Blog Archives

Pastor Dan's Weekly Memo - august 28

8/28/2014

This is a picture of a guy I passed at the State Fair on Monday. I got to go by myself. I was retracing my steps from the last half hour because somehow my new fit bit watch thing had fallen off. I had my head up for a moment saw this t-shirt approaching, read it (it says “Bacon is a Vegetable”) and got a laugh that I needed.

Later, I was listening to a band at the Caribi Café and turned to see a little girl who was barely able to walk “digging” the band. Her mom was egging her on by dancing with her. The sight of the mom and the little girl, the family gathered around her and the band, the other people on the dance floor dancing and the cool air just all hit me at once. I don’t know what to call what I experienced except to say that every once in a while “people watching” pays off.

I’m not sure what researchers would say draws us to watch certain people and not others. A wild outfit, a pretty face, the way the sun hits their face, maybe as we catch them people watching us. Whatever it is, the State Fair is a great place to people watch without guilt because well first of all there are so many people there you better watch out for them.

I had given up on my fit bit thinking that by limiting myself to just one foot long corn dog, one order of cheese curds, an Icee, a bottle of water I filled up three times and only one turkey leg I had somehow saved the money I had lost on it. As I was cruising, I saw this park bench. Dave was Judy Gibson’s husband. Dave passed away in 2012 and I was surprised to sort of bump into his bench with only one guy sitting on the end before the “D.” I guess you could say that Dave is still supporting people at the Fair by giving them a bench to sit on.

After I took the picture of Dave’s bench I saw a sign that said, “Lost and Found,” and thought why not. I told the guy behind the counter, “I lost one of those fit bit type things.” At that he said, “Wait a minute,” and returned with my fit bit. Can you believe that!

How somebody saw that little watch lying somewhere and then took the time to turn it in to the one place I might go to ask that is well... Looking out for me, having my back...It also inspires me to do the same the next time I’m watching someone and see they could use someone having their back. The State Fair is a place that reminds me how it is that we are asked in the gospels not to just people watch but to watch out for other people.

Keep the Faith! - Pastor Dan

Comments

Pastor Dan's Weekly Memo - august 20, 2014

8/20/2014

Comments

This week Katie and I went to see our financial planner; neither one of us enjoys or is excited about this part of our lives, me less so than Katie. And so when we sat down to talk about what our entire financial lives looked like, it was a humbling moment for me. You’d like to think you’re on top of everything in your life but the truth is I’m not. And so some of the first words out of my mouth were apologies about not having things together as much as I thought we should have for this particular conversation.

Our financial planner is wonderful about this. She said things like, “We meet the client where they are.” And “that’s Ok, it just means I have a job.” And then she said something I thought it was interesting for a financial planner to say on a Monday morning, she said something like, “We all have different gifts, I couldn’t write a sermon, if I had to.”

Our financial planner is both skilled and gifted at what she does. She has developed the skill of reading numbers and keeping up with market trends and our wishes. But she also has something of a gift of communication. I understood just about everything she told us. I’ve had other planners who just were not able to balance her developed skill and knowledge with the gift of helping others understand something that is both difficult intellectually and emotionally.

This Sunday our scripture is from Paul’s letter to the Romans where he talks about “spiritual gifts.” Chapter 12 verse 6 says, “We have gifts that differ according to the Grace given to us.” A spiritual gift is different than a skill set. It is first of all given, not taken. It is unwrapped or discovered or received; not so much earned. A spiritual gift is something that is natural, authentic; a genuine part of you. You don’t have to force yourself to use a spiritual gift, it comes out intuitively; sometimes they sneak out as if you can’t hold them in even when you try. Spiritual gifts must also be nurtured, encouraged, developed.

As you prepare to come to worship or even right now in the moment you are reading this; what do you think might be a spiritual gift that has been bestowed or given to you? Discovering and describing, nurturing and using our spiritual gifts are what helps us to make a vital church.

There are several work books and other ways to name and describe our spiritual gifts and we may at some time venture into a study for our congregation. But for this Sunday I simply want to ask you to faithfully consider - what is something about your life in our congregation that you are drawn to naturally? I don’t mean that because you might work with numbers that you would be on the finance committee, or that if you are a contractor you would be on Trustees. Those are skills and there are certainly areas of our life together that may need to take advantage of those skills.

What I’m asking is for you to think about where your real passion lies. You may be the accountant who loves to sing or ring bells. You may be the social worker who cannot get enough of being with little kids. You may be the lawyer who is drawn to the little things that make hospitality shine. You may be the salesperson who cannot help but talk with people. There are many gifts here at EPUMC and how we name and claim, nurture and develop them is one of the most important parts of being the body of Christ together.

