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From Bishop Peter Weaver Email for the Bishop: mailto:PIM@neumc.org

New England Conference, The United Methodist Church

Published March 12, 2010

Dear Partners in Ministry,

HEALTH KITS THAT SHOW OUR HEALTH: Thanks to all of our churches that have responded quickly and generously to the call for Health Kits for Haiti . There has been an incredible response. Over 27,000 kits have been sent forth from our Conference. (One of the “big” conferences with lots more churches and people was boasting that they had collected 20,000 kits....but we won’t boast, will we?)

Many of our churches have given everyone a chance to help. One passed out cards to everyone in the congregation. Each card had just one of the health kit items on it ....bring combs....bring soap....etc. Everyone brought something the next Sunday....and then the Scouts and community groups were invited to join with church members on a Saturday morning to assemble all the kits. I hear it was a great time of building relationships....introducing some new folk to the life of the church....developing health for the community and congregation, as well as helping our neighbors in Haiti . In so many ways we are a healthy conference as we share love with our communities and world. (By the way, we have already contributed well over $225,000 for UMCOR relief in Haiti....and don’t forget about your “One Great Hour of Sharing” offering which, with your Mission Shares, pays for the UMCOR organization so that 100% of the offerings for Haiti and Chile will go to Haiti and Chile....and wherever else God’s people experience catastrophes…Praise God from whom all blessings flow!)

HEALTH CARE FOR ALL. Jesus ministry of healing reached out to all the sectors of society. John Wesley started the first free health clinic in London because he knew of Christ’s concern for the spirit, mind, and body of all....plus, one of his most popular books was simple, home-cures for illnesses as a way of helping those who had no access to health care. Our United Methodist Social Principles states: “Health care is a basic human right....Like police and fire protection, health care is best funded through the government’s ability to tax each person equitably and directly fund the provider entities....We believe it is a governmental responsibility to provide all citizens with health care.” (Book of Discipline, paragraph 162, V)

The current discussion about health care reform is ultimately a moral, not a political matter. While in my personal opinion the current proposals in Congress do not yet make health care “a basic human right” ....for “all citizens,” they point us in the right direction.

Votes in Congress appear to be coming soon. Pray about this important moral matter. I know that there are many different perspectives among us on how best to reform health care. But I would urge support for these steps forward. This week, let your members of Congress know what you think.

GOD IS LIKE FIRE....so said Archbishop Tutu in a radio interview recently. Even when you don’t understand it all....draw close....be warmed by God’s love....experience the reality....and give thanks. May it be so for you this day....and may our witness for Christ be like the fire of God.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published January 26, 2010

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ IT HAS BEEN A "PSALM 46" TWO WEEKS. . . "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea...." I have heard these lines repeated again and again since the shaking change of the earth in Haiti . First, in a conversation with a friend as we sought to console each other after the news of the deaths of Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb, leaders of our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), who had walked into the lobby of the Hotel Montana in Port-Au-Prince five minutes before the earthquake struck. They were there for a consultation on the serious problems with health care in Haiti , which UMCOR was trying to address....before most of the world was paying any attention to Haiti . God is our refuge....

Then Saturday morning, Jan. 16th, Linda and I participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast in Springfield , Mass. Dr. David Carter, Chancellor of the Connecticut State University System, spoke of the unity with the Haitian people and how his own faith in God had seen him through in life. He reminded us of Ghandi's warning about "worship without sacrifice." The high school senior, who received the M.L.K., Jr. Scholarship, was honored as a scholar/athlete, and for his "spiritual commitment"...he wrote, "God is the answer to all problems." God is .....a very present help in trouble.....

The following day, Jan. 17th, I preached at the United Parish of Upton (UCC and UMC). Among the many fine things they are doing is the reclaiming of a time in the service, once a month, when a person shares his or her "testimony." It was a deeply moving time when a woman from the congregation shared her faith journey, from an important spiritually formative time in youth group through the twists and turns of life, with a deep sense of God's presence. The congregation was already signing up on the prayer calendar for Haiti , which I had suggested in the last Partners in Ministry. God is....therefore, we will not fear....

Then, Linda and I left that congregation and drove directly (and quickly, no tickets) to our Boston United Methodist Haitian congregation as they worshipped early in the afternoon. The Bethany First congregation, which shares the same building, also had stayed for worship. Psalm 46 was read....in English and French. Greetings were shared in Creole. Tears came to my eyes as the pastor, Michelle Pierre, who had three relatives killed in the earthquake, proclaimed, "God is good all the time. " All the time God is good," came the response. Our resurrection hope in Christ was shared again and again. At the end of the service, we formed a large circle around the sanctuary for prayers. So many lifted names of loved ones who had been killed....or not yet heard from. There were tears...there were prayers....there was singing. God is!

Monday morning, Jan. 18th, we went to the Boston Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast at the Hynes Convention Center . After an opening prayer connecting our hearts to our sisters and brothers in Haiti, a thousand voices reverently sang James Weldon Johnson's words, "God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who hast by thy might led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path we pray." Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, who teaches at our Candler School of Theology at Emory University , called us all to be, in Dr. King's words, "transformative nonconformists" in our faith, in our witness, and in our actions. I thought of Jesus, and Sam, and Clint, and Dr. King, and sisters and brothers in Haiti ...and around the world... who have sacrificed so much in their faith, witness and actions. And I thought of us, partners in this continuing ministry for Christ. Do we truly believe and trust that "the Lord of hosts is with us".....no matter what? Let's live it...sacrifice for it...share it.

♦ THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS RESPONSE TO UMCOR. . . As you know from our Conference Website, over two million dollars from across the U.S. have come just through the UMCOR website contributions alone....not counting offerings received in our churches. At the King breakfast in Springfield , referred to above, the Springfield Children's Choir sang a Haitian folk song in Creole...prepared on short notice. The English translation is:

Let's come together.

The work is beginning.

We are waiting for you!

Haiti is waiting for us to more and more come together for the work of Christ....for the long road ahead. Thank you for your prayers, making health kits, contributions, study groups, and planning for mission teams later in the year when Haiti is ready to receive them. Thank you for being the Body of Christ.

♦ THREADS IN THE STORIES ABOVE. . . In writing above about the past "Psalm 46" weeks, I did not want to interrupt the flow to point to the threads of theology, worship, and mission that have implications for every local church. You will forgive me for naming the obvious....make sure they are a part of your church life in some way.

Our world and individuals experience "Psalm 46" "earthquakes" in their lives all the time...go deep theologically...why do bad things happen to good people...where is God in the midst of this....take on Pat Robertson's horrendous "deal with the devil" view....how is God good all the time...what about life after death?
Even if you only have two or three youth, meet weekly with them and pour all the love and teaching and formative spirituality you can (along with some fun) into those times.
Reclaim times for testimony in your worship. Also, if your space allows, make a circle around the sanctuary...look into each other's faces...and share your burdens, joys, and aches for the world.
"And behold, a lawyer stood up...saying, "Teacher....who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:25, 29) Never stop asking that question of Jesus....He's waiting for you....and me.
Both the Springfield and Boston M. L. King, Jr. gatherings were organized years ago by United Methodist congregations to bring their community….everyone…. together around critical issues of racism and this important observance. What are the issues in your community that your church could bring everyone together to address? How would you do that? Pray about it, plan for it, and put it into action.

♦ SAM DIXON'S MEMORIAL SERVICE was held in Raleigh , NC on Friday. As a friend and Director of the General Board of Global Ministries, I went to celebrate his life that has been, and now is with our risen Savior. We read Psalm 46. Jim Gulley, one of our missionaries who had also been trapped in the rubble of the Montana Hotel with Sam and four others, spoke in halting, emotional tones of the fifty-five hours they had endured, not knowing whether life or death was ahead of them. Sam and Clint's legs, pinned under immovable concrete, had been broken. Some were bleeding. All were without sufficient food or water. Night and day, and night and day came again.

Through it all, Jim said, they prayed...naming their loved ones, one by one. They told stories, and laughed. They remembered scripture. And they sang. One of the songs they sang the most was sung by us following Jim's witness:

I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river,

I've got peace like a river in my soul....

I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean,

I've got love like an ocean in my soul.....

I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain,

I've got joy like a fountain in my soul.....

What's at the heart of your soul? May it be, by God's Grace through Jesus Christ, peace, love, and joy even "though the earth should change, though the mountains shake." Share that Good News with your neighbors, Haiti , and the world.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published January 15, 2010

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI has captured the attention and hearts of us all. Monday and Tuesday, I was in New York at our General Board of Global Ministries leading a meeting concerning the funding of our missions in over 100 nations around the world. On Tuesday morning I heard, in passing, that Sam Dixon, the head of our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and two of his key staff were in Haiti for a special consultation on our work there. I was particularly interested because, as you may recall from my Partners in Ministry written after Thanksgiving, Linda and I had helped prepare 6,000 food packets for Haiti on Thanksgiving morning at a United Methodist Church . It was part of “Stop Hunger Now” which is led by a United Methodist minister. Also, one of our son-in-laws, who works for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, had recently spent time in Haiti focusing on the urgent health concerns there. Not long before, I had been in a conversation about our United Methodist Haitian Ministry in Boston and its needs. The third largest concentration of Haitians in the USA is in Massachusetts (about 80,000).

In all of these conversations, words like “extreme need,” “crisis,” or “disaster” were used long before Tuesday evening when the earthquake hit. Words like “incredibly faithful,” “generous with so little,” and “deeply compassionate” were also used to describe the Haitian people!

Yet, as one of our closest neighbors in the “global village,” most Americans seemed ignorant of the “disasters” of poverty, education, health care, hunger and daily life that were a part of regular existence in this poorest country of the Western Hemisphere . And probably, most United Methodists were unaware of our missionaries and resources that have been devoted to our work there in collaboration with the Methodist Church of the Caribbean .

After the Tuesday night earthquake, I went back and checked a report that had been handed out that morning that showed that $626,492.98 of our mission dollars had gone to ministries in Haiti in 2009. As of this morning, (Thursday), we have not heard from Sam Dixon and his colleagues who are in Haiti. We know that at least seven United Methodist Volunteer-in-Mission teams were in Haiti – some we have not heard from. Michelle Pierre, Pastor of the Boston Haitian congregation has heard from one of her brothers who has lost three children in the carnage. And we know that UMCOR is already sending others, and money to help.

And I know that our United Methodist congregations across New England will be gathering for worship and prayer on Sunday. Here are some suggestions I would make:

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY. We believe in the power of prayer…for the earthquake victims and their families, the aid workers, the Haitian missionaries and churches, the governments of Haiti and the world. Not only pray during your service, but post a sign-up sheet/prayer calendar for the next four weeks with the goal of having at least one person sign up for each day who will inform themselves (via news and UMCOR website) of the particular needs in Haiti that day and lift those specific needs up in prayer on behalf of the whole congregation. In doing so, over a period of time you develop a core of missionally sensitive members who become more deeply informed and committed to Haiti and mission.

DO THEOLOGY. For followers of Christ, this is not just a humanitarian concern, but at the heart of “loving our neighbors as ourselves.” Who is my neighbor? Why do most of us know so little about our neighbors (in Haiti , Africa , or down the street)…let alone love them as ourselves? Does God see us as sisters and brothers in the human family, “without borders?” What is the sin (personal and systemic) that we must confess as the “have’s” in a world of “have not’s.” This is a fertile time for us to reflect theologically, prophetically, missionally, and in terms of our life styles as American Christians. Do so in preaching, form a short term study group/Sunday School class on learning about Haiti and who we are called to be by the Gospel – have the study in someone’s home and invite your neighbor and the larger community.

INVITE PEOPLE TO DO SPECIFIC THINGS such as:

A) Contribute to UMCOR – Remember 100% will go to help in Haiti because the overhead of UMCOR has already been provided by our MISSION SHARES. The Haiti Emergency Advance # is 418325. Take a special offering this Sunday, and plan how your church can also contribute over future months.

B) Get a team together to start to assemble Health Kits. The flow of Health Kits is already starting from the store of those already made, but many more will be needed.

C) Volunteer-in-Mission teams will not be going yet because resources are needed for those on the ground already. But think about being a part of teams that will probably start to go from New England around March.

D) Form a study/prayer group mentioned in Item #2. You may want to do so with other United Methodist Churches or ecumenically. Invite your community.

There are already a number of resources available at www.neumc.org/haiti to help your congregation plan and communicate about some of these efforts, and we are continuing to add to these resources.

RELATE TO HAITIANS IN YOUR AREA. Take time to listen to their stories, offer to help, build solidarity. If you do not know Haitians in your area, remember that Roman Catholic churches in our region often have Haitian members…an opportunity also for building ecumenical relationships.

