2/24/10

Thank you for all your concern during my week-end hospitalization. I had chest pains on Saturday and had a thorough cardiac testing series. I passed the stress test with flying colors Monday and was released Monday evening. Again, thank you for all your concern, prayers, and love. You are a wonderful family.

Dean and Sue

By the time you read this (Thursday or Friday) the season of Lent will have begun. Ash Wednesday is a solemn time of being honest and open with God about our Sin (condition) and our sins (acts and omissions.) This is not popular stuff in today's church. We want happy, upbeat and optimistic words and music, lots of drums and joy and celebration. There's a time for that. We call it Easter. But Easter can only come when we have passed through Ash Wednesday and Lent, with all their emphasis on repentance. What a drag! We're instant gratification kinds of people, people who have huge credit card debts because we want it all now, not later. We flock to churches that tell us what is positive and possible right now and get our Jesus fix for the week. We're not as eager about discipleship or Lenten discipline. But Jesus had to get to Easter by way of the Cross, and so do we. I grew up in a tradition that thought lent was something you found under the bed. As a Methodist, I am reminded by the Lenten Season that Easter can come for me only as I am willing to receive and respond to God's grace with all that I am and all that I have. I am also reminded how often I don't do this! The road to Easter leads through the difficult, even painful time we call Lent. It's not instant gratification, but it is eternal Joy. I'll take that.

Peace,

Dean

Reminder...Are you praying for the Bishop and Cabinet?

1/27/10

There's a funny thing about asking the wrong questions. If the question is wrong, even the right answer is wrong. In so many places in our lives we get the right answer to our question, but the question is wrong. For instance, someone observed that we are asking the wrong questions about our financial situation in the nation. We want to know "how can we fix it?" Or, we ask "when will it be over so we can get back to normal?" These are important questions, but in some ways they are the wrong questions. Perhaps we need also to ask "how did we get in this mess?" Or we need to ask "How do we need to change so that it doesn't happen again?" Perhaps the best question is "What can we learn from this experience?" If we are not asking the right questions, we will not get the right answers. The same is true in our spiritual lives, especially about prayer. If we only ask how we can use prayer to get what we want or to get God to do things we want done, those might be the wrong questions. Oh, I know they are important questions, but are they the only questions about prayer, or are they even the most important questions about prayer? Is prayer really just about requests and answers? Is that faith or magic? Perhaps our real problem with prayer is that we are asking the wrong questions. I want to explore this on Sunday in our time together.

In Christ,

Dean

1/13/10

My first real contact with FUMC came when back in the late 1980’s, I was signed up to teach a class in marriage and family for Western at the Glasgow Campus. At that time, the Glasgow campus was the old school building up on College Hill. I came early to check out the facilities and then walked down toward town. I saw the church and remember wondering what sort of church it was. I knew United Methodist Churches came in many flavors and wondered about this one, never knowing we would spend almost one-fourth of our ministry here. Life is funny. Some time later I was invited as Wesley Foundation minister to lead an afternoon marriage and family enrichment session at the church. When I came as your pastor, I discovered that none of you remembered that afternoon. Life, along with being funny, is also embarrassing. Sue and I are touched so deeply by your outpouring of love over this past week and over the past nine years. We have been a good fit, and that is the secret to a pastoral experience. Good pastors sometimes go to good churches and it doesn’t work because the gifts that pastor brings do not fit the needs of the church at that time. I’ve seen that happen, and it has happened in the life of every church, including this one. I do not intend to dwell on this over the next few months, but I do want to say a couple of things about the future at this point. Maybe they will be helpful. First, part of what I hear right now is fear about "who you will get" and what the future will hold. I share that concern. It probably won’t surprise you to know that Sue and I have our own fears about our own future. We’ve never been retired before! We’re excited, but there is some anxiety there too. I can’t imagine what it is like not to be a pastor and preacher. But I know that it is time for this change and if God is in it, God will guide and direct. That’s who God is. Always has been and always will be. Period. As we all look to the future, perhaps we need to exercise our faith and pray that God will direct the Bishop and the District Superintendent in this process. Sue and I will do the same for our future. Also, I know that relationships are two-sided. You must open your arms to the fortunate folks who will come here, just as you opened yours arms and hearts to us. Support your church and your pastor. I remember leaving a previous church, and folks who seldom came or gave money or participated told me how sad they were that I was leaving. I wondered why, since they had not supported my ministry when I was there. It seemed kind of phony. If our love for God, for our church, and for our pastor doesn’t get translated into our actions, it’s not very real. The joy of this church is that so many of you talk the talk and walk the walk. I believe the best is yet to be in all of our lives, if we stay close to God. Nine years ago when I was pastoring in Bowling Green, my District Superintendent (Rachel James from this church), called on a Tuesday night to say my name had been raised to move to another church. She asked if I would be willing to go, still not having told me where this other church was. I told her that I believed God worked through my church and its leaders, and that I would go where I was asked to go. I still believe that. To God be the glory.