Keep the Faith! - Pastor Dan

Comments

pastor dan's weekly memo - august 14

8/14/2014

Comments

The death of Robin Williams and the media coverage that has accompanied this tragedy has touched me. I liked Robin Williams. His ability to twist and turn topics until they came round into a laugh amazes and inspires me. His role in “Hook”, the 1991 film, captures for me the essential question many men of my generation are asking about what it means to be a father in our culture. Heck, the guy was even a cyclist who rode with the pros and spent time just hanging out in his local bike shop. What’s not to like?

And so in the last couple of days I’ve been reading and watching a lot about William’s life. One interview that is especially telling occurs during Williams 2001 appearance on Inside the Actors Studio, James Lipton closed the questionnaire portion of the program — as he does with every guest — with the following: “If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say at the pearly gates?” Williams speaks as St. Peter and says, “There is seating in front.” “The concert begins at 5. It will be Elvis, Mozart and anyone of your choosing.” And then for a moment Williams is serious and says, “If heaven exists it would be nice to know that there is laughter. That would be a great thing to hear God go; ‘Two Jews walk into a bar…”

Although it is true that many who suffer with addictions and depression, as did Williams, use laughter to cover up a deeper pain. It is also true that sometimes it takes being in the darkness to know in your heart, your gut, your soul what the light might look like. The tears of sadness that come out of great pain are taken I believe from the same deep well, the same inner source within our humanness as the tears that come when we can’t stop laughing. Perhaps sometimes, it is when you can have the courage to face and then find the humor in and the resolution to laugh at even some of the greatest discouragements in life that we can also find something of the glimmer of God deep within us.

I can’t imagine a Jesus who did not know how to laugh. In the Bible laughter is so important from the beginning. In Genesis 18 the story goes; Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, “An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?” God said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh saying, ‘Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?’ Is anything too hard for God? I’ll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby.” Sarah lied. She said, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was afraid. But he said, “Yes you did; you laughed.” Sara overcomes that fear and has the last laugh because she names the baby that is born Isaac, which in Hebrew means, “Laughter.” God had to snicker at that and I believe it is a reminder to laugh at ourselves and how it is that sometimes the only response to life, to ourselves is laughter.

May God bless the laughter you find in you life for today and when you meet God in the time that is to come.

Keep the Faith!

Pastor Dan

Comments

pastor dan's weekly memo - august 7

8/7/2014

Comments

            “Let every instrument be tuned for praise!

                        Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise!

                        And may God give us faith to sing always

                                    Alleluia!”

            (“When in Our Music God Is Glorified” – #68, United Methodist Hymnal)

Greetings, all! This week’s memo is a reminder for you to make sure you’re in church this Sunday as we celebrate music in worship on “Music Sunday”. Pastor Dan is on vacation thru Monday, so this week’s memo is from me, Don Prestly, your Dir. of Worship & Music. I hope the last stanza of the hymn, “When in Our Music God is Glorified”, not only piques your interest about Sunday’s service, but also makes you think about how much music is an important and inspirational part of the worship experience. The past few Sundays I had asked for your favorite hymn or worship song so that I could do my best to fit it into this Sunday’s service. It was fun to see so many “favorites” and also interesting to see the variety in “favorites”. There was everything from what I think of as the “good old Sunday night service hymns” (oh, how they harkened me back to my growing up in the Baptist church and Sunday evening services!) to the wonderful songs that we have in “The Faith We Sing” (FWS) songbooks. Both the UM Hymnal and FWS are used most Sundays, as I work to select music to make our services engaging and meaningful.

The theme of this Sunday’s service is titled “How Shall We Worship and What Shall We Sing”. An interesting topic, but one that might seem a bit off-putting to some. We’ll be exploring the question of why we worship the way we do (the “how”) and how I go about choosing the service music for Sunday (the “what”). I’ll also be sharing a story about a Worship Committee’s discussion (not ours J!) about how their worship service should be crafted and the ways in which people feel is “the right way to worship”.

Another thing I’ll be sharing is one which has become a point of discussion lately – “When does the service really start?” For some, worship begins when the clock hits whatever time the bulletin has printed. For EPUMC, that’s 10:00 a.m. For others, the worship experience begins when you enter the Sanctuary and take your seat. For those people, it’s a time to leave conversations in the Narthex and quiet themselves as they listen to the Gathering Music.

And speaking of Gathering Music, you’ll want to get here a bit earlier this Sunday to be part of the Gathering Music time. We will be singing several of your suggested favorites as our Gathering Music this Sunday. We’ll start around 9:50, so leave a few minutes earlier than usual so you can be part of the fun! The Summer Choir will also be singing and helping lead our music. If you would like be a part of the Summer Choir, we’ll be warming up and rehearsing on Sunday starting at 9:00 a.m. in Room 7.

I hope to see (and hear!) you Sunday as we raise our voices in praise to God!

Shalom,

Don Prestly – Dir. of Worship and Music

Comments