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weekly memo:  living a life of integrity

1/30/2020

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Dear Friends
 
In preparation for serving at Mountain Tennessee Outreach Project in the summer of 1988, I was sent a book to read.  I read it in a season when theological nuances would have been lost on me, so I cannot vouch for whether or not it is worth reading.  But its title said everything I needed to know about it, and its pages reminded me of in greater detail the truth of its title:  Who You Are When Nobody’s Looking.  The title invites us to consider what integrity might look like.
 
I’ve been thinking a lot about integrity this week.  Integrity is doing and saying what is right.  Even when it isn’t popular.  Even when it won’t serve to further your personal goals.  Even when the crowd is going in the opposite direction.  Few have demonstrated this kind of integrity in an overtly public way.  It just isn’t that easy to hold to your values when the world around you rewards something just the opposite.  Often, the culture around us values setting aside your personal values for professional advancement, financial reward or political capital.  Integrity says that no matter what the cost to my career or my bank account, I’m going to do what I know is right.
 
As Christians, we don’t have to do a lot of guessing about what is right.  We simply have to search and engage the scriptures.  We go to the Bible to discover what is right in any situation with which we are confronted.  But, as you already know, it’s not quite that simple.  I cannot come to the scriptures with a question like I would a Magic 8 Ball – opening its pages trusting the answer will come automatically where I have opened the scriptures.  No, it’s more a journey of discovery and study and reflections and prayer that’s ongoing in our lives, developing a deep well from which to drink when the time comes.  That’s how the scriptures inform us about what is right.  That’s how the scriptures serve our desire to live a life of integrity, even in a world that doesn’t always reward it.
 
So what are you doing to develop that deep well from which you can drink, from which you can be a person of integrity, from which you can consistently be “who you are when nobody’s looking?”
 
May today be the day you continue, renew or start a journey of discovery by engaging the scriptures so that, together with the power of God at work in your life, you can develop a deep well of life-giving water that will never run dry!
 
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink

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Weekly Memo: News from the source

1/23/2020

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Dear Friends
 
So much is in the news lately about our United Methodist Church, either on a national level or on the local church level. I want to remind you that things you read in the paper or on the internet are not always the most accurate. Case in point was the Pioneer Press article in which there were numerous factual errors about one of our churches in the Minnesota Annual Conference. This article, and the ones earlier in the year about how the United Methodist Church had split (we haven’t!), remind me that where we get our news from is so very important.
 
You may or may not know the news outlets to trust about stories regarding the United Methodist Church. I want to remind you that there are distinctly two places from which you can get accurate news about the United Methodist Church and the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church:
  • www.umc.org is the place to go for accurate information about the global United Methodist Church
  • www.minnesotaumc.org is the place to go for accurate information about the United Methodist churches and ministry in Minnesota
 
Whenever you read a story about the church from another source, I would encourage you to search out the truth at these websites.
 
Also, friends, as the General Conference gathering of the global United Methodist Church in Minneapolis gets closer in time (May 5-15, 2020), I would encourage you toget involved.  Here are some places where you can volunteer or advocate:
  • To volunteer for a variety hospitality type opportunities go to https://gc2020welcome.org/
  • To join the movement to resist the harm the United Methodist Church has done to our LGBTQIA+ friends, go to https://resistharm.com/
  • To get information about advocating for our LGBTQIA+ friends go to https://rmnetwork.org/                                                                                   
 
Thank you for caring and wanting to get the right information, to be involved in our greater church in a way that brings healing an wholeness.  May it be so!
 
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink
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Weekly Memo:  A view from the balcony

1/16/2020

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Dear Friends
 
Recently my Facebook feed has been littered with two kinds of advertisements:  formal dresses (did I mention my oldest daughter, Abby, and I have been shopping for her wedding dress?) and for something called Commit 30 (this is not an advertisement for it!).  It appeared to be a priority setting tool and I was interested.  I clicked on it once out of curiosity and they are just not going to let it go until I buy something, it seems.  That’s how advertising works.  I have shown interest and they want to close the sale.  Who can blame them!
 