In Christ,

Dean

Our Superintendent, Darren Brandon, is deeply concerned that the right person be appointed as your next pastor. He knows this church well and has your best interests at heart. I know we will all be praying for him and for all those involved in the process. Reverend Brandon will meet to consult with our Staff Parish Committee next Sunday, January 10, at 4:00. This is fairly short notice, but he needs to talk with the churches before he meets with the Bishop later in January. We have an "appointment with consultation" process in our denomination. That is, our pastors are appointed by the Bishop, working with the Superintendents (the Cabinet.) But these appointments are made after consultation with the pastors and the churches, and every effort is made to honor these consultations. Your representatives in this process are the members of the Staff Parish Committee. If you have in-put or ideas, these need to be shared through the Committee and not directly with the Superintendent. This is how the process works. Over the next couple of months the Bishop will be meeting with the Cabinet and will prayerfully make the appointments for the new year (beginning in June.)

This same process applies to our wonderful Associate Pastor John Shepherd. The new pastor will be announced around Easter and will be moving to the church after Annual Conference in early June, and Sue and I will be moving back to Bowling Green to facilitate grandparenting. We will cherish our memories of this wonderful church community, and we look forward to these next few months with you.

In Christ,

Dean

Over the last several weeks, I have been trying to preach on some of the great "virtues," qualities that help us live the kind of life God created us to live. In each case I have (and will) connect these great virtues to our walk with God. For instance, we thought together about "character" one Sunday. Character is that inner strength and constancy that enables us to make choices and decisions that are sound and healthy. The foundation of character is our relationship with Christ. His image of character is "a house built on a rock." Linked to character is "courage to live," another quality we wrestled with together. Handling life demands a courage which grows out of our faith and hope in God. We entrust to Him what we cannot overcome on our own and, in fact, all of our lives. In the end, His is the final word, isn’t it? The final powerful words of Romans 8 are our hymn of courage. Then, last Sunday, we used the story of Cornelius in Luke 7 to talk about the quality of "reverence." Reverence is an attitude, one that places us in our proper place in the scheme of things in relationship to God. Reverence inspires service and sacrifice, not out of duty but out of gratitude and a sense of wonder. "Here I am. Send me." Reverence leads to worship and then to service. People who revere God have character and courage and live lives that reflect God in who we are and what we do. This Sunday, I want us to meditate of "perseverance" as another of those great qualities of a well-lived life. Maybe this all sounds kind of boring and deep and maybe we would rather have something that is a bumper sticker or sound byte. But life is deeper and tougher than that. Faith is a journey through good and bad times. Hebrews 12 will teach us that. It will also tell us that, if we hang tough, we will find what real life is.

Hang Tough,

Dean

The next two Sundays are big days in the life of our church. This Sunday (November 8) is Charge Conference Sunday. Our District Superintendent will be here to hold our charge conference at 5:30. This is a business meeting at which we begin to close out 2009 and look forward to 2010. We will elect our leadership for next year and adopt our budget and look back over the year that is ending. This is an important part of our work together. The Superintendent will also be using our facilities for the charge conferences for the other churches in our cluster. Then, at 7:00, we will join with these other churches for a worship service in our sanctuary. Our men's chorus will provide some of the special music.

On Sunday, November 15 at 3:00, Bishop Lindsey Davis will be here for the dedication of our Family Life Center. This will be a celebration with lots of music and Bishop Davis bringing the message. We paid off the loan last Friday. You paid off $220,000 in 14 months, and we have a debt-free building. May I remind us that the Vision Team presented this need to the congregation in the Fall of 2004, five years ago. We held our groundbreaking for the building in April, 2007, and it is completed and paid off two years and six months later! WOW!!! TO GOD BE THE GLORY! Let's celebrate on November 15 and ask God's guidance as we look toward the future. I am so thankful for those who stepped up and gave outstanding leadership in this building project. I am equally thankful for the congregation that gave support and made financial sacrifices to pay for the building and continue to support our ongoing ministries. Together, with God's blessing and leadership, we have made a contribution to the ministry of this church for decades to come. Let us celebrate this achievement, even as we begin to think about the vision for the future with Phase II. I'm proud to be part of this church family!

