It’s been a great year at EPUMC.  Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the year.  I’d love to hear the ones you think should be included.
 
This was the first year in many years where our worship revolved around a theme and short sermon series instead of the prescribed readings for the year we call the lectionary. Our theme: “Becoming a Missional Congregation” developed around topics such as “Spring Training,” that reminded us we all have gifts to share if we work on the fundamentals of faith and that we are in this for the long haul. Another series reminded us that to be a Missional congregation, we need to move to a new life cycle of our congregation by first returning to our adolescence as a congregation and taking risks.
 
We had a goal of 161 for our average worship attendance.  We came close with 156. We also began a new look bulletin. This new look has tear off registration and commitment sections and a section meant for you to use to invite others to worship. All of this is to remind us that worship is about both being inspired ourselves and taking that inspiring word of God to others.
 
Our Sunday school, Youth and Music Ministry programs continue to be engaging ministries.  Our Sunday school curriculum was coordinated with our sermon series themes.  We also introduced “Car Talk and Beyond” which encourages families to have conversations about their worship experience. Our Vacation Bible School filled our space for a whole week. Our youth mission trip traveled to St. Louis this year and came back with stories of service and changed lives.  And who will forget a very full sanctuary for the Cantata and the wonderful variety and beauty of the music each and every worship experience.
 
This was the year we took the risk as a congregation of conducting a capital campaign in the midst of a deficit budget to raise the roof, air-condition common spaces and refurbish the parking lot. The results of our capital campaign are very encouraging. We have well over $120,000 on hand to begin our capital projects. We have 78 capital commitments totaling $243,785.
 
Our community garden had another year, the third in a row, of growing over a ton of fresh vegetables, all given to PROP to help feed the hungry in Eden Prairie and Chanhassen.  Our website reports a harvest of 2,492 pounds. That is a number to celebrate.  Our outreach through Feed My Starving Children and Simpson shelter also drew new people to mission.
 
There are so many highlights around relationships that it is hard to choose.  But let’s try:  Two new member classes with so many new faces.  How about the number of kids around children’s time and running around fellowship time?  The soup suppers during Lent continue to be an important means of fellowship to say nothing of the good eating had by all.  We had a real Holy Family this year at Christmas.  This year Pastor Dan began meeting with 12 people every month in a Discipleship group. They meet one-on-one and then together once every other month or so.  There are too many other groups and times to mention here.

Well I’ve taken up my allotted 500 words and more. Now it’s your turn.  What are some of the other highlights of 2015 that will be the inspirations to move forward as we continue to become a more Mission-centered congregation in 2016?
 
Keep the Peace,
Pastor Dan

A lot of us are wishing, dreaming, hoping for a “White Christmas” and for good reason: we are used to them.  According to the DNR website in 114 years of keeping records, we have a 72% chance of having at least an inch of snow on December 25.

We are number one by far of five major cities in the U.S.  Denver is second with only a 50% chance. Snow on the ground is something we have become used to at Christmas; it makes it feel “like” Christmas. Without it, we are left feeling just a little less “Christmassy”….
 
l chase this feeling. I want to experience what we more respectfully call “the spirit of Christmas.” I’ve come to realize that this feeling or spirit or sense of the season is not at its roots a feeling at all, but instead is a presence, a relationship.  And like any relationship, the spirit of Christmas is something we open ourselves to experiencing, it is a choice we pursue, a desire we recognize within us.
 
When all is said and done; when the carols are sung and the presents unwrapped,  the last spritz cookie eaten and the baby Jesus put to sleep, the blessing that is imparted to us silently awakens. And once again we realize that we are never alone in this life.  We understand almost with a sort of ache in our bones that all that is holy and eternal has been made available to all of us by our God who has come to abide with us.

It’s Cantata week at EPUMC which means that a lot of people, especially our Music Director Don Prestly, are preparing for Sunday morning. The Cantata is a highlight, not just of the Advent Season, it’s a highlight  of the entire year for EPUMC. It’s one of the most important ministries of our church for several reasons.
 
First, there are so many people involved. The Cantata offers a way for those of us who would like to sing in the choir but for whatever reasons cannot commit to the full year.  It’s important to have the opportunity to use your gift it in some way if that gift includes music. I am so very grateful to all those who will sing or play an instrument as a part of the Cantata.
 
Second, it’s important to have an opportunity to put our best foot forward for Eden Prairie. I’m not a musician, not even close. I am so grateful that Don Prestly is a gifted director and shares his gift so graciously. The Cantata is something we do well, and you can be confident inviting your friends to this experience.
 
This is the most important thing I have to say today: I may not be a musician but I do recognize the importance of the experience of music. There are some things you simply must be present for when they occur.  In our digital age when more people are concerned with getting an event recorded on their phone than being present as it occurs, our Cantata is an important respite. Yes, we will also have CDs available. And yet in order to have the full impact of our Cantata, you simply have to be there.
 
You simply have to be there to experience the beauty of the moment. Recordings, as wonderful as they, are cannot replace the experience of witnessing a someone playing the cello with such emotion that for a moment you believe it is you who are drawing the bow and playing the note.  Hearing about it will not substitute for being able to talk about it. The experience of our Cantata connects us to what this Advent season attempts to invoke in us all --  the hope that the beauty of God’s love will be expressed in this otherwise difficult, complex, unpleasant world.
 
Keep the Faith,
 
Pastor Dan

The Advent Celebration is this Sunday afternoon (Dec. 6) from 4:30-6:30. This is one of those don’t miss events.  Deb Soderholm, our Director of Children’s Ministries, says this: “Come celebrate the season.  We will begin our evening with several crafts for you to make (or in my case, watch others make), then enjoy fellowship and fun over pizza and end our evening with three stories of Christmas carols, presented by puppets , people and the pastor. “
 
This is an event you will feel good about sharing with your friends or maybe a relative who might be looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon. It may seem a little laid back with so many things going on at once and different people doing different things.  But take it from me, Deb and her team work hard to make this a great experience for kids, parents and anyone else who shows up. 
 
The Christmas Cantata, “Shout the Good News!”, is a week from Sunday on December 13th at 10 a.m. (Yes, that is during worship.) The Christmas story will be shared in song featuring the Eden Prairie UMC Chancel Cantata Choir and Orchestra.The Cantata is a high point of the Christmas season for many of us.
 
This is another “don’t miss” event that you can invite your friends and family to join you. One way we’ve made this easy for you is to use the tear off at the bottom of the Commitment Section of the bulletin. It’s like a card you could mail or use any other way you could think of. (Click here to download a PDF Cantata invitation you can share with friends.)
 
Inviting friends and family to these events is an important part of the life of our church.  What makes these two events “can’t miss” is that they are worth sharing. It’s not that we are trying to convince everyone who comes through the doors that they might want to think about coming to church here. If folks you know are looking for a church home, that is great. What I’m saying is I believe these two events in particular are so well done, and so much fun in their own way...that why wouldn’t you want someone you care about to know about them?
 
When we invite people to events at our church with the intention of sharing something wonderful, the negative motivation we so often worry about –  that we are being pushy about our church – is avoided.  People pick up on this.  And if you ask me, the desire to share the many good things God is making happen here with people that we care about is worth the risk of seeming pushy.

Keep the Faith,

Pastor Dan