I have several friends who are what I would call die-hard Minnesota Twins baseball fans. One of them has lived in Nashville for about 15 years; he knows more about the Twins than I do. I would call myself a “recreational” baseball fan. This means I pay enough attention to care but not enough to know a whole lot of names and statistics and strategy. This year die-hard and recreational fans alike are very happy that we are still paying attention to the Twins in October.
My friend from Nashville is coming up this weekend for a meeting and is staying with me. His “Die-hardness” is rubbing off on me. When we were talking about what to do together he sort of gasped over the phone as if to communicate, “What to you mean?…. what are we going to do….the Twins are at home against the Royals…. WE ARE GOING to Target field.” We’ve got tickets for Friday’s game.
I’m guessing there will be a different atmosphere at Target field tomorrow night if the Twins are still in the chase. Even recreational fans can sense the excitement of the possibility of the playoffs. Everybody is a die-hard fan when the play-offs are a possibility. When you put 40,000 die-hard fans together, the atmosphere is electric The ball park has such a sense of urgency, it is difficult to imagine or reproduce. Ball players call this a home field advantage and tell us it makes a measurable difference.
The next several weeks at EPUMC will be electric. We need you there to create the kind of momentum that 40,000 die-hard fans create at a major league ballpark. I’m asking you to become a die-hard member of EPUMC for about 6 weeks. This means not only to do your best to make it to worship but to also pay attention to all the communications coming to you from EPUMC.
Beginning on October 11….. a week from Sunday….. we will be having some significant conversations about the future of our congregation that will make of you a die hard EPUMC member. On October 11 we’ll talk about the money. Following worship, Bart, myself and several other church leaders will meet in the room right next door to the fellowship hall to listen to your questions and comments about the money. We’ll be having similar conversations about our mission, our purpose, and our challenges through November 15. That is the day we’ve set aside to receive our financial commitments for 2016. Actually on November 15, we’ll also have our annual “best pancake breakfast in the world” so my guess is there will be more eating than talking that day.
Now I know that most of you who have opened this email are already die-hard members of EPUMC. (Usually over 50% of those we send this to open it. This is a great statistic) Please take this memo as much as a thank you for always being there as it is an invitation. Maybe then this memo could also be an opportunity to reach out to someone you haven’t seen in church in a while and invite them to join you. Jesus called this “making disciples”; we have been calling it being “Small Enough to Care.” Something as simple as a phone call or an email to an old friend is how the world is transformed and we create the momentum at EPUMC to continue to be “Big Enough to Make a Difference.”
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
My friend from Nashville is coming up this weekend for a meeting and is staying with me. His “Die-hardness” is rubbing off on me. When we were talking about what to do together he sort of gasped over the phone as if to communicate, “What to you mean?…. what are we going to do….the Twins are at home against the Royals…. WE ARE GOING to Target field.” We’ve got tickets for Friday’s game.
I’m guessing there will be a different atmosphere at Target field tomorrow night if the Twins are still in the chase. Even recreational fans can sense the excitement of the possibility of the playoffs. Everybody is a die-hard fan when the play-offs are a possibility. When you put 40,000 die-hard fans together, the atmosphere is electric The ball park has such a sense of urgency, it is difficult to imagine or reproduce. Ball players call this a home field advantage and tell us it makes a measurable difference.
The next several weeks at EPUMC will be electric. We need you there to create the kind of momentum that 40,000 die-hard fans create at a major league ballpark. I’m asking you to become a die-hard member of EPUMC for about 6 weeks. This means not only to do your best to make it to worship but to also pay attention to all the communications coming to you from EPUMC.
Beginning on October 11….. a week from Sunday….. we will be having some significant conversations about the future of our congregation that will make of you a die hard EPUMC member. On October 11 we’ll talk about the money. Following worship, Bart, myself and several other church leaders will meet in the room right next door to the fellowship hall to listen to your questions and comments about the money. We’ll be having similar conversations about our mission, our purpose, and our challenges through November 15. That is the day we’ve set aside to receive our financial commitments for 2016. Actually on November 15, we’ll also have our annual “best pancake breakfast in the world” so my guess is there will be more eating than talking that day.
Now I know that most of you who have opened this email are already die-hard members of EPUMC. (Usually over 50% of those we send this to open it. This is a great statistic) Please take this memo as much as a thank you for always being there as it is an invitation. Maybe then this memo could also be an opportunity to reach out to someone you haven’t seen in church in a while and invite them to join you. Jesus called this “making disciples”; we have been calling it being “Small Enough to Care.” Something as simple as a phone call or an email to an old friend is how the world is transformed and we create the momentum at EPUMC to continue to be “Big Enough to Make a Difference.”
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
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