clark shared that captured my attention referred to the time that folks have been afforded in “slowing down” and not being able to do all the things we might normally do, as a “prolonged sabbath.” Even for folks who are back to work as usual, for most of us, our calendars remain free from many of the things we enjoyed or looked forward to but are no longer consider necessities. The absence of those things on our calendars can provide some additional “sabbath space” to cultivate our spiritual lives. 
 
Which is why I’m so excited about our upcoming message series “Launch into Extraordinary Love” and the accompanying opportunities that we are offering for you to use during this prolonged sabbath to grow deeper in faith, in relationship to God, and in the ways we are being shaped by the grace and love of Christ. You may not be able to come to in person worship or attend your small group, or a class in person, but there are so many ways that this extra time can be experienced as a gift in leaning into a renewed commitment to following Jesus, loving God, loving each other, and loving our neighbors in extraordinary ways. We are finding that the “zoom” platform can enable many folks who could not participate in such opportunities before can do so now from the comfort of their homes. Families with young children can put the kids to bed and hop on their computers. Folks who don’t like to drive at night don’t have to in order to join a class or a Life Group. People that are out of town can participate from wherever they may be. Many of us simply have more time to fit such opportunities into our schedules. 
 
So I hope you will familiarize yourself with the variety of opportunities we are offering from Journey and Oasis Classes, both in person and online, to a short term Life Group opportunities and opportunities to love our neighbors by serving in the community. Soon, we will also be providing resources via the website that can guide you in thinking about where you are in your faith journey and how you can grow. There you will find the “Four Stage Launch Sequence” guide and a simple assessment you can utilize in thinking about your next steps in launching into extraordinary love. 
 
This week in worship we will be focusing on Stage One – Love God, and how we can cultivate a deeper love for God by loving God with our head, our hearts, and hands. We will reflect on the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40 where he said that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” So, if loving God is the first and greatest commandment (“and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”) how do we express love for God and grow deeper in that love over a lifetime? That will be the focus this week in worship and I hope you will make it the focus of your own personal devotion and study time. 
 
This Sunday will also be our first “in person” worship experience since March 15th! Of course, as we have said again and again, it will be different, with everyone wearing masks, social distancing, not singing, etc. You also need to make a reservation for worship ahead of time to be sure we don’t have more people in each service that would prevent us from being properly socially distant. Most of our congregation will continue to worship online until there is a vaccine to protect their health or the health of a family member. We certainly support that. And we have tried to do everything we can to make this return to in person worship as safe as possible. Please check out the instructional video on the website to remind yourself of our in-person worship guidelines. 
 
I certainly look forward to seeing some of you in worship this Sunday. It’s also been great to see some of you in our Pastor Check-In Zoom meetings. And remember that because we were not able to include holy communion in our “tropical storm” edition of worship, we will celebrate holy communion this week so be sure to have your communion table set before you join us for online worship. Be sure to join us this Sunday either in person or online as we launch into extraordinary love! 
 
Grace and Peace, 
Pastor Annette 
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Pastor's E-Letter 07/10/20

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Dear Church Family,

It’s good to be back with you after a couple weeks of vacation. Like everything right now, it was not the vacation I had planned for. The fact is that this summer, I was supposed to have an extended leave of 6-7 weeks that is part of the UM Book of Discipline’s prescribed leave for pastor’s for renewal and recreation every 6 years or so. I’ve taken two such leaves in the past 33 years of ministry, and, over the last year, I had sensed that it would be the most proactive thing I could do to remain fresh, spiritually strong, and healthy in order to continue to lead Suntree UMC into the future. But with the COVID-19 crisis, and the ever-changing nature of how we are trying to adapt ministry to this reality, it was clear that now was not the time for such a leave. 

Despite my disappointment over not engaging in my previous plans, the time away this year was especially helpful. In this season of COVID-19, it was the least “active” vacation I’ve ever had, which was hard for me. I like to do fun things on vacation! But what was good was the opportunity to simply rest, to disconnect from the stress of constantly navigating all the new ways of doing ministry, all the constant challenges, and simply be present, to myself, to God, to the beauty of God’s world, and to my family. I prayed, journaled, stayed up late and slept late, watched the birds from by mother’s front and back porches, and floated for endless hours on a raft on the lake. We made almost daily stops at the lakeside convenience store for ice cream, ate great meals, shared in great conversation with family, and I even finally finished my now withered copy of Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton in time to enjoy the Disney Plus screening of the hit musical (a highlight for my musical loving family)! 

In all of that, what I gained was perspective. In stepping back from the daily grind of all that is going on, I was reminded of the big picture of my life and what God is doing in the world. I was reminded that as hard as things are, God is not absent. God is working and blessing and loving and healing as only God can. The grace of Jesus is ever-constant and present, filling me with hope and even peace. And that work of Christ is not dependent on me (go figure)! I can step away, and the world keeps spinning, even during a pandemic! I know that is God’s point in commanding sabbath. But when it comes to some things, I am a slow learner. Fortunately, God is infinitely patient! 

So, I’m back, renewed, and ready to re-engage in God’s work. Of course, nothing has changed! Even while I was away, we had to engage in the hard decision of pushing the pause button regarding in-person worship. All the challenges were still waiting for me. But that is ok. I can see the challenges, at least for now, from a new perspective, and that is enough. God has been leading us through all this. God will continue to do so. That again, is enough. 

I’m also super excited to dive into our current message series, “All in the Family.” One of the things I love most about the biblical narrative is its brutal honesty about family relationships – which is what was so endearing about the 70’s television show from which we borrowed this series title. The biblical writers never shied away from the pain, strife, and conflict that winds its way through the first families of Israel. As we will see this week as we dive into the birth narrative of Jacob and Esau found in Genesis 25:19-34, it’s all there – everything from sibling rivalry to parental favoritism and family feuds in all their gory glory. 

But in all that pain and the conflict, we also discover the power of God at work to fulfill God’s promises. We discover an ever-present flow of grace and love that weaves its way through conflict and controversy with the power to bring healing and restoration to even the most fractured relationships. My hope is that as we dig into these family stories, we will discover the power of God’s grace weaving its way through our own far from perfect and often conflicted, family stories. Perhaps we can discover the ways that God’s love in Christ is more than enough when our familial love fell short of ever being enough. 

I pray you will join us in online worship this Sunday as we continue this journey. Remember that because of the audio issues with livestreaming worship from the sanctuary, (which we are working on) Traditional worship will be livestreamed from the Worship Center until the sound issues can be remedied. However, Tom and Robert will be leading traditional worship music as always. We appreciate your patience with this as we continue to sort through these issues. 

In the meantime, I pray you will have a chance to engage in some sabbath time that will enable you to renew and refresh in God’s presence. It’s an amazing what God can do in us when we stop long enough to let God do God’s work!

Grace and Peace,  Pastor Annette 

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