EMMANUAL: GOD IS WITH US. Trust God to be with us as God guides us in this time. Be open to the Holy Spirit to give you creative ideas and direction. Reach out to be “partners in ministry” with each other in new and deeper ways.

Grace and Peace.

Pete

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ DRY THANKSGIVING AND GIVING AND GIVING This Thanksgiving we were with family in Williamsburg, VA. The United Methodist Church there invited folks from the congregation and community (200 showed up...all ages) to gather Thanksgiving morning to prepare hot meals to be distributed throughout the community and to prepare dry meals - 380 gram meals of rice, dried vegetables and vitamins (Yes, we weighed every one of 6,000 bags.) to be distributed mostly to Haiti.

Many churches share food one way or another at Thanksgiving... and we enjoyed visiting and praying with the families to whom we took the hot meals that day... but, the 6,000 dry meals will keep giving and giving long after Thanksgiving day is over. This project, sponsored by "Stop Hunger Now," also got us (including kids) talking about why there is so much hunger in our world and communities. The woman working next to me weighing bags (She was a visitor to the church...she'll be back.) said one of her boys (about 9) who was also helping, had asked her, "Why are people hungry, when we have so much food?" Having that question in the "buzz" of 200 people on Thanksgiving morning was maybe the greatest cause for thanksgiving.

If your church is doing gifts or food this Christmas for the disadvantaged, make sure you create the opportunity for people to meet, talk and pray with each other, as it is appropriate, and also to ponder the question why some have so little and others so much...not just at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but year round, round the globe.

♦ PEAS AND PEWS The Open Table of Christ United Methodist Church in Rhode Island faced a dilemma as the need for more and more space for their food bank ministry (peas, etc.) increased in these tough economic times. As in most of our churches, the biggest, most accessible, least used space in their building was the sanctuary...filled with pews. Prayer and decision time!...not a bad time to ask, "What would Jesus do with the pews?"

Their decision was to take the back pews of the sanctuary out to make room for the shelves and shelves of the expanded food bank (lots of peas now). Don't worry, you can still sit in the back pew....it's just closer to the preacher...a win win!?!? The sanctuary is now fully sanctuary for the hungry in spirit and body....busy throughout the week. (Click Here for more details) How creative can you be with peas and pews?

♦ O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL....THEN WHAT? So what will happen to the new (or old) visitors that will come for Advent/Christmas services/activities at your church this year? If you don't already have a plan to follow-up, get one quickly. People who appear during this season are often curious seekers. If the laity and pastor do not show that they care, the seekers are not likely to come back.

Make sure your friendliest greeters are outside and inside the church. Have special Christmas packets of information prepared to give out with a festive welcome gift (Christmas cookies, bread, fruit). Follow up with a visit or at least a phone call early in the following week. Announce and advertise a special "New Year's "four week study or sermon series on a timely topic like "Spiritual Resolutions That Make a Difference," or "New Life in the New Year." (Those who were at Annual Conference will remember Adam Hamilton making similar suggestions.) Create opportunities and events in January that will make children, youth, and adults want to come back and be a part of your congregation. Put special signage out front of your church, send special mailings to your area, and best of all, invite your congregation to invite their friends know ing that Christmas is not the "end" of something great, but the "beginning" of an opportunity for a whole new life and year.

I remember reading as a young pastor, “The congregation that does not plan for its future, is not likely to have one." What are your plans.....to be a part of God's plan.

♦ CROWS AND METHODISTS I am so inspired by the long history of faithfulness among Methodists here in New England. Last Sunday I shared in an anniversary service at Lee Memorial UMC in Norwich, CT. Even in the snow, they were out celebrating. In June 1790, Jesse Lee went to the house of Mrs. Thankful Pierce (don't you love that name) and they gathered a few more and then more, and over the years our movement in Norwich grew into eight Methodist congregations.

What was the secret (other than the Holy Spirit)? One of our pastors sent me this quote, "The circuit riders of the frontier days went everywhere. They rode through blizzards, snowstorms, and cloudbursts, prompting an old saying that at such times, 'nobody was out but crows and Methodist preachers.'" They were out and about.... everywhere.... no matter what the challenge. We need to be also, in our time...... the crows still are. And just a reminder, the "circuit riders" and "preachers" of that early day were both clergy and laity! We are partners in this grand ministry for the sake of Christ...born in Bethlehem.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published November 24, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ GRATITUDE AND GENEROSITY are the heart of "true religion" according to John Wesley. Tom Albin, from the "Upper Room," reminds us of this because in loving God we are grateful for how God first loved us in Christ, regardless of what "things" we may or may not have. And this leads to loving generosity as we love our neighbors as ourselves. Gratitude and generosity are expressions of Jesus' two great commandments.....and thanksgiving is a time for both.

Last Sunday I was at First UMC, Lincoln, Maine. They were celebrating the 170th anniversary of their building constructed in 1839. In 1837 our country experienced an economic panic and depression (sound familiar?). Some Americans mockingly called President Martin Van Buren, "Martin Van Ruin." But, no amount of "ruin" could keep faithful Methodists from "doin'." With great gratitude to God for whatever blessings they had....limited as they were....these followers of Jesus stepped out, and with generous, sacrificial giving and hard labor built their present building and expanded their witness. May it be so for us now!

Jeremiah Marsh was the pastor in 1837. He was so grateful to God for his conversion in 1812 that he gave his life to Christ and preaching. He generously traveled an eight week circuit through the rugged terrain of Maine, often preaching every day two or three times (and we preachers sometimes think we have it hard!) He led a "giant revival" in Lincoln in 1837 in which 38 people were baptized and the church was built....the rest is history....and future.

Sunday there was still great Methodist gratitude and generosity filling the "thanksgiving basket" of that building. The church was full. Children were everywhere. The entire morning offering was given to the Bishops' Global AIDS fund. On a new video screen mounted on the old embossed tin sanctuary wall, beautiful scenes were projected illuminating the music that was being sung.

A special presentation on the screen highlighted how this congregation in its 170 year old building is "rethinking church" with a creative spirit of gratitude and generosity for the future.

They read I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (and it was on the screen, too), "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."..........what about you?......what about your church?......gratitude and generosity...its our future in Christ.

♦ GOD'S RENEWED CREATION: CALL TO HOPE AND ACTION "For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies...Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise." This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns, and yet, this Thanksgiving we know that the beauty of the earth is threatened by environmental degradation and the glory of the skies is streaked by new tests of weapons of mass destruction. "The love which from our birth over and around us lies" in shadows of disease and poverty for too many of God's children trying simply to survive.

I was delighted to be a part of the decision earlier this month at the Council of Bishops meeting to issue a pastoral letter to you and all of our United Methodist Churches around the world, entitled, "God's Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action." We believe that pandemic poverty and disease, environmental challenges, and a world awash with weapons and violence are interrelated in our human "web of brokenness."

It has taken several years to do the studies, conduct hearings, and produce the documents of this "Call." The first series of documents is AVAILABLE AT http://www.umc-cob.org/. These resources include:

1. THE PASTORAL LETTER ....to be read to your congregation during a Sunday worship in Advent.
2. THE PASTORAL LETTER IN A LITURGICAL SETTING for use as an "act of worship."
3. THE FOUNDATION DOCUMENT with the theology, realities, and practices of environmental holiness.

In January a six part study with leaders guide will be available for use in Lent. Electronic resources specifically geared for youth and young adults will also be available (a great way to reach out to unchurched youth and young adults in your community). I know that some churches may not be able to use these materials in Advent or Lent, but I strongly encourage both laity and clergy to make sure this is in your planning before June, 2010. It is a timely and critical way to honor and serve the God who created our earth, the skies, and, out of love, gave us birth.

As a young pastor, I remember the profound impact an earlier study, "In Defense of Creation," had on me and on our congregation. People who had never thought much about these things before in the context of the Bible and their faith became deeply engaged and mobilized in making a difference....or should I say, in following Jesus whose heart is broken every time we neglect the poor, forget the lilies of the field and birds of the air, and fail to be peacemakers .

Give your congregation the opportunity to meet Christ in the holy conversations and actions stimulated by "God's Renewed Creation."

♦ NEW SUPERINTENDING PARTNERS IN MINISTRY The Cabinet and I, in consultation with the District Superintendency Committees of the New Hampshire and RISEM (Rhode Island and Southeastern Mass.) Districts have begun the discernment process for the appointment of new District Superintendents to follow John Blackadar (retiring) and Gary Shaw (ending eight year term). They have both been wonderful "superintending partners in ministry" to us all.

Please keep this process in your prayers. We seek God's will, and not our own. As always, I am open to any suggestions you may have for this important serving role in our connection. As John Wesley reminded us, "Best of all, God is with us".....the best Partner of all partners in ministry.

REJOICE ALWAYS....PRAY WITHOUT CEASING....GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES!

and may God bless your thanksgiving......

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Dear Partners in Ministry

Published October 26, 2009

ON THE ROAD AGAIN... I have been on the road a lot this fall since my last Partners in Ministry, with many great experiences to share.

One highlight was visiting Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT. It is a wonderful United Methodist related college with a great, caring environment for education and community building. Among many good programs, they excel in environmental studies.....they actually have a farm attached to the college. They are strongly committed to developing their United Methodist connection, as they become a part of the New England Conference next year. (Check them out on their web site, greenmtn.edu), or if you know someone looking at colleges, take them for a visit).

Another highlight was the installation of Dr. Mary Elizabeth Moore as the new Dean at Boston University School of Theology. Her installation sermon was "Spirit Speak" inviting us all to listen and follow God's Spirit into a new time of ministry and education for serving in our ever-changing world. Dr. Moore is both a noted scholar in the field of Christian education and formation (most recently teaching at Emory University) and a well known leader in the United Methodist Church (having chaired one of the legislative sections of the 2008 General Conference). She is helping to shape a new curriculum for the School of Theology that will be “state of the art” and a wonderful resource for clergy and laity in our Conference.

We are very fortunate to have Green Mountain College and Boston University as part of our United Methodist "family" in this region. Wesley deeply believed in both the "warmed heart" and "enlightened mind." Every congregation should be engaged in both!

♦ ANIMALS, BLESSINGS, AND EVANGELISM Our "beloved" (most of the time) dog, Daisy, went to church several Sundays ago. First Church, Melrose, MA, was having a Blessing the Animals service outside (it's safer that way), in front of the church, that Sunday afternoon. Daisy considers First Church her church because she often goes to stay with the Hartmans, who serve that wonderful congregation, when Linda and I are "on the road again"....in fact, Daisy has her picture in the church directory...with a big smile.

It was a beautiful day. Families, kids, older folks had gathered with dogs, cats, a gerbil, some kind of reptile, etc to give thanks for these creatures of God and to ask God's blessing upon them and all creation. (You can find a liturgy for this in our Book of Worship). As folks were passing by on the main street of Melrose, they heard us singing and praying and reading scriptures...and some barked "Amen." Anona Hartman had met someone on the street walking their dog (It's a great way to meet people.) and had invited him and his dog to come for the service.....and he was there....first time to connect with this church, and a spirit of fellowship, caring, and creative joy celebrating all God's creatures, great and small, "the Lord God made them all."

You might try it in your community....and invite your friends...including the furry and scaly ones!

♦ WINTER VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL Some of our churches are doing Vacation Bible Schools during the winter/spring school vacation weeks that is a tradition in our New England states. It's a great way to add "buzz" to your Christian Education offering....and also reach new children and youth in your community. You might even plan with a neighboring United Methodist church to serve your whole community!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Published September 17, 2009

♦ "MY LIFE FLOWS ON IN ENDLESS SONG, above earth's lamentations....Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" I love this great old hymn by the nineteenth century preacher/poet Robert Lowry that is now in our "The Faith We Sing" hymnal (2212). I don't know about you, but it feels like we just started summer, but here we are "flowing" into fall. A huge maple tree down our street has already turned brilliant reds and yellows and created a crunchy, colorful carpet under foot where our dog and I sometimes walk....she looked up at me the other day with her toes tangled in leaves as if to say, "What is this....already???"

But our lives flow on. Out of summer into fall, out of renewing vacation into reenergized vocation, out of the past into the future. Beyond lamentations into celebrations. With the Lord of love how can we keeping from singing...and being glad to be partners in ministry.

Last Sunday, the lay leader of the church where I was preaching told the congregation that he was glad I had made it, because, lifting up the local paper, he noted that my picture and a little blurb about my coming was on the obituary page. I'm glad in Christ our lives flow on....no matter what!

