Hey Friends!
That was a GREAT start to the school year. One hundred and twenty-four (124) children participated in our back-pack blessing! Wow! I want to thank Beth and Meg for their leadership and the 30 servants of Christ serving in Kids Ministry this past weekend. Way to go! Things like this don’t just happen. It takes a consistent level of quality in our programs and intentionality in our outreach. Really, really good job you all! It was wonderful to see everyone “upstairs” in “Big Church!” [Hey moms/dads/grandparents: don’t forget we “pop up” this weekend, meaning the kids move up to the next grade level in our ministry. (Gourmet popcorn will be part of the celebration). Don’t miss out on the fun!]
Also, THANK YOU for the incredible response in helping Zebulon UMC in the aftermath of the lightning strike and subsequently burning of their historic church building. In fact, according to Scott Parish who leads the Emergency Response Ministries of the North Georgia Conference of the UMC, this was the BIGGEST event the Conference has ever had for this kind of scenario. It met the ideal! The hope has been that churches within 50 miles of a sister church who has experienced devastation by storm or other physical damage would come to help. PTCUMC represented 3 out of 4 people that showed up Saturday, just under 50 people! Thank you for making me look good!! In all seriousness, this incredible response was inspirational and set a new standard. I’ll let you know in the future the amount of money given during Communion Sunday for ZUMC ongoing rebuilding effort.
Lastly, I’m excited we’ll start a new worship theme this Sunday that will continue my introduction as your new pastor. Thank you for the great feedback so far and the affirmation that I continue to preach in ways that also reveal more about me. So… for the remainder of August the plan is to talk about “3 Simple Questions.” These questions are what I as pastor would want those in my congregation to be able to answer (with gentleness and respect) as we were reminded in our previous “A Story to Tell” theme. Those questions are: Why do people need Jesus; Why do people need His church; Why do people need this church?
My hope is to introduce key concepts in our theology as United Methodists as well as perhaps present answers to these questions that you haven’t heard before (or heard put quite in that way) and be reminded of some very important things that can sometimes be forgotten. Through it all, with this being “foundational stuff” you’ll continue to get a good look at who I am as a pastor and a person. Or you could just ask Kara, but of course she’s biased.
It is a GREAT time to invite people to worship. These next three weeks are topics that would help people connect with the church. Plus, things are just starting to get going again with the Men’s Corn-dog & Cornhole competition this Saturday and our small group block party the Sunday after this one. Pause and pray for moment… Who is the Spirit putting on your mind or heart right now that you should call or text and invite, or invite back, to be our guest at PTCUMC?
Thanks for being the church you are. As I said in last week’s sermon, I’m ready to “turn the page” with you for our new chapter together. God doesn’t call us to know what that fully means, instead God asks for our willingness and faith in Him. For me, I’m all in with you and asking God to help me be the pastor this congregation and community needs me to be so this church can be the church he intends it to be.
Prayerful, grateful and expectant.
