What a difference six months make! When we arrived in June, the temperature was
in the mid-nineties and we settled in for a summer of scorching temperatures and
little rain. Nancy and I came with a large truck mostly full of boxes that are
now empty or stored. The trees in the summer were full of green leaves and now
they have begun to fall to the ground. We still need rain, but at least we received
a little rain this past week. Life is beginning to take on a sense of normalcy, if
such a thing is possible in ministry. As you read this, we have entered a new year,
in the church calendar, beginning with the Advent season, anticipating the birth of
Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, Emmanuel, Lord of Lords, and the Prince of peace.
Nancy and I are both thankful for the abundant hospitality that we have received
since moving to El Dorado.
I am looking forward to helping with the hospitality / greeting ministry (Jane, Pat, Herman and others already do that well before Sunday school each week). We won’t re-place that ministry but we will look at ways to extend the church’s hospitality at both ser-vices, especially to our visitors. We will also look at the best ways to introduce visitors to the church and explore the possibility of making our home-bound and nursing home resident visitation more structured. Another aspect of this ministry is, of course, looking for ways that we can present our church as a loving, growing and sharing congregation to those in the community who need a place to worship God and grow in Christian disciple-ship. We are open to ideas on these ministries. Please contact Jim or me if you would like to help.
A new ministry, "extending the table," that we started last month will continue. This ministry is led by volunteers from the church who take communion from our worship ser-vice to our home-bound, assisted living residents and nursing home residents. We received a positive and grateful response from not only those we served but from those that served. We won’t be able to "extend the table" in December; but if you would like to include someone to receive communion in January or if you have would like to volunteer for this new ministry, please contact the church office.
As we approach a new year, be thinking about confirmation and your spiritual journey of faith in the UMC. We are looking at holding, in the winter/spring time frame, a Christianity 101 class, designed for new Christians and new United Methodists, and a Christianity 201 class, designed for deeper discussions in our walk of faith. We are also planning a children’s confirmation class for the winter/spring time frame.
May your advent and Christmas be filled with both the expectation of what God can do and thankfulness for what God has already done. This year the church has purchased, for each family, copies of a booklet of meditations for the Advent season,
The Lord is Near: Advent Meditations from the works of Henri J. M. Nouwen. We hope these meditations will help deepen your Advent season family devotions. I would like to share with you a prayer from that work:
"Lord Jesus,
Master of both the Light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces
to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things
look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways
long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, "Come, Lord Jesus! Amen"