♦ "OH, WE LOVE OUR TIMES TOGETHER..." The congregation where I was preaching last Sunday was really two congregations: North Haverhill and Woodsville, N.H. They are doing great things and they are needed in their two different, but nearby communities. Ordinarily they worship in their two different communities, but they also "love their times together" as one woman put it. They do some mission projects together, share youth events, and worship together at various times through the year, as they did last week. The sanctuary was full that Sunday, and you should have heard the two choirs together...wow. The vitality, joy and vision to reach out into their larger area for Christ seemed to mutually lift both congregations as they are connected in the one Body of Christ and as the connected United Methodist witnesses in their region. It's great when our congregations find ways to bring&nbs p;their various gifts together, and to share their strengths as they serve their areas. Is there another church nearby that your congregation could be working with more closely.....and experiencing the joy of Christ even more richly?

♦ HOW'S THE TEMPERATURE OF YOUR COFFEE HOUR? At the Pastors’ Assembly this summer the Rev. Jack Johnson who is the Executive Director of the Mass. Council of Churches (and former D.S. from New Jersey) talked about the experience of visiting many different churches on Sundays in his position. The pastor often invites the congregation to a "coffee hour" (or fellowship time, or, as I heard in one church, a "chat and chew" time). Jack reported that the coffee may be warm, but the atmosphere of welcome is too often chilly or downright cold. Regular members of the congregation head for their friends and leave visitors standing alone...Oh well, if there's no one to chat with, chew a little more and head home. That "last impression" of a church is often what sticks with visitors....who rarely come back....unless they like being left out in the cold.

Make sure you intentionally have some people prepared to "greet" and get to know visitors after the service in these "fellowship" settings. They should be ready to introduce visitors to others in the congregation who may live near them or have the same profession or be around the same age. They should be able to talk about other programs and activities that the visitor might be interested in, as well as offer to show them around the church and point out pictures on a bulletin board or creative posters in the fellowship area that show activities of the congregation in the community (missions, youth activities, kids’ picnic, helping at a shelter, worship on the beach, etc.). Sensitize the whole congregation to welcoming visitors...."But, we're such a friendly church"...yea, to each other, but what about the stranger? Check the temperature of the welcome in your church.

♦ A LAMENTATION: RACISM One of earth's deepest "lamentations," to use Robert Lowry's word again, is the persistent, pervasive sin of racism that is alive and well in many of our hearts, churches, communities and most recently exhibited in our body- politic. We have always had political disagreements in our democratic political processes, which can be healthy, but we have never had a member of congress shout "You Lie" at a President of the United States as he spoke to the Congress about a critical issue in our nation's life. I do not believe it would have happened had the President been white.

Racism happens in our lives when we believe we have the power to act out our prejudices....the power to breach civility....the power to keep others from moving into our neighborhood....the power to shun others who enter our church.

Last week I gathered with fifty or sixty other New England United Methodists for three days of reflecting on racism in ourselves and the systems we are a part of. The Council of Bishops has regularly addressed racism in our own ranks as well as the larger church and society. The first session on racism I remember being a part of was in 1958 when I was a freshmen in a highly diverse urban high school....and there have been many, many such times since. And every time I realize more about my own "white privilege" and power.....I find myself with confessions from my own heart and for our own church....and I experience the blessing of God's grace that keeps me growing...and making new commitments to be a part of ending racism. For, like you I hope, I truly do want to "love my neighbor as I love myself," "Do unto others as I would have them do unto me," and to " ;do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God." This is not just a political matter, it is a profoundly spiritual matter.

Again and again, I have learned that each of us has our own personal work to do, and we have the calling from God to confront racism in every form around us....be it in systems, jokes, schools, housing, our politics, etc. And we have the ability to influence others and invite them into this ongoing journey, until lamentations turn to celebrations.

I hope that you are having these discussions in your church, with family and friends. Let God lead us to be the people and church and community that reflect God's will done on earth, even as it is in heaven!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

#

Published July 14, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

BURIED WITH CHRIST...WE RISE WITH CHRIST With these ancient liturgical words of Baptism by immersion, I invited five teenagers down into the spring chill of the Contoocook (NH) River on June 28th. Oh yes, it was officially summer, but the early Sunday morning temperature was about 60 degrees as before the service we surveyed the raging river, which was undoubtedly colder. It was swollen by a week of near continuous rain, and overshadowed by more threatening clouds...the NASCAR races up the road were ended early. My wife and I wondered if the muddy rapids of the river would be too much to enter....wouldn't a little Methodist "Baptismal sprinkling" from a silver Baptismal font inside where it was warm and dry do just as well?

But these five teenagers and their families from the Congo had experienced far more storms and threats of life than any chilly, muddy rapids in the Contoocook River could ever conjure up.

Five years ago they had been swept into the genocidal wars between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes in east Africa. Having been driven from their homes in the eastern Congo (DRC) they had taken refuge in the UN's Gatumba refugee camp just over the border in Burundi. On the night of August 13, 2004, the rebels attacked the camp killing 166 and wounding hundreds more. The UN, in cooperation with Canada and the United States resettled 525 of these surviving refugees in 2007 to North America, some in Concord, NH.

Some of the refugee families were United Methodists in the Congo.

Jane Britain, a member of the Contoocook UMC, who works in the lab at the Concord Hospital, met Steven Rushika, a Congolese refugee who asked her if he and others from his community would be welcomed at her Methodist Church. YES! Thus began relationships of mutual sharing of faith, growing spiritually for everybody, and discovering the healing and joy Christ can give all of us when we open ourselves to each other. A task-force was established at the church to help their Congolese sisters and brothers with all aspects of their lives...rides to church, places to live, jobs, driving lessons, learning English, etc.

And what great gifts the Congolese brought to that church and community...and to my life. Pastor Sammie Maxwell said, "We have been transformed !" That gloomy Sunday, the wonderful Congolese choir sang....inspiring one New Hampshire fellow to pick up a tambourine and join in. Just like in the Psalm 150, they praised God in dance...and all hearts in the packed church joined in the dancing. Some of the Contoocook women, who had gotten some clothing for those being baptized, were dressed in beautiful and colorful Congolese dresses made and given to them by their Congolese sisters. And the deep, deep faith and witness to God's abiding presence was everywhere. The Congolese had seen their loved ones slaughtered...but they also had seen the Good Shepherd with them..."even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." ; They had all lost everything....but they kept the faith...the only things they brought from the Congo were their Bibles. Four year old Kevin, who I held on my lap, had been born that terrible night of August 13, 2004, amidst the storm of terror and the blood of slaughter, his mother in labor as those around her were being machine gunned down...this day he was smiling and singing. One of those I baptized had lain under the corpse of his father for hours, afraid to move until the night was over....and the night was over. The shining dawn-light of their testimonies of faith more than eclipsed the shadow-clouds and shrill-chill of that June New Hampshire day and river. "Buried with Christ...We rise with Christ!"

When I asked these five teenagers the historic Baptismal question...asked for generations on every continent..."Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?" Without hesitation each answered, "I do," "I do," "I do," "I do," "I do." In that moment, I knew again why I do what I do....as a follower of Jesus. It is because of what God in Jesus Christ has first done for me....and these being baptized...and us United Methodists....and our whole world!

Confession....I wore L.L.Bean waders into the river. I looked like a cross between a rubber raft and a blimp. Pastor Sammie had borrowed them from someone in the congregation who, I was told, is around ninety years old. Before the service Sammie said she wasn't sure, but the old waders might leak. I've seen people with waders filled with water...you become the river...Oh well, remember your baptism and be thankful. After the service, I sought out the older man who had lent me the waders to thank him. "Well, did they leak?" he asked. "No," I said. "Good," he replied, "because I'm planning to go fishing in a couple of weeks!" What an inspiration....every one of us....whatever age or race or nationality...every congregation....has the opportunity to respond to Jesus' invitation to become "fishers of women and men&q uot; that they may be drawn to Christ. Like the Contoocook congregation, let's "go fishing" right around us and connect with those who will also transform us and our church, by God's grace.

Oh the surprises and joys of being partners in ministry with each other and Christ.

Because of some weeks of vacation and renewal leave this summer, I will sign off until September. But you will be in my prayers...I hope I will be in yours. May God grant us "grace space" and the "quiet center" for renewal and joy in Christ this summer.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published June 29, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

"THIS WAS A 'WOW' CONFERENCE,"...."the best conference I can remember"..."the Holy Spirit was in the house"..."let's do this again...next week!" These were some of the comments I heard in response to our Holy Conferencing at Gordon College, June 17-20. It was one of our largest attendances, in part because extra people came to hear Adam Hamilton who was our "resource speaker" for one evening and one whole morning of the conference... "Informative...inspiring...challenging", folks said. Among the many "wows", here are a few I noted from where I was sitting...

***Energetic youth dancing in the balconey while we were singing that great old hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story."

***After the "Global Aids Fund" offering people kept bringing checks for it up to my table all through conference...amazing caring and generosity. At last count the total was over $10,000 (other checks still welcomed!)

***Twittering and tweeting (the latest form of communication) was going on during Adam Hamilton's presentations as folks were sharing responses and ideas with each other in "real time" as they were hearing Adam. Some churches, appealing to the cyberspace crowd, are inviting folks to bring their cell phones, blackberries, palm pilots, etc. to "twitter" during the service. If you don't understand what I'm talking about (and I barely do) ask the nearest teenager.

***Bishop" Shreck was already occupying my presiding chair when I arrived one morning....he was even "greener" at this than I am....but loveable anyhow.

***During a fun "I come from...." litany/song that opened Thursday evening, when the delegation from Vermont (soon to be an official part of the New England Conference) appeared on stage there was a thunderous, spontaneous, standing ovation of welcome...plus, from where I was sitting I saw a lot of tears of joy, including my own!

***At the end of the ordination service, when I invited people to come forward who were feeling the call of God to consider ordained ministry, among the many who came were three teenagers. God is doing amazing, "wow," things in our conference. It's great to see young people responding to God's call...encourage it in your church.

♦ FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP. Following up on some of Adam Hamilton's suggestions, I want to underline out of my own experience the importance of "follow up." Five areas of follow up that I noted and have used as a pastor with great success:

1. Follow up visitors. If people have made the effort to visit your church, you should at least make the effort to visit them. In a smaller church it is important for the pastor to make that first responding contact...she or he is the one the visitor "knows" as representing the church. Hamilton did it on Sunday afternoons, taking a church mug, and just ringing the doorbell, giving them the mug, thanking them for attending the church, and warmly inviting them back. It doesn't need to be long. Later in the week, or after a second visit, laity should also go for a visit. In some areas with locked apartment or condo buildings, I found a phone call worked. We also sent a personal letter. These visitors are then put on the church mailing list to receive attractive announcements (developed for visitors...not just the usual newsletter, although that may be sent, too) about interesting upcoming events, sermons, volunteer group mission activities, etc. Send them something at least quarterly.

2. Follow up after special events/services. Follow up folk who have attended your church suppers. Print a special place mat creatively telling about coming events...and a little card under the napkin where they can "check" they are interested in the Bible study, or volunteer Habitat day, or 4 week "better parenting" small group study or that they need a ride or babysitting so they can attend the event. Have someone at the door to welcome people to the church supper, and ready to answer and questions about the church events as people leave...mark them with a colorful button or name tag...."Welcome...Ask Me."

3. Follow up by building appropriate relationships and giving information or putting it on attractive posters strategically placed for people who are coming in and out of your building for the pre-school, or twelve-step programs (respect anonymity), or on election day.

4. Follow up after special events or services like Christmas Eve, or Vacation Bible School, or a free community picnic on the lawn with the people who have attended those events. Make sure you have a way of getting the contact information for these people. Give that job to "naturally friendly" people in your congregation. You would be surprised at the number of churches to which I go to preach where no one says even "Hello" to my wife, who often enters the sanctuary while I am with the pastor getting ready for the service.

5. Follow up sermons after the service with a sharing/conversation group about the topic or text of the sermon. Design a series of sermons that follow and build on each other. Adam uses a lot of six-week series. Have a series for Lent, or Advent dealing with real life/faith/world challenges that can be "advertised" in mailings, on billboards. During the Christmas Eve or Easter services publicize a special series or focus that will be coming next to draw people back the following week. Follow up, see the continuity of one event or worship experience building on another to meet the needs of the unchurched as well as deepen discipleship over a period of time.

Use your imagination. How would you want to be "followed up"...remembering to be sensitive to those who may not want particular kinds of follow up....but most everyone appreciates some kind of follow up.

♦ GET OUT! Jesus sent his disciples out. Maybe the most important symbol of United Methodist "Open Doors" is that they are an invitation for us to go out those open doors into our communities. The summer time is a great time to get out. Recently I was at the Londonderry, N.H. UMC for their service in the public park across the road from the church. People in the cars slowed down to look....the Presbyterians going into their church across the way probably wondered "what are those Methodists up to now?" People came with lawn chairs and blankets....and wonderful picnic dishes to share after the service.

