Greetings and peace to you! As we continue to weather the stresses and changes in our society and community, I want to pause and recognize our need for connection. We all have a basic need for connection to God and to one another needing fulfillment.
There are times in my life when I feel restless and dissatisfied. I eventually realize this restlessness is when I am distracted by things — many of which are good things to do — and have neglected to connect with God or my faith community in meaningful ways.
Thankfully, we have guidelines in our United Methodist tradition helping us orient our lives to being connected and fulfilled. These guidelines are found in our vows of membership in which we pledge to support the church through our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. In this support, we find a helpful balance aiding our journeys of discipleship. Some might ask, why the focus on the church? Because the church is the body of Christ, an expression of God in this world today.
When we support the church through our prayers, we are focusing both on a stillness with God of listening to God’s voice, and an outward focus of care and concern for our neighbors. In prayer, we can turn to scripture for reflection, nourishment, and guidance. Though some think of prayer as only happening with bowed head and folded hands, we know that prayer can take many forms from sitting still to active dance and song. Our prayers are an important part of our commitment to Christ.
Our presence allows for a connection with God and one another. We are present in worship in person or online — as well as in smaller gatherings of the church. In this commitment to “show up”, we rest assured we should come as we are, warts and all, to walk a journey of discipleship together.
As we enter the fall season, gifts come to the front of our minds. Our stewardship campaign, “Committed to Christ”, for financial giving is approaching, but we also recognize that stewardship is more than just money. Our gifts can be talents of making things to sell, expertise in helping the church run smoothly or being present at the church for the internet installation (thank you Tom and Shirley). Everyone has gifts to offer, and we look forward to exploring our individual and corporate gifts.
Service is another way of connecting with God. In the greatest commandment, Jesus offers that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Through our interactions with the community around us we are able to feed, provide, learn and grow. Though many of the avenues for our service areas have changed, we are exploring new ways of connecting with our schools and neighbors.
Finally as we are connected to God and one another, a natural result is to invite another person into the joy, hope, and warmth of relationships that we have found. Witness can be a verbal telling of a story, but it can also be told through the manner in which we interact with one another and the people around us. Providing a witness of respect and civility is especially important these days.
As we continue to navigate our new normal, we all need to find these connection points. I am
happy to walk with you on the journey. If you want to meet with me, please contact me at 828-263-2035, kcornell@wnnccumc.net, call the church office, 624-0061, or stop by. I am in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9-2. Though times are always changing, our need for connection remains the same. Will you join me to deepen our connections as we are committed to a life of discipleship?
Blessings and Peace,
Katherine