A Letter from Pastor Derek - March
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
No, not Christmas. We had that. Been there, done that. And sure, the world has claimed Christmas in a way that makes it a little bit harder to celebrate the true meaning of the season in all of its theological depth. We wrestle with that every Christmas season. We’ll get back to that later. Much later.
But no, I’m talking about the true “most wonderful time of the year.” At least as we followers of Jesus know it. And that is the glorious season of Easter. We are in our preparation time now, getting ready for an amazing celebration. But this time it is less about decorating our houses and making our shopping lists, and scheduling our parties and family events. Instead it is about preparing our souls for an encounter with the Resurrected Lord. It’s about prayer and self-examination, maybe about denial or maybe about extra effort.
There is a wonderful Palm Sunday and Holy Week being planned. There is a glorious experience of Easter worship in the works. And afterwards? … Well, everything is new again. Easter invites us to restart. To rethink. And we’re planning a few adjustments to things around here. Not really major changes, but maybe representing changes that go a little deeper.
The first shift will be on Thursday evenings. During Holy Week we are going to concentrate on the Holy Communion experience, Maundy Thursday. Which means we won’t have our usual 6pm worship in anticipation of the weekend to come. So, join us at 7pm for Maundy Thursday worship on Thursday, March 29th. Then the following Thursday, April 5th, will be the Thursday night Easter celebration at 6:30 p.m. We backed it up 30 minutes to accommodate folks coming from work. And then each successive Thursday will follow the Sunday theme, instead of preceding it. Which means if you have to miss Sunday, come the following Thursday for what you missed. And if you come on Thursday and then the following Sunday you’ll get two different themes or messages presented.
Also in the works is another all church study, watch for that. A lot of good ideas came from the group during our Credo class together. Thank you for your input. But as always with these things, not everyone’s first choice will be chosen. There is just too much diversity in our group for that. Yet, each input was taken seriously and watch for more to come.
Speaking of input, there is another opportunity for you to shape Southport UMC and our life together. Over the summer months I want you to help determine what our worship themes ought to be. There is a survey form available for you to have your questions answered and your interests peaked. There are two parts to our summer worship. One I’m calling “Meet the Bible” and that is a chance for us to take a look at some of the more obscure, or confusing or just down right difficult parts of the Bible. So, what confuses you? What troubles you? And what excites you? Help us shape our Bible series with your questions.
The other part of the summer is called “Ask the Pastor” and the field is wide open. Maybe you have questions about church practice or doctrine. Maybe you want to know our denominational stance on a variety of social issues. Maybe you’ve wondered how we are the same and how we are different from any of a number of other denominations of churches. Again, you are the guide to our thinking and planning. So get yourself a survey and help us out. Help me out. We need to get your responses and then be able to publish our summer themes before folks begin to be distracted by all the summer activities. I want to hear from you.
This is indeed the most wonderful time of the Christian year. A time for a new start. A time for grabbing hold of the grace of God and reaching out to make disciples – of ourselves and others. This is just too good not to share.
Have a blessed Lent and a glorious Easter celebration
Shalom,
Derek