Some of our churches get out on the beach every Sunday for worship. South Yarmouth UMC continues to draw larger crowds for their early service on the beach. Meet people where they are.

A church I served had the early service out along the city street, near the bus stop, every Sunday during the summer. And instead of "coffee hour" inside, it was "lemonade on the lawn".....the neighborhood saw we were alive and well, having fun and welcoming. It's also a great change of pace to hold Sunday school outside as the weather allows. And some churches hold vacation Bible schools at someone's house, front and back yard, in a neighborhood or at a community park or at a mobile home community.

Some churches that are near national or state parks hold services there or Bible studies/prayer meetings there midweek. Most of Jesus' ministry was out in the neighborhood...what about yours.

AS WE CELEBRATED AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE, THIS IS A WONDERFUL TIME TO BE RETHINKING CHURCH...It's also wonderful to be a partner in this ministry with you.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published June 1, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ A RED FERRARI... It has been an "on-the-road" for several weeks since I last wrote...a week at the General Board of Global Ministries meeting, a week at the Council of Bishops meeting in Washington, D.C., meetings with our colleagues in Vermont, preaching in northern and mid Maine, Rhode Island, Mass., eight days in Cabinet meetings, several Bishop's Days on districts...and, dare I say, best of all, a chance to see some of our kids and grand kids while in the D.C. area after/between/during meetings. Our faithful 2002 car has 227,000 miles on it (and so do I, in the same period.... most of it since I came to New England.) We have been on the road.

My wife kept saying, "Maybe, one of these days, we need to get a new car".....she was probably having visions of us stuck some night with our engine having turned to maple syrup and surrounded by friendly moose....with me quoting "With God all things are possible!" But God is good, all the time. In the midst of these past "on-the-road" weeks, I traveled to our wonderful Jacksonville, Maine, church for their 150th anniversary. They had prepared some very kind "welcome basket" gifts....plus....there it was....a brand new RED FERRARI 250 GTO. Wait until my colleague bishops hear about this...they'll all want to come to preach at Jacksonville, ME. The person who donated it as a welcome gift said something like, "I know you go a lot of places...you'll really like it....it's a lot of fun!" An answer to prayer, I thought, as I bent over to thank the child who had given his treasured "Hot Wheels" red Ferrari, and most of all his generous thoughts and caring to this partner in ministry stopping by, on the road, to share in our amazing connection and fellowship in Christ. My prayer is for that kind of caring connection among us all...as we follow Christ "on the road."

So the next time you see me in my car with the two inch red Ferrari 250 GTO on my dash board, join me in celebrating the 528 congregations and 90,000 United Methodists up and down the roads of New England. (By the way, we have bought a "new" used car with just 39,000 miles....but that is changing quickly...and in case you're wondering, it's not a Ferrari.)

♦ VIETNAM METHODISM GROWING At the General Board of Global Ministries meeting we heard of the incredible growth of our United Methodist mission work in Southeast Asia. We now have over one hundred congregations and many "house groups" in Vietnam where Methodism is still not legally recognized (pray for that legalization process). Likewise, scores of Methodist churches have been started in Cambodia. On Memorial Day I thought of a very close friend who was killed in Vietnam in 1968 and how forty years later this new "engagement" bringing the Gospel of love and peace to these lands is unfolding.

Here in our own New England Conference a new congregation of Vietnamese has started in Worcester, Mass., and our North Boston Korean congregation has been doing outreach to Cambodians in the area.

Even though Global Ministries income is down in the current economic environment, our nearly 1,000 missionaries will not be cut and our commitment to start 400 new congregations in areas, like Vietnam, where United Methodism has not been before, will continue. I roomed with Bishop Vaxby of Moscow, Russia, for our week of meetings, and it is amazing what God is doing through our United Methodist work in the former Soviet Union....including the new seminary that extends the work of our seminary in Moscow.

These are some of the many reasons we must not falter in our support of our mission shares. Sisters and brothers in Christ in very difficult, and sometimes dangerous, parts of the world are counting on us.

♦ "EVERY MORNING GOD IS HERE" During the Council of Bishops meeting in Washington, D.C., some of us went out early one morning under the theme "rethink church," to "hang out" with "day workers" who wait in convenience store parking lots hoping someone will come along and hire them for the day. Many of these men and women are immigrants. We listened to stories, shared food and prayer. I met Miguel who shared the frustrations of wanting to work, but never being sure day to day if anyone would hire him. Sometimes they are taken advantage of and not paid what they were promised. Many have families back in their native countries who are depending on the small funds the workers can send "home."

I was deeply moved by his commitment to work and his vital faith. After describing all the challenges and disappointments that happen, he added "but every morning God is here with me!" I was the one ministered to that day. It is an important word for all those who are unemployed in our land.

Later in the week, many of us went to Capitol Hill to speak with our Congresspersons about issues for which the United Methodist Church has concerns. We heard from United Methodists Sen. Richard Lugar, and Rep. (and Rev.) Emanuel Cleaver (there are 53 United Methodists in Congress). Linda and I met with senior aides to Congresswoman Tsongas, from the Congressional district in which our Conference Center is located. In the light of our experiences with the day workers, and the needs around our Conference Center, we focused particularly on immigration and economic reform. They noted that immigration reform has dropped down the list of priorities because, in part, they are not hearing from the voters. It was a reminder to me that around these and other issues our elected officials do respond to the calls, e-mail, and letters we send them. Make sure you &quo t;keep those cards and letters going!"

♦ SOME ITEMS FOR YOUR PRAYER LIST:

God, pour out your Holy Spirit, that we may be a Perpetual Pentecost People!

Lord, prepare all those who will be coming to the New England Conference session in June to follow as you lead us.

Embrace with your grace, God, all those congregations and pastors experiencing new appointments...and those continuing appointed partnerships in ministry.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published April 27, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ AWESOME WONDER This weekend I was up in "downeast Maine" (How is it that downeast is up?) and was struck once again by the awesome wonder of considering "all the worlds Thy hands have made." Earth is being transformed by spring. That which was hard and cold and appearing lifeless is turning green and colorful and alive. And wonder of wonder, the snow has melted (mostly).

I thought of last week's "earth day." It really ought to be a sacred day for those of us who follow Christ....across the hill sides...along the sea...talking of seeds and sowers.....considering the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air. New England is a wonderful place for the sacredness of earth day....everyday.

As the Cabinet and I met last week we mentioned several congregations that have started community gardens...some right in their own front yard (what a witness to the community....Jesus never mentioned mowed lawns, but he did love gardens!) The food helps the food banks and some of those tending the gardens have been sentenced to community service through the judicial system....restorative justice growing right along side the green beans. In Maine some of our churches burned wood for heating (renewable) rather than fossil fuels. York UMC produces its own electricity (plus sells some to others) with solar panels. Trinity UMC in Providence, RI has great plans for a "green" charter school complete with eco-friendly heating. Trinity UMC in Springfield has changed all their light bulbs to CFLs and saved lots of money (we have a package of just three new CFL bulbs at home that pro mise to save $201) plus helping the environment. In the Conference Center we have changed bulbs and ballasts for extra saving of both earth and money. Many churches are having their utility companies give them a free energy audit. Boston U. is no longer using trays in the cafeterias...saves water, heating the water, plus the students are not taking more food than they can eat....less waste (both ways!). Peaks Island UMC has a "green team" working on ideas for both the parsonage and church. Plus, just turn lights OFF (that's what I did best as a local church pastor...going around turning off lights...but everyone needs to share the joy....and responsibility). Also, turn your computer off (not while you're reading this, please) and all those other things with little burning lights that make our houses look like space ships. Try carpooling to church...offer to pick up a neighbor who has never come before. Awesome wonder!

♦ PRAYER WALK YOUR COMMUNITY The Jacksonville UMC has a group of folks who join the pastor every Sunday at 4 pm to walk around their area seeing the needs and circumstances around them, thinking of new ministries, and praying for the things and people they see as they go. A week ago they walked a mile and a half...or should I say they prayed a mile and a half. Prayer makes a difference around us....and within us.

♦ SINGING UNITED METHODISTS I love spring time when we can open our church windows and doors. In the last several weeks I have arrived at churches early and been delighted to hear the choirs rehearsing....from a block or so away! I am reminded of Garrison Keillor's remarks about Methodists: "Nobody sings like them. If you were to ask an audience in New York City, a relatively Methodist-less place, to sing along on the chorus of "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," they will look daggers at you as if you had asked them to strip to their underwear. But if you do this among Methodists, they'd smile and row that boat ashore and up on the beach!...and then down the road!"

Keep the faith...keep singing...keep on down the road...as partners in ministry with each other and our Risen Lord!...(But turn the lights off, please.)

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published April 8, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry....and resurrection!

LORD OF THE DANCE. Recently on the NBC Today Show, Willard Scott was celebrating people who are 100 or more years old. One woman, 110, attributed her longevity to "never missing a chance to dance." One of my favorite old "Peanuts" cartoons shows Snoopy dancing around in wild abandon. Grumpy Lucy says to him, "You wouldn't be so happy if you knew what was going to happen." Snoopy stops dancing and ponders for a moment. "Maybe it's already happened!" he exclaims as he begins to joyfully dance again.

IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED!...EASTER. Do not miss this chance to dance...or anytime we remember how God in Christ has taken on the tomb-things of life and "risen with healing in his wings."

Even in these tough economic times, or in what I know are some difficult personal journeys among sisters and brothers in our Conference and world, resurrection people with an Easter faith know how to dance. Even in the "dark night of the soul," the melody sings, "I'll live in you, if you live in me: I am the Lord of the Dance, said he." That hymn, "Lord, of the Dance" (261, UMH), was spontaneously added to the 1988 hymnal by a motion from the floor at the 1988 General Conference, which was debating approval of the "new" hymnal. Bishop Woodie White had just preached a sermon titled "I Could Have Danced All Night" in which he reviewed all the difficult challenges we were facing as a church and a world. But then he proclaimed our resurrection faith in Christ...hope in despair...the Way out of "no way"...Life overcoming death...eternal Light in the deepest night...we can "dance all through the night" of despair and challenges, knowing we are dance partners with Christ. He closed the sermon by quoting the "Lord of the Dance" hymn: " Dance, then, wherever you may be; I am the Lord of the Dance, said he. And I'll lead you all wherever you may be, and I'll lead you all in the dance, said he." And by an overwhelming vote, the hymn was added to our hymnal...because it is at the heart of our faith.

Easter people, never miss a chance to dance. It has already happened! Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed!

SIGNS OF RESURRECTION IN OUR CHURCHES....are so many that I can't cover them all in this edition of Partners in Ministry...more will come later. But let me mention two: Saint John 's UMC in Lexington , Mass. , celebrated its 35th anniversay recently. A few years ago their congregation was down to about 25 and feeling very discouraged. They had almost no Sunday School. Now attendance is up to around 180 and the Sunday School is alive and well. How did it happen? Laity came to the church daily and prayed for guidance and revival. They claimed our resurrection faith, were nurtured by resurrection-believing pastors, reached out to others, and stayed faithful. .Easter is happening.

Patten UMC in Patten, Maine , experienced similar renewal, beginning in daily prayer. They are growing and a vital witness in an area that doesn't appear to have many people around. But people are there. Just like in your church's area. People are hurting and spiritually hungry. Patten now has nine small groups meeting weekly, not just at the church, but out in homes. They have a prayer team that prays for a half hour or so before worship for all those who will lead and those who will come to the worship. Worship is joyous, interactive, creative. They have excellent visuals on a screen appropriately placed in their beautiful nineteenth century sanctuary (at the back a great group of young people were running the technical equipment...a wonderful ministry). They are developing "deep discipleship." They are engaged in expansive mission. And hanging outside on their building, which sits right a cross the street from the local "general: store, is a large, contemporary banner with the simple words, " CENTER OF HOPE."

It's a wonderful and needed time to be centered in Hope and to be partners in ministry with each other and the Lord of the Dance! May your Easter be Life-full.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published February 21, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

BALONEY...Recently I was preaching in one of our churches. Following the service they had the United Methodist "third sacrament" of food in the fellowship hall. One of the members came over and mentioned how much she enjoyed "Partners in Ministry", and then, without skipping a beat, asked me if I had seen the special display of "Weaver's Baloney" that they had prepared especially for me that day. Really....they had "imported" from Pennsylvania (sort of like me) some noted, German, Weaver's baloney...and folks were "eating it up." I like to think that "Partners in Ministry" gets to the "meat of the matter" in down-to-earth ways...nothing fancy...sort of like baloney...pass the mustard, please.