On Monday I found time to have what I call “balcony time.”  That’s time to get up on the balcony and survey everything that’s going on and see what needs to happen, where changes need to be made and how I can help move things forward.  In other words, it is one of my priority setting tools.  I have been longing for such time.  There were dreams and priorities living in the recesses of my soul, blocked by the urgent and even sometimes by the necessary things of ministry.    Monday, through prayerful discernment and a discerning conversation, those things rose to the surface.  I am grateful.  You’ll be hearing about what rose to the surface as time goes on.
 
One of those balcony dreams and visions is about the spiritual formation of the older youth and adults in our community of faith.  For a while I have been hearing about a hunger for Bible study, a hunger for a deeper biblical grounding to our progressive faith, and a hunger to study together to learn more and build relationships.  As I let God work in me, this is one of the goals that rose to the surface:  In 2020 100+ members and friends of Eden Prairie United Methodist Church will join in one session of a 4-week study lead by Pastor Becky Jo called Making Sense of the Bible.  The purpose of the small group study is to provide a biblical foundation to our progressive faith, to understand the divine and human nature of the Bible, to wrestle with tough passages in the bible, to develop a fuller sense of how scripture informs our faith, and to build relationships among the people of Eden Prairie United Methodist Church.  I want you to know this is where my heart is at.  I love making the scripture come alive for others and for the Bible to become more relevant in people’s lives.  We need tools and conversation to make that happen.  I hope you will consider being one of the 100+ among us that will join in the study sometime in 2020.
 
The first session of Making Sense of the Bible is scheduled for Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm for January 28, February 4, 11, (skip the 18th) and 25.  If you are interested, email or call the church office or sign up on the commitment card in your worship folder on Sunday.  I anticipate about 7 more sessions throughout 2020, all taught on different days and different times to make it accessible for everyone.  If you have a preferred date and time and are interested, let me know, and I’ll make it happen!
 
If you are interested in learning about the future of the United Methodist Church, if you want to make sense of the headlines that falsely say we have already split, if you have questions or just want to hear the answers to other people’s questions, plan to join me in the Sanctuary this Sunday (January 19th) at about 11:15 for an informal conversation. 
 
If you are in town this weekend (and the flu hasn’t hit you like it has others), I’ll see you in worship!
 
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink
 

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weekly memo:  shifting into peace

1/10/2020

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​Dear Friends
I have never driven a stick-shift in my life.  And I feel like a whole person, none the less!  What I do know is that shifting is very important to helping the engine run well.  You can hear it when you are not in the right gear.  The engine is running very hard and is straining to do its work.  But the minute you shift into the right gear, the engine sounds quiet and smooth, almost peaceful.
 
After running in a high gear for November and December, I shifted into a new gear last week.  I did the shifting by taking a rest.  Rest is so good for the soul.  Thank you for the ability to take a rest after Christmas, to reset my spirit, and to shift my soul into peace again. I remembered many of the things that make for living in peace amidst the busy and chaotic life we all live.  Particularly, it was time with family, good sleep, and a meditation practice in which I hadn’t participated in a while.  These things helped shift into that gear of peace and maintaining these habits will allow me to continue to be about life and ministry with a deeper sense of peace.
 
What spiritual habit, personal practice, or attitude helps you shift into peace?  How long has it been since you took up that thing and allowed it to breathe peace into your life?  What’s one step you are going to take today to participate in a spiritual habit, pick up a personal practice or shift an attitude toward living in more peace?
 
A couple of Church-related Notes:
  • This Saturday we are hosting a training event for any EPUMC members and friends who would like to learn more about a healthy and biblical way to resolve conflict at work, in the church or at home.  This is a life-tool that you will value having.  Called “The Rule of Christ,” it has enhanced the way I manage myself in conflict and created a healthier life for myself.  I hope you’ll join me at 9 AM for the training.
  • Sunday, immediately after worship, we will have Church Conference.  Your children will remain in Sunday School until the end of the conference, which we expect to last about 15 minutes.  We will address leadership, membership, the budget and grant monies.  Hope you will stay!
  • You may have heard news or read headlines that the United Methodist Church has split.  That is NOT true.  Plan to join me in the Sanctuary next Sunday (January 19th) at about 11:15 for an informal conversation about the current and future state of the United Methodist Church and how it may or may not affect our ministry at EPUMC.
 
With joy, I look forward to worshiping with you again this Sunday!
 
Blessings!
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink
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15050 Scenic Heights Road
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