Peace and Love,

Dean

This week our focus in our "Helping Friends" series is being a friend during a divorce. Our goal in this series is to help us be sensitive to people who are going through a hard time in their lives and might reach out to us as "helping friends." Being helpful involves knowing the issues and emotions that might be a part of that particular crisis. For instance, in the case of divorce, we often feel like a failure because our marriage failed. We need help sorting out those feelings. It is very helpful to know what we might have done to contribute to the problems in the relationship rather than simply blame the other person. We cannot grow and prepare for a new relationship without some understanding of what went wrong the first time. It is hard to back off and look at that because the emotions are so strong, but a patient friend who is willing to listen and maybe encourage that honesty is a valuable helper. Often times folks need practical help with everyday problems like transportation for the children. Often the greatest need is simply to talk about feelings and needs, sometimes over and over until there is some relief. This kind of listening requires a special patience, but is a wonderful ministry. We have so many opportunities to minister to hurting folks every day. These might be people at work or people we just know casually. These people reach out to us for a kind word and a listening ear. If we are willing to let God use us, we can be "helping friends" and carry God's love to people whose lives brush against ours every day.

Peace and Love,

Dean

I read about a pastor who did an experiment in his church. He would alternate preaching two types of sermons. On one Sunday he would talk about God’s love and grace and forgiveness. The next Sunday he would talk about what God expects of us, our discipleship. He alternated these two types of sermons for several months. On Sundays when he talked about God’s love, people were joyful and would stay abound and talk afterwards. It was great! On Sundays when he talked about discipleship (our obedience and duty to God), there was a heavy silence (except people coughed a lot) and folks cleared out as soon as church was over. A member was heard to tell a visitor: "We have a good pastor, but he just preaches a good sermon every other week." I can understand that. We do want to hear about the love and mercy of God. In C S Lewis’ words, our relationship with God is always "need love." We love God because God meets our deepest needs. Our struggle is to realize that part of receiving God’s love is responding to that love with our worship and service. Our discipleship and obedience are part of our receiving God’s grace. Like the prodigal son, we come home with humble hearts ready to be servants and God showers us with love and grace. We may respond to God in service inside or outside the church, but we must respond. Grace is free, but it isn’t cheap (Bonhoeffer).

Grace and Peace,

Dean

"I'm going to have a COME TO JESUS TALK with that boy." My friend said that about his teen age son who was acting up. My friend wasn't someone who took the Lord's name lightly. This little saying, which I had never heard, simply meant a serious talk about life and its realities. It fits my purposes here, so let's have one of those talks. As we prepare to begin a new series of Wednesday gatherings, I am discovering that no-one wants to work with the children during that 40-45 minute period when the adults have some time together. I am also told that it is difficult to get folks to teach our children in Sunday School. These are the same children we like to call "the future of the church." Here's the "come to Jesus talk" part. In my 40-plus years of ministry, this is the hardest part, the part I hate the most. I have to talk to, cajole, plead with people for whom Jesus died and try to convince them (us) to give back to the Jesus and the church that has given so much for us. Are we missing something here? When we ask for teachers with the children, the younger adults say they are too busy and the older ones say they've already done that. When the dust settles, that just leaves me. Here are the options. We can cancel Wednesday night, a sad option. We can keep the kids with the adults, which will probably not work. We can hire people to do what we ought to do, like some churches hire their choirs now (sad!). Or, several of us can agree to pair up and take one of those six nights and minister to our children. Ideally, some one would step up and coordinate this and I'll help with programming. For Sunday School, again the options are there. Cancel it, like many churches have to do now. Hire people. Or, work out a schedule that allows us to minister to our children and still be in Sunday School part time for our own growth. That's what we've been doing but we seem to be having problems with it. You'll receive a volunteer survey in this newsletter that has other opportunities for service for next year and this is very important. But the Wednesday and Sunday School needs are right now. The office has a sheet for each of these and we need calls/e-mails ASAP to meet these needs. Jesus died for you and me. There's no wiggle room here. We owe a debt of love and our children need us to pay that debt in concrete ways with our time and loving presence. Let us hear from you. It's come to Jesus time.

Dean