"....AND YOU VISITED ME." In January I was blessed to be at the Rockville , CT church celebrating the 50th anniversary of their building. During the service they welcomed five people into membership. I was delighted to participate. And then they noted that a young couple who was joining that day, had been visited by one of the teams that had gone out door-to-door from that church on the District Evangelism Day a couple of years before. Because of that visit, they eventually started to attend and now are active and members...seeds planted. It's important to get out and meet your neighbors...and let them know that you care about them...and that your church is there for them. The days are over when you can just open the doors and wait for people to come...go out those doors and visit in your neighborhood.

SPEAKING OF GETTING OUT...PERIPATETIC MINISTRY. "Walking around," (the meaning of peripatetic) was the way Aristotle taught his students as he walked around the Lyceum...it was known as "peripatetic teaching." Last Sunday I was preaching at St. Luke's UMC in Derry , N.H. where the pastor, Cathy Sprigg walks three miles a day...around her neighborhood and community. Not only is it a great idea for staying healthy (I'm listening to my own words here), but it's a great way to meet new people in your community. She's regularly meeting new people...making friends...and some are now showing up at church. I don't know if Jesus was on an exercise program, but he certainly did ministry by walking around. Try it in your neighborhood...and if you have a dog (friendly type, of course) along, my wife and I find that even more people want to pause and talk...that's called "peripatetic canine ministry"...remember, you heard it here first.

“BANK" ON THE CHURCH While I was studying the history of the Rockville, CT church, I discovered that their church building used from 1867-1959 had been a "multi-use" building...the front, street level rooms of the building had been a bank! The building was originally designed this way. Someone had the creative vision to plan that part of the building would generate income to help support the ministry of the church.

We think this is a "new" idea. Across America we have United Methodist churches that incorporate businesses, offices, parking garages, franchise restaurants, along with ministries like Goodwill stores, community gyms, bowling alleys, health clinics, schools, day care centers, etc. Think about how your building might be adapted for multiple purposes of ministry, and even generating income.

TIME AND FASTING. As we begin Lent, I would once again commend to you the wonderful spiritual discipline of fasting. John Wesley considered it one of the six primary "means of Grace." But I was surprised to read TIME magazines cover story (Feb. 23) on "How Faith Can Heal" commending fasting also. "One of the staples of both traditional wellness protocols and traditional religious rituals is the cleansing fast, which is said to purge toxins...Done right, these fasts may lead to a state of clarity and even euphoria." Dr. Catherine Gordon of Children's Hospital Boston is quoted about the positive changes that occur in the body and brain (and I would add, spirit) during a "short-term fast." The "Wesley fast" consists of not eating from after dinner on one day to just before dinner on the next day...giving up two meals over a twenty four hour period. If you have any questions about your health you should check with your doctor first. It can be tough at first, but the members of the congregations I served and I found it to be a great blessing whether used just during Lent, or year around as Wesley did.

There are other forms of fasting such as foregoing things we think we "can't do without" like television or shopping for non-necessities. The time saved or the money saved can then be put to extra time for meditation or supporting special mission projects. It becomes a plus, not really a minus. Fasting centers us in the Spirit, confirming that strength that is greater than our appetites. It is an exercise in "God's will, not mine be done." What may seem at first to be "denial" becomes "affirmation," and that which at first seems to be "depriving" becomes a fullness of cleansing and clarity. Try it yourself, and commend it to your congregation.

Whatever spiritual disciplines you undertake during Lent, I pray that they will draw you closer to Christ, the Cross, and New Life!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published February 14, 2009

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ DO NOT FLAG IN ZEAL (Rom.12:11) There were “flags of zeal” flying all over Pittsburgh on Super Bowl Sunday. Forgive me, but that’s my hometown…with my home-team. (I do root for the Patriots....when they’re not playing the Steelers). As God would have it, three years ago, long before I knew Feb. 1, 2009 would be Super Bowl Sunday or that the Steelers would be in it, I was invited to preach for the anniversary service of the first church to which I was appointed nearly one hundred years ago....well it seems almost that long…it was 1971. Honestly, it was just a coincidence....although a happy one. There were flags on houses, flags on street lights, flags at the county jail, flags on cars, and “terrible towels” flying everywhere…don’t ask, it’s a Pittsburgh thing. Nearly everyone in church that Sunday had on something black and gold....some, including ushers, even had on “team shirts.”

Knowing where everyone’s mind would be, I preached on “The Super Goal” (Phill 3:14) reminding us all of the amazing life in Christ that does not flag in zeal.

Whitaker UMC is a wonderful congregation, once full of steelworkers, it is now part- time, but full-ministry! By faith they rode out the hard times of the seventies and the closing mills....and they did not flag in the zeal of their trust in God. During the depression, they dug coal and fixed weekly free meals to make sure anyone in the community who needed it had heat and food....never flagging in their love for their neighbors. They started a Depression University (Pitt agreed to give credits) for students who had to drop out of “regular” colleges....and did not flag in their commitment to young people. They even survived all kinds of pastors, including me for six years....they love to tell how one of the patriarchs of the congregation, when he first saw me, turned and said, “Oh no....look what they’ve sent us now!” But they did not flag in the zeal for following Jesus. I learned so much and was nurtured so lovingly by these good disciples of Christ....who also happen to like football.

Sunday afternoon Linda and I drove out of Pittsburgh toward a week of meetings with Bishops and leaders of our Northeast Jurisdiction in Baltimore . We got the football game on the radio….and, yes, had our Steeler flag flying on the car as we made our way onward. But most of all, I thought of all our congregations that do not flag in zeal for God’s work across the generations and through the ups and downs of the economy, and pastors, and lay leadership, and world events. I thought of you, and our churches and pastors in New England .

As God would have it, last Sunday I was invited to preach for an anniversary at the Rumford, Maine church. It is a wonderful congregation, once full of mill workers, now part-time....but full-ministry. I learn so much from congregations. In these tough economic times they offer a free meal to the community every Wednesday. The “Church Belles” sing regularly at retirement homes. They support a missionary and pay 100% of mission shares plus significant offerings for Katrina and other needs. They are not flagging in zeal.

In fact, someone in the congregation came up with a great idea. They are making UNITED METHODIST FLAGS FOR YOUR CAR ANTENNA....a way of a gentle witness....plus you can find your car in the mall parking lot! They are made with the plastic mesh that you can needlepoint with yarn. It is long and narrow to fit over your antennia, with a needlepointed flag with a cross and flame on the top. Wow....I wonder if we United Methodists have as much zeal to share our faith, as football fans do to fly their colors?

Do not flag in zeal, partners in this great ministry focused on the super goal of sharing Christ.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published January 20, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ PRAY TODAY FOR PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA, ALL OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS, OUR NATION AND OUR WORLD.

♦ SUNDAY I traveled through piles of snow to gather with the hardy United Methodists in Rockville , CT , to celebrate the 175th anniversary of their congregation and the 50th anniversary of their church building. What an unexpected blessing it was at this particular time. When I researched the history of that church,...I noted how the American "original sin" of racism hovered around its amazing journey. In 1834, the year six couples met in homes to start the Methodist "class" in Rockville , there were antiabolitionist riots in New York and Philadelphia attacking those who wanted to free the slaves...Methodists were antislavery. In 1957, when the Rockville Methodists started to build their new building, President Eisenhower was sending troops to Little Rock , Arkansas , to protect eight black youth who were attempting to attend the all white Little Rock High School . That was the same year Simon Peter Montgomery, an African American pastor, was appointed to the all white Rockville Church . It was one of the first cross-racial appointments in the country. The pastor-parish committee affirmed the appointment unanimously. Led by Rev. Montgomery, the church grew and the newly constructed building was opened for worship on Jan. 18, 1959...fifty years and two days before the inauguration of the first black President of the United States .

Sunday we celebrated the faithfulness of this congregation to the inclusive Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the courageous witness to the community of this church and its pastor. It was a reminder to me, of all those who have gone before us with a "yes we can" spirit.

♦ MONDAY I was blessed to be at two deeply moving commemorations of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. One was at the convention center in Boston and the other at Harvard's Memorial Church . In both settings there were all the wonderful colors of the human family, and different political perspectives and religious faiths represented, and older folk, like myself, who had marched with Dr. King, and younger folk whose dreams were awakening because of Dr. King. There was a deep and unusual sense of unity, as moving as the President-elect and his opponent dining together, as we sang "a song full of the hope that the present has brought us facing the rising sun of our new day begun." It felt like the "beloved community" that Dr. King spoke of so often, full of justice, peace, and love. But it is far from a full reality. It reminded me of all those who believe that, by God's Grace and our commitment, dreams can come true.

♦ TUESDAY. Pray for our President, nation and world at this new beginning. But it is only a beginning. Pray for the dream of a global "beloved community" to come true. Pray for peace with justice for all peoples of the world. Pray for the Bush and Obama families as they make transition. Pray that we might all commit ourselves to "doing dreams." Pray for God's grace and wisdom to guide us, and our humility and courage to follow tomorrow...and tomorrow...and tomorrow.......!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Dear Partners in Ministry....in a new year,

Published January 15, 2009

♦ NEW DAY REVOLUTIONS Over the holidays, someone asked me what my New Years resolutions were going to be....they apparently thought I was in need of some real improvement....soon. And they were undoubtedly right. I'm a convinced believer in our Wesleyan doctrine of "going on to perfection." I still have a long way to go. But the good news is that God's grace abounds....every day. So I find it more helpful to reflect every day (rather than once a year) on how I "resolve" that day to "love God more dearly...and follow Christ more nearly....day by day." Thankfully God gives us the gift of life in day-sized chunks. And every new day brings the opportunity to partner with our God of grace in resolutions that lead to revolutions in our own lives and world. What are your resolutions today?

♦ CATCHING UP WITH SOME OF YOUR RESPONSES to previous Partner in Ministry (PIM) emails I noted these two:

1. CONCERNING OUR EXPANDING UNITED METHODIST WORK IN RUSSIA, including a new seminary branch in Kazakhstan, which I mention in PIM, one of our pastors shared my comments with a person in their congregation who, with his family, lived in Moscow for three years. They belonged to a United Methodist Church in Moscow while there. (Isn't our United Methodist "connection" amazing!) So they passed on my comments to their friends back in Russia. They wrote back with some reflections and prayer requests, which I now pass on to you for your reflection and prayer:

"Yes, the seminary has opened a branch in Kazakhstan to prepare pastors in the Central Asian republics. There are some difficulties with registration...before a religious educational institution can be officially sanctioned. Also some of the pastors in Central Asia are facing persecution, arrest, etc., for being Christians. Please pray for the seminary in Moscow and in Central Asia...and for the pastors in Central Asia who are being harassed for their faith. If the financial situation does get worse, we hope that the church will be able to be a beacon for people to know the security and hope that God gives when all else looks bleak. Thank you for your prayers."

We do take so much for granted in this country...and in our churches. Keep our sisters and brothers in your prayers.

2. THE NEW ENGLAND EXPRESSION OF PRAISE, "ALLELUIER", prompted this response from one of our pastors who saw a mass on TV from Dorchester where the priest said, "Hosanner in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lawd!"

However you say it, it's wonderful to give God Praise.

(Just a reminder, I do appreciate reading any responses you may have to my PIM musings. However, I do not try to reply to these. But thanks for all your perspectives.)

♦ THE TERRIBLE VIOLENCE IN THE GAZA STRIP is deeply disturbing. Hundreds of innocent civilians, including children are being caught in the crossfire. Last week, after we celebrated Epiphany (Jan. 6, the magi visiting Bethlehem) I thought about the rest of Matthew 2 where Herod sets out to kill all the "innocents" under two and Mary, Joseph and Jesus head for Egypt....probably through Gaza! Both the Palestinians and Israelis fear and react to violence from the other side and to a long history of threats and actions that are indelibly etched in their memories. Tragically, every additional death and injustice etches new memories in new generations who will grow up with even more hatred and determination to "win", no matter what the means of terrorism or oppression. "An eye for an eye, leaves everyone blind"

How can peace with justice be found?

A Quaker saying, based in the Gospel, points the way. "There can be no peace without reconciliation. There can be no reconciliation without forgiveness. There can be no forgiveness without giving up the hope of a better yesterday." In other words, holding on to the deeply etched bitterness of the past prevents us from embracing a new future of peace. Nations do it. Families do it. Churches do it. Pray that we might all become peacemakers. Pray for the land we call "holy."

(Over the last year I have been a part of several interfaith dialogues here in New England among Jews, Muslims, and Christians. I also continue to serve on the steering committee of the "Religion and Foreign Policy" table for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. We are working on our interfaith relationships and the complex world and local issues we face. One of the fruits of the Boston dialogues is an interfaith statement, which I have cosigned concerning the crisis in Gaza. It should be made public this week and available on this website. Our General Board of Church and Society has also crafted a statement on behalf of the United Methodist Church which can be found on our website.)

Let us be Partners in the Ministry of Grace and Peace...always...everywhere.

Pete

Published November 25, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THANKSGIVING AT SUNRISE . In Limestone, Maine , there’s a subsidized housing complex called “ Sunrise .” Many of the folk have no job, no health insurance, no transportation, sometimes no food, no warm clothing. But they have plenty of thanks for our UM congregation in this small town, facing hard times.

This congregation has connected with the Sunrise...apartments, that is...and those in their neighborhood. There’s the food pantry and “transportation transformation” (don’t you love that name...people building transforming relationships while traveling with each other...its trans-mission!). There’s a makeshift thrift shop and help with “power disconnect notices.” (This church is not “disconnected” from the power of love.)

One of the residents of “ Sunrise ,” who is now worshipping with the congregation, gave pastor Ellen Cleaves an envelope one Sunday. He said the residents wanted to give thanks for the church “which helps them.” They had collected bottles…even beer bottles. Their “thanksgiving at Sunrise ” offering for the church was $100. “Assist others who may need help,” was their request. Just within the last two weeks the resident came again with $25, collected from his neighbor’s loose change, to “help heat the church.”

The pastor says, “The housing complex is ‘ Sunrise ’...maybe it should be spelled ‘Sonrise,’ for we see Christ in our midst...often.”

For this congregation (and those like it), for the residents at Sunrise (and those like them), for Christ in our midst...GOOD REASON FOR THANKSGIVING AT SUNRISE , SUNSET, OR ANY TIME!

♦ VERMONT OPEN DOORS, 24/7. About a month ago, several of us were invited to go with Bishop Hassinger (who now serves the Albany Area) for “getting-to-know-you” meetings in three different areas of Vermont where the United Methodists will become a part of the New England Conference in July, 2010. It was great...lots of good sharing, sweet food (after all, these folks are United Methodists), and honest conversation (after all, these folks are New Englanders).

I was impressed by the warm spirit as well as creative ministries that are happening in UM Vermont churches. One woman summed up her excitement for what God is doing through her church with, “WOOOOOWEE”! (That must be “Vermonteese” for what other New Englanders mean when they say “Ahhhhup” or “Alleluier.”)

Someone from a small membership church (with a big spirit) told about their food bank. So many are hungry in their area, but because of their small membership they couldn’t open the food bank more than a couple of times a week. But isn’t our UMC motto, OPEN DOORS? So they decided to leave their doors open all the time...for anyone...at anytime...who is in need. Sounds like the open heart of God to me. And its working (Oh ye of little faith) ...food disappears...and food appears...and the “Bread of Life,” Jesus is always always present. The place is not empty...it is filled with the Holy Spirit. People are being fed with food...and faith that with God all things are possible. Stay open to it...24/7.

♦ THE GLOBAL AIDS FUND IS “IT”...I’ve seen it in Nigeria, where our United Methodist Conference, which has grown from 15,000 to over 500,00 members in the last 15 years, has a staff person organizing community workers for AIDS education, prevention and care. I’ve seen it the last church I served where members volunteered to be on our “AIDS Care Teams” ministering with the sick and dying in our own congregation and community. I’ve seen it in a church supper and support group gathering every other Friday night for those who have AIDS, their families and friends. And the list goes on...

What is the “it?” The unconditional love of Christ!

There are times when we all need such unconditional and healing love.

This is a time when we all can help in sharing such unconditional and healing love through the UNITED METHODIST GLOBAL AIDS FUND...ONE DOLLAR PER MEMBER OF YOUR CHURCH WILL HELP SHARE “IT.”

As you know, I rarely use “Partners in Ministry” to promote our financial appeals. But this is one that I feel deeply about. You and your congregation can make a difference now. World AIDS Day is December 1. Our UM Global AIDS fund is in need of your and my response immediately. Sunday I was preaching in Aldersgate UMC, Worcester , MA , which is involved in many critical ministries among the needy in their neighborhood. But without my knowing it ahead of time, and without any apology they took up a second offering...yes, they passed the plates a second time...so that they could do their fair share for our Global AIDS Fund…so they could share “it”, the unconditional love of Christ.

Prayerfully do your part...as a partner in this ministry.

♦ “Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ.”

Thessalonians 1:2 (The Message)

I give thanks for you, and the blessing of our partnership in this amazing life and ministry of faith, love, and hope, in Christ. May you also be blessed in your thanks-giving this week...and every day and night.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published October 24, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ SIGN OF THE TIMES Often the church is accused of being irrelevant…but in the midst of the economic crisis our Faith Church, Fitchburg, MA, has put out on its lawn on a busy street these three signs: JOBS END……BANKS FAIL……GOD ENDURES!

Think about how to use your lawn (or even building walls) creatively to share the Good News….people will notice….and know that the Gospel is relevant to their lives…. they might even come in to hear more.

♦ SPEAKING OF THE CHURCH LAWN….Pastor David Arruda of Faith Fellowship UM Church, Mansfield, MA, recently pitched his tent on the church lawn and slept there for several nights to remind the community that the number of homeless is increasing dramatically….particularly among families…with all of the housing foreclosures and job losses. Many of us are having to cut back economically, but we must never, never forget those who are being cut out completely. And the community and newspapers took notice.

Some of our churches have opened their relatively warm, dry, and empty buildings to provide a home (sanctuary) for the homeless. When one of the churches I served did so, it transformed the congregation…. those who were preparing the meals, fixing the cots, and volunteering to stay the nights with our new friends who were homeless, as well as those who began to join our church because they wanted to be part of a congregation that was making a real difference.

When Tony, the city building inspector, raised questions about whether the codes allowed people to sleep in the church, I reminded him it was more healthy than folks sleeping on the lawn or street…plus we had had people sleeping in the church every Sunday morning for years! He agreed to let us do it.

What is your church doing?

♦ HOW’S YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE? Last Sunday I was preaching at the Hillsboro, NH, UMC. They are a church that has come alive and is growing in lots of ways. Sunday, some visitors identified themselves as being from Texas. How did they decide to seek out and come to Hillsboro UMC that morning?.....the church’s website! They said it was the best one they saw among the area churches…so they came.

Does your church have a website?.....no, I mean a good, attractive, up-to-date website? It’s making a real difference in attracting new and younger people in the 21st century. That’s where they shop for books, cars, and churches.

If you’re like me, you wouldn’t know the first thing about creating a website (I thought that was for spiders.)….but it’s a great way to involve some younger people, even ones not now active, in the life and ministry of your church. In one small membership church I visited, a high school student created and maintained the church’s website…plus he had invited some of his friends to help….who were now a part of the church. That church had big spirit and vision. Try it….get the spiders and cobwebs out of your communications efforts. (If you need some advice on how to do this, contact our Conference Communications Office at 1-978-682-8055 Ext.150)

♦ REPORT FROM VIETNAM, RUSSIA, and TEXAS I am now serving on our denomination’s General Board of Global Ministries which supports our United Methodist missions in 165 nations and thousands of places around the world. The Board met last week, so I hope you don’t mind my sharing from time to time through Partners in Ministry (which we truly are) some of the amazing things that are happening around the world because of your prayers and faithfulness with Mission Shares.

IN VIETNAM we now have over 100 United Methodist congregations worshipping and serving, in spite of the fact that they are not “officially recognized” by the government. (Pray that they will be soon.)

IN RUSSIA, our Seminary in Moscow which educates United Methodist pastors for our expanding witness, is looking to open a satellite seminary in another part of the country. There are now five annual conferences in the former Soviet Union countries. (Pray for that spreading witness.)

IN TEXAS, more than 100 churches or parsonages were damaged by hurricane Ike. Bishop Huie reports that whole congregations are dispersed in places such as the Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston Island and Sabine Pass. Yet the pastors are still ministering in those areas whenever possible, but they will need salary help over the next few months, because their churches or congregations are gone…we hope temporarily.

Just a reminder that UMCOR is there helping….and you can help with contributions or Volunteer in Mission Teams as well. (Contributions to “Hurricane 2008 Recovery,” Advance number #3019695)

♦ THREE MORE CHURCHES have not only sent in 100% of their 2008 Mission Shares….but also 100% of their 2009 Mission Shares: Prospect Harbor UMC, ME; East Haverhill UMC, NH; Greene UMC, RI….just the time I think I’ve listed them all, more come in…..Thank you for your generous support of Christ’s mission in the world.

♦ AS THE ELECTION DRAWS NEAR, pray for civility in our process, wisdom in our minds, and always love in our hearts for all…..and remember to vote.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published October 8, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ HIGH FIVES…I was recently preaching at the Milford, NH church. They had produced a short video in which they went around and asked kids and teens, “What does a Bishop do?” (I’ve been trying to figure out the answer myself for twelve years.)

Some of the answers were: “He wears a big hat and carries a pole,” “Gives communion and mows the lawn,” and “Goes around giving high fives!” I like that one. There is so much to celebrate in our New England churches. Whenever I can, I want to give you high fives for faithfulness and fruitfulness. At your next church meeting give God thanks for the good things about your congregation…and give each other some high fives for me. Some examples follow.

♦ MOXIE AND SOUP… As I was leaving the Milford Church, I met Moxie who has some physical limitations…but who is spiritually unlimited. She has discovered her ministry gift is making soup. “Soup for Wanakee” she calls it. Regularly she offers her soup for sale at the church…everyone loves it (and her)…and she has raised over four hundred dollars just this year to send kids to camp…“Soup-erb”…high five.

♦ BEACH BEATITUDES was the theme of Vacation Bible School at the Auburn, Maine, UMC. There was a beautiful banner capturing the theme and joy of the VBS in the sanctuary plus other great banners around the church. When I asked about them, I was told that they are the loving creations of a woman with MS who does this as her gift to the ministry of that church... and what a gift! You may be surprised at what gifts are in your congregation…invite those who can sew, or use puffy-paints, or are creative with the color and textures of cloth (textile arts) to help enliven the walls of your church, or create fresh “hangings” for the altar and chancel, or make your church entrance more inviting. Then be sure to give them a high five.

♦ DRAB, PREDICTABLE CHURCH SIGN BOARDS will be noticed if not just the words, but the format and colors are changed regularly. Remember your outside signboard says a lot about your church to the general public. I see too many that are always the same, and thus disappear from anyone’s notice and say this church is into the “same old, same old” (even if it is not!). Or they have old broken or rusted letters that say we’re “rusting away” or don’t care. Surprise folk by using splashes of color on your signboard, or getting inexpensive matting boards of different colors around your board for the different seasons of the year. Use poster art or have the children or youth create on a poster board the “message” (maybe just an image) for the next Sunday. Surround the signboard with flowers, or pumpkins, or cloth draping, or flags of many nations, etc. Be creative…change your “look” regularly…let it symbolize the vitality of your congregation…the next time I’m by your church, I’ll give you a high five!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published September 29, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ FINANCIAL CRISIS filled all the headlines in 1857. It is reported that the financial panic of 1857 thrust the northeastern United States into a lengthy depression. Sound familiar?

Yet in Enfield, NH, 24 Methodists gathered and decided to build their first church building, anyway. In spite of the “economic conditions,” their dreams were big (a church to seat 350, use the best lumber… after all, this was God’s work!). In May 1858, with the 24 families giving sacrificially between $15 and $100, they raised almost $1,000 (big money in those days). By October, the building was underway and the numbers had grown to 34 families who now raised another $2,000 to complete the building where people have now gathered for 150 years through multiple financial crises, wars, and panics. Here, Christ has met them with blessing and strength and the gift of the greatest treasures of life: faith, hope and love.

September 21, we gathered to re-consecrate this 150-year-old building. It is a wonderful small membership congregation that is part of a charge. In spite of the “economic conditions” of today, they offer a free supper every Wednesday evening. They operate a food bank and a thrift shop that is open three days a week. For four years they have sent a Volunteer in Mission team to Louisiana and may send one to Iowa also this year. They give 100% of their Mission Shares so they can be fully a part of missions around the world. Visitation teams go out visiting regularly…worship is lively…the hospitality and welcome excellent…is it any surprise that new people are coming and they are growing….”in spite of the economic conditions!”

It can be true for every congregation.

♦ CHRISTIAN ECONOMICS. I had a Seminary Professor who used to challenge us to think about the teachings and way of Jesus as we think about our economic life together. What about wealth and “commonwealth?” What about the rich, and camels, and eyes of needles? Why was “lending” with interest charged seen as the sin of usury? (Wesley was very clear about this…if he were here today, he might say, “I told you so.”) Is there a word from the Lord in this time of asking questions about our economy and the world economy?

I encourage you as pastors and laity to have special groups to talk about these things in the light of our current crisis. We need to be alert and caring about the economic circumstances of our sisters and brothers in the church and in the community. Those living in Massachusetts are facing a referendum that will eliminate the state income tax, 40% of the budget, and, by implication, dozens of our most important programs for children, and the most vulnerable in our “commonwealth.” (Get informed and vote.) The church is the place where we need to pray, talk, and live the Christian life as it connects with the real challenges facing us in this economy. Let us be partners in this ministry.

♦ IMAGINE THIS…as of the end of August, twenty six of our congregations have already sent in 100% of their 2008 Mission Share for God’s work around the world. These include our church with the highest Mission Share, (Trinity, Springfield, Mass., $79,828) and our church with the lowest Mission Share (Brookline Federated….they have already contributed 1200%, or $325).

PLUS, our congregation on Cuttyhunk Island has already sent us a check for 100% of their 2009 Mission Share ($1,712)!

THANKS to all of our congregations that are remaining faithful to our worldwide mission share as we move toward the end of 2008.

♦ IN-TENT PEOPLE. Over the last few months I have been invited to preach at three of our churches that were having their services in tents. One moved inside because of rain….”it rains on the just and the unjust,” but not Methodists because we now have churches with roofs to head for. “So why were these churches meeting outside?” my wife asked. (She’s not big on bugs etc.). “Because we are really “in-tent” on reaching people in new (or is it old) ways,” I offered. (Forgive the pun…)

At Westborough UMC (Mass.) they were celebrating their 150th anniversary. They started out in makeshift worship spaces drawing in new believers in the 1850’s. (The Congregationalists blocked an early attempt to build a church across from them because their dignity might be disturbed by the noise of “shouting Methodists.” And here we were again in a makeshift tent with folding chairs for four hundred. There was a buzz of excitement and warm welcome to visitors everywhere. In spite of a huge storm the night before and wet spots still throughout the tent, people were joyful and ready to worship, including the young acolytes in their shorts and crocs. Butterflies were released in the tent (try that in a closed sanctuary), the sounds of nature and town were all around us to remind us of the “world parish,” and folks driving by and in the homes of the neighborhood were taking notice… the church is alive and “in-tent” on reaching out.

Following worship (or was it an extension of worship) chairs were moved around, tables appeared under the tent, and the “holy conferencing” of fellowship reached out to the uniformed service man who had just come home, visitors who had appeared, and adults and children were engaged in paints and artistic expressions in the tent (no carpet to worry about). Then the band started to play and some folks started to dance (read the Psalms…it’s OK). “Church” was happening in a new-old way.

This probably isn’t the way to have church every Sunday (New England snows are coming). But it is a reminder that worship can happen anywhere. Moving the “venue” for worship can allow for fresh creativity. Moving out of our buildings can be an invitation to the community to see us in a different light. The mall, the theater, the community room, the town library, the beach, the town park - we have churches doing things in all of those places. And it can be far more inviting for unchurched folks to join us.

What is your congregation in-tent on doing to reach out? I am blessed to be a partner in ministry with you in this spiritual adventure and creative time.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published September 16, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

AND ARE WE YET ALIVE….Summer has come and gone…leaves are already changing in some places in New England…I haven’t taken the air conditioner out of the bedroom window yet and the weatherwoman on the TV is daring to say the word FROST! The seasons shift, but God is faithful. “Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest….Great is thy faithfulness!” (UMH 140) I pray that you have had a good summer and that you have experienced God’s faithfulness every step of the way.

I heard the New Testament Scholar Marcus Borg this summer refer to the “flow of creation and new creation” that is God’s Grace. Immediately something within me began to sing, “My life flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation. I hear the clear, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation…..how can I keep from singing?” (TFWS 2212) I did manage to stifle singing out loud….Professor Borg and others around might not have appreciated it. But I hope that you are alive and singing with that flowing Grace from God that immerses us in the living waters of new creation every second and every season and in every shift. The frost is coming….but so is God’s Grace…again and again and again.

♦ AT SIX IN THE MORNING on the July day it was to be announced at the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, someone was to call each bishop to tell him or her where he or she was to serve for the next four years. The committee that makes those assignments of the nine bishops in the northeastern United States had met for twelve hours into the wee hours of the morning trying to make the decisions. All of us bishops knew that, like with any fully itinerant UM pastor, it was possible that we might be moved. (Note that there is no consultation with bishops about where we are going, the way there is with pastors…we are simply assigned…and move).

Linda and I had hoped that we would be assigned again to the New England Conference. The Conference Episcopacy Committee had asked for this, too. But when six o’clock came, we received no phone call. Maybe they had forgotten us…or hoped we would become Jehovah Witnesses or something. Or maybe the United Church of Canada had swooped down and taken over New England while we were gone. (Later it was discovered that the hotel phone system just wasn’t working properly.) We waited and waited, and still no call. So we went to breakfast about eight o’clock still not knowing where we were being assigned. There we ran into Oscar Harrell and Aida Fernandez, New England’s representatives on the Jurisdictional Episcopacy Committee that makes the assignments. Then, as if in some dramatic mystery movie, I quietly asked them, “Is everything O.K.? (Wink…wink…do you understand the secret code???) And with big smiles they said, “YES”.

At that moment, and then about an hour later when it was announced to the whole conference, and then again when Linda and I were warmly greeted by the New England delegation, I had tears welling up in my eyes and great thanksgiving rising up in my heart for the opportunity to be a partner in ministry with you all for another next four years. I look forward to the journey God has in store for us as we share with each other in “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Let us continue to pray for each other and this wonderful conference.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published May 30, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THE GREEN PASTORS....That’s what a group of retired pastors I once knew called themselves....as in being lively, growing, beautiful people in a “green pasture” place in life. I suppose “green pastors” could also refer to new, inexperienced pastors. Recently, in a one week period, I had the opportunity to meet with our New England Conference Retired Clergy Council and also the “younger pastors” (think 40 or so or less in our context.... its all relative....I’m trying to promote the idea that 60 is the new 40.... no one seems convinced except those of us over 60.... even the waitress at Friendly’s didn’t seem to flinch when I ordered off the “senior menu” .... at least she could have asked for an ID just to make me feel good.) Anyhow, I digress.... a sure sign of age.

I found both the retired and younger pastors to be “lively, growing, beautiful people.” Both were rich (green) in experiences that are informing and shaping their present lives and ministries. (Oh yes, lay or clergy, younger or older, we are all in ministry as disciples of Jesus Christ.) Both were “inexperienced,” (green), if by that you mean open to new experiences of God and life that they have not yet grown into.

It reminded me of how blessed we are in this Conference to have both younger and retired clergy, and those in between. We need to honor and receive the gifts of all. Join me in giving thanks to God for all the clergy of this Conference as we approach our Annual Conference session… you might even want to drop one of them a note of appreciation for the gifts she or he brings.

♦ “PARTICIPATING ELDERS” is the term that the last church I served used for clergy who are retired, or on incapacity leave, or appointed to extension ministry, or on Honorable Location, or leave of absence, or from other denominations who are active participants in that congregation. You might want to expand the term to “participating clergy” (to include deacons and retired local pastors, etc.) Whenever the clergy related to the congregation were listed, those appointed to the church were listed, but then also those “participating,” as a way of honoring their presence and gifts.

♦ UTILITY COSTS are a concern in many of our churches. Our use of fuel, electricity and water should also be environmental concerns for us. There are new creative ideas that can change this “challenge” into an “opportunity” to evaluate our building and space needs in the light of ministry in our community.

Because we are hearing about this from many of our churches, we will begin a process of sharing ideas at Annual Conference.... ideas like the York Maine UMC that has installed solar panels for electricity.... with expected payback in 10-15 years. Share with us what’s working for you as we swap ideas.

♦ REMEMBERING WEDDINGS that were held in their churches over the years has been a part of the anniversary celebrations of two churches I have visited recently. One is having a reunion of couples who were married there, with a service of recommitment to the wedding vows as a part of their church anniversary year. Another had a celebration where members of the youth group “modeled” wedding gowns from those who had been married in the church over the last 50 years plus.... lots of fun as well as an honor for those couples.

♦ A PENTECOST WORLD....THANKS BE TO GOD. On Pentecost Sunday, I was preaching in Maine . On Saturday, we had the Northern Maine District Day in Orono , Maine , in the midst of Graduation weekend for the University of Maine . On the front page of the Bangor paper was an article about the graduating class and the rich diversity of that class. In fact, the top two grads were from Germany and Vietnam . Then I re-read the Pentecost story and the sixteen nations in the crowd around the birth of the church. Wow.... that’s where we are.... today.... in Orono or anyplace in New England . I am hearing more and more stories of our churches that are growing because they are, like those first Christians, moving out into their diverse communities....trying to build relationships.... speaking in the language (style, music, cultural ways) of the people to whom we are relating.... and receiving the gifts of the Spirit in the context of this new Pentecost world in New England ! I hope you and your congregation are feeling the fresh winds and warmed with new fire .... I am.

♦ ANNUAL CONFERENCE IS COMING .... PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Published May 12, 2008

♦ BACK FROM THE "BIG MEETING"… Finally, I'm back from nearly three weeks of meetings in Fort Worth , Texas , for General Conference and the Council of Bishops. Meetings, meetings, meetings (Meetings early, meetings late; Let the Second Coming wait! We Methodists begin to salivate at another chance to legislate.) I have a friend who likes to say that if the realm of God could come on earth by meetings...it would have arrived long ago in the United Methodist Church . This was no holiday, but, by the Grace of God there were many moments of "Holy-day" experiences. Here are just a few from my perspective:

♦ WORSHIP WAS MAGNIFICENT... I was reminded again that worship is the great common ground of our Christian community. It was traditional, contemporary, blended, liturgical, experiential, quiet, exuberant, African, Pacific Island , Korean, Hispanic, Native American, southern, northern, eastern, western, drumming, strumming, dancing.... and always Christ centered and Spirit filled. We can come from many different perspectives in our backgrounds or opinions, but we are drawn together in love for God and each other in worship. I hope it is true in your congregation also.

♦ AND THE YOUNG SHALL LEAD US.... While the "not-so-young" (like me) were still in predominance at General Conference, there were wonderful signs of youthful vitality in our movement.... (1) Among many great choirs at the Conference, the best (move over American Idol) was the children’s choir of Hope from Uganda . It was made up of orphaned children now living and learning in one of our mission schools...joy, passion, faith, and excellence. (2) The first time "Young Peoples Address" delivered by a team of young people was hope-filled and challenging. (3) A number of young adults gave excellent leadership in the committees and on the floor of General Conference...far more than I have ever seen. (4) The Africa University celebration, in spite of the difficult conditions in Zimbabwe , showed how transformational leaders for Africa and the world are coming from young people who are graduating from AU!

♦ UNITED METHODISM IS AMAZINGLY DIVERSE.... Nearly one third of the delegates were from outside the United States .... and U.S. delegations were very diverse, including our own New England delegation (we were about 1% of the nearly 1000 delegates). In any given debate you might hear from Norway, Alaska, Mozambique, the Philippines, Montana, Russia, Mexico or Great Britain (Methodist observers with "voice"), Nigeria, West Virginia, etc., etc. including New England. This United Methodist movement, now numbering almost 14 million members around the world, is much bigger than any of us or our own limited perspective and traditions. We are richly blessed with each other. (It is projected that at the next General Conference in 2012, at least 40% of the delegates will be from beyond the USA .)

♦ UNITED METHODISM IS HAVING SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN THIS WORLD.... This was particularly spotlighted in the report of the major impact of UMCOR and Volunteer in Mission Teams in the wake of Katrina (major help is still needed). Bill Gates, Sr., spoke to the General Conference celebrating and affirming UM leadership in addressing the needs of the poor and sick of the world. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf traveled to Texas to thank her fellow United Methodists for the faith, education, and hope that she had received from this church.... and how it had shaped her life, which is now shaping Liberia and Africa in powerful ways. Throughout the Conference we noted the impact the "Nothing But Nets" campaign to reduce deaths from Malaria is having. (The New Englanders present contributed over $2,500 on the spot...which qualified us to receive a Nothing but Nets Basketball signed by all the Bishops. There was such a large response, over $400,000, at General Conference, that we Bishops, who have neither voice nor vote at General Conference, spent a lot of time signing basketballs while trying to preside and keep up with the actions of legislation.)

♦ DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW WERE GENERALLY TREATED WITH RESPECT.... On almost any subject in the nearly 2,000 pieces of legislation that were considered there were differences of opinion among the delegates. But, more than ever before in my experience, there was a sense of commitment to "holy conferencing" principles of listening and respecting differences. We are still far from perfect in this. And frankly, when I was finished with my time of presiding last week, I was more convinced than ever that the constraints of parliamentary procedure are not the best approach for "holy conferencing" around some matters. We need more space and time for prayerful and thoughtful sharing and conversation before being forced into motions, amendments, amendments to the amendment, points of order, etc. We sought to encourage people to abide by Wesley's "three simple rules:" do no harm, do all the good you can, and stay in love with God. Not a bad idea for all of our living.

♦ PRAYER, PRAYER, PRAYER.... We often prayed as a whole group, in worship.... before legislative sessions.... during committee meetings... this was God's work, not ours.... and I often felt the Spirit moving. I saw small groups of two of three in the hallways pausing for prayer. Delegates, visitors, Bishops, staff could often be found in the various prayer chapels around the convention center. Those who came to General Conference to witness for changes in the church's position on the practice of homosexuality did so, even in much pain, prayerfully.... and many received that witness prayerfully. And I happened to be passing "back stage" when one of the choirs was praying that God might use them for God's purposes that day... prayer makes a difference, I believe. And I believe it did at General Conference. Thank you for your prayers...always, always...it is a way in which every moment and day is made Holy.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Dear Partners in Ministry,

Published March 14, 2008

♦ HOOPLA....was happening at the First UMC of Portsmouth, N.H. when I was there last Sunday. They are holding their worship services in the Fellowship Hall because the sanctuary furnace boiler blew up in January. What everyone thought was a "bad thing" has turned out to allow for some wonderful new worship and fellowship experiences. As one member told me, "Worshipping in this new space has some really good things about it!" The 1913 sanctuary is rather dark; this new space is bright with lots of windows looking out onto the world we are called to serve. The fellowship hall space allows for lots of flexibility, including moving chairs, creative placement of their Lenten candles, and fellowship "goodies" (You Methodists know what I mean) right there in the same space for visitors and members alike. The "feel" in that space was very warm, welcoming, creative and upbeat.

Then, as soon as I said the Benediction, people greeted each other, moved the chairs and three basketball backboards and hoops appeared: one small one for the toddlers, one medium one for kids, and one full sized one for teens and adults.....Hoopla was Happening to raise money for "Nothing But Nets." In the worship service everyone had heard about this great missions effort to stop malaria ($10 will buy and deliver an insecticide-treated net to a family in Africa ...700,000 have gone so far). Now folks were having a great time shooting basketballs right in the same space where we had prayed for this wonderful mission. Nets were hung around the fellowship hall door so that, as people came and went, they were aware of our "net-working" with our sisters and brothers around the world in sharing love, prayers and nets....all a part of the unity of our worship/work as Christian disciples.

P.S. First Church is now in a time of study and discernment about what kind of building will best serve the needs of ministry and mission in their community in this new century. They are celebrating their 200th anniversary of serving Christ in Portsmouth . In the first 100 years of their life, they changed buildings four times in order to do their ministry more effectively. Now, like many of our churches in New England , they have had the same sanctuary building for nearly 100 years....with increasing costs of repairs, heating, etc. The key question we all need to ask, as they now are, is: "Is our ministry for Christ in 2008 (and for the next 25 years) being helped or hindered by our present building?"

Don't get me wrong, I love many of our old buildings, but some of them are so costly and inefficient for doing 21st century ministry that they are a serious drag on the ministry we could be doing as congregations. It's worth praying and talking about in your church....hopefully before the boiler blows up.

♦ PANAMA POSSIBILITIES...Last week I met with lay and Bishop/President leaders of the Methodist churches in seventeen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean . We met in Panama . There was a wonderful sense of unity in Christ beyond the borders of our nations. We talked about immigration concerns and "boundaries" of socio-economic status throughout the Americas . The irony was that some Americans in the US at that time were debating whether John McCain could be President of the US because he was born in Panama...I guess as a baby he should have demanded to be born on US soil. In any case, the great affirmation in Panama was that we have all been born of the same "dust...soil" of God's creation....God's globe did not come with national lines drawn on it to separate people or inhibit the sharing of God's bounty. Rather God sent Christ with "cords of Love" to draw us together into being one human family...we Christians believe it is possible.

While we were meeting, Columbia , Ecuador , and Venezuela broke out in conflict with each other. In spite of the international tensions, the leaders of our Methodist churches from those nations gathered before us, holding hands, to pray for peace and justice. We prayed for reconciliation and the settling of the conflicts without violence....we followers of the Prince of Peace believe it is possible.

In talking about some of our challenges in doing ministry and mission together (I was there as chair of our denomination's Committee on a Holistic Strategy for Latin America ) one of the laity reminded us....in Spanish of course...."with God all things are possible"....my response, "Si"......"Amen."

Let us pray and work with God for all of the possibilities wherever we were born or live.

♦ THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FLOOR...Flying back from Panama last Thursday I came through Dallas/Fort Worth Airport just in time for the first March snow in Dallas since 1892. They called it a "storm"....it was less than 2 inches...I called it "just another New England winter day." But whatever it was, it caused 200 flight cancellations with thousands stranded at the airport and a wind-fall (or was it snow-fall) profit for all the hotels that were instantly sold out....some charging $400 per room!

So I slept, with hundreds of others, on the airport floor that night. What I discovered that night (other than that when "the hipbone meets the floorbone," it's haaaaard) was the fellowship of the floor that almost instantly developed. No matter what our language, color, religion, age, etc., we were all in the same boat....all wishing it were the same plane going to our preferred destination. But there we were. Around gate C 32 where I decided to bed down, we all were talking to each other....total strangers discovering common stories and humanity. One group of teenagers started to sing...rap...and even though I did not know the tune (Is there a tune?) I delighted in their contribution to "the fellowship of the floor."

The staff of the airport was great. Literally thousands were standing in line to rebook for the next day’s flight. The staff set the tone by being the "non anxious presence," even smiling while they stayed beyond their "shift hours." I stood in line for almost four hours next to a wonderful pediatrician from Monterrey , Mexico . I learned about a great project he has started in Mexico (inspired by a doctor at Boston 's Children Hospital ) where pediatricians give parents a prescription for reading to their child each day, plus the age-appropriate book from which to read. We talked and talked and talked....about his research on the impact of media on kids....and my "research" on the impact of sermons on congregations....I mean, after three hours you talk about anything! We learned about each other’s childhoods, educational experiences, families (We both have only daughters....that was an hour’s discussion in itself) and faith journeys. (He is an active Catholic, doing mission trips, concerned about the spiritual life of children etc.)

All of this was a reminder to me of how crisis often brings out the best in us....and breaks down our artificial barriers with each other. It was a reminder of how good it is to open up to strangers, to both hear their stories and share yours....we in New England should do this more. I discovered again that we don't really need all we think we need....mattress, private bathroom, lights out, staying on "our schedule," or even having our luggage. To be honest, I was glad to have these things back when I returned to Boston the next day, but even more so, I was glad to have made new friends, rediscovered that humans can cope, and seen people really build community in stressful circumstances and care for each other. Wouldn't it be great if we could live that out every day....that every congregation could become a "fellowship of the floor" where we open up to each other and God without fear.

♦ HOSANNA...BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD...as always, the question of Holy Week and every day is, "How faithfully will we follow the One who has come?" Pray for me and I am praying for you as we are partners in this ministry.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published December 21, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ WIND, SNOW, ICE, SLOP, NO PARKING SPACES and other various "trials and tribulations" of winter in New England (even though it wasn't officially winter yet) seemed somehow appropriate for the celebration of Charles Wesley's 300th birthday at Old North Church in Boston on Dec. 18th. Appropriate because the Wesley brothers loved a good challenge and those things that toughen us up (if they don't kill us first). Around 100 "tongues to sing" came ready to have "hearts strangely warmed"....along with anything else that could get warmed on that bitter cold night. The glow of candles greeted us, even as they did when Charles Wesley preached there several times in the fall of 1736 on his way back to England . One of the Episcopal Bishops was there to graciously welcome us. I noted that Charles, a strong Anglican to his death, would be delighted to see the Episcopal Bishop there....and probably appalled to see me there....a "Methodist Bishop" would have been unthinkable to him....(and some New England Methodists even to this day).

We were all reminded about how Charles Wesley had no intention or desire to end up in New England . After a disastrous time in Georgia he wanted to get home to England as fast as he could, only to discover that the Captain of the vessel on which he had booked voyage was a drunken sailor (He found him sprawled stark naked and dead drunk on the deck). The ship ran aground while sailing from Georgia up the coast. Then they hit storms. Finally they took refuge in Boston to repair the ship and wait out the storms, with the happy thought that the "bedecked" Captain would safely???? carry them on to England ....(maybe it was Charles who wrote the first version of the MTA song about Boston transportation..."O he never returned, O he never returned....”). As if that were not bad enough, we must not forget that Anglicans were a persecuted minority among the Puritans of New England ....Christ (Old North) Church being only the second Anglican Church in town.

In spite of all the "slop" that he was facing, he shared his witness of Christ. Not only did he "connect" with the Anglicans in town and preach, but he reached out to others and left his mark, however small and brief, in the midst of this place and these circumstances that he neither chose nor relished.

So, we gathered out of the harsh weather and sung, as he did. His words and the music broke the chilly silence. Those who had braved the journey from many different places, found common joy in the unity of Christ....the "love divine, all loves excelling." Who would have imagined in 1707 at his birth as the 18th Wesley child, or in 1736 when this young unknown Anglican priest was stranded unexpectedly in Boston , that his hymns would be sung throughout the world and his life and commitment to Christ honored everywhere there are people who follow Jesus.

Sometimes we find ourselves in unexpected places and stormy circumstances. Sometimes our plans are waylaid and our time seems wasted. Sometimes the "trials and tribulations" seem overwhelming and we're "snowed under" and "slip sliding away." But take heart! "Glory to the newborn King!" "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" Keep singing....because God is doing miracles with our faithfulness that may bear fruit for another 300 years.

♦ SPEAKING OF SNOW....I was to preach last Sunday in Greenfield , MA , in northwest Mass. , in the mountains. Well, like much of New England last Sunday, Greenfield turned into whitefield with lots of snow. The pastor called me at 6:30am and said I probably shouldn't try to travel in the snow and ice....I said I would take a "snow check". But then I turned on the TV later in the morning and saw all the folks heading to the Patriots game....some allowing three hours extra to get there...."Oh, wouldn't want to miss the game just because of snow," one man traveling down from Maine said....."After all, we're New Englanders!" Then they reported on people heading for the Malls...."It's a great time to shop....not as much traffic," one woman in a heavy parka cheerily explained.

When the time came, I too bundled up and headed to our nearest United Methodist Church . I was so glad to see that they were open (after all you can be sure that God will be there...and maybe also that one person who really needs to be there.) Sure, the numbers were down....way down...(I understand about older people not risking injury....but I wonder why people can get to the football game and malls, but not to worship?????) But there was a joy in those who were there that was great. One family with two children had walked, and they were clearly exhilarated by the beauty of God's creation and the adventure of "setting out" to go to church. Some of the "planned" things had to be changed....the organist wasn't there...so we sang to a guitar....which was truly beautiful (remember the origins of "Silent Night"). The Spirit moved and the children enthusiastically agreed to light the Advent wreath. There were no ushers, so we all brought our offerings forward to the altar like they do in Africa . Because it was a small group, the "sermon" became conversation about the lectionary text with everyone sharing in "delivering the sermon" to each other. The passing of the peace was particularly meaningful....we had all faced the challenge of getting there...we had all "survived" (although the news always makes it sound a lot worse than it really is....come on, "we're New Englanders!")....we were in this thing called the "Body of Christ" together. And it was wonderful, inspiring worship.

Yes, there are times and places when churches must close, but I hope we will stay "open" as much as we can...."open" to what God can do on these Sundays when the numbers may be down, but the Spirit is up....and moving in delightfully inspiring ways.

♦ IN THE SNOW AGAIN, Thursday morning I was blessed to be at the ribbon cutting and dedication of TECH FOR TOTS a new program at our United Methodist Women related Hattie Cooper Community Center in Roxbury. Through partnership with a number of folk, a computer lab for preschoolers and after-schoolers has been established at the Center. It is truly an example of what someone has called "High Tech and High Touch" meeting in an exciting combination of learning and caring. Children as young as two are using the computers (boy, did I feel dumb!). One five year old that I talked to was exploring the globe via computer including zeroing in on Africa, taking pictures of lions, and putting them, via computer, into his scrapbook (boy, did I feel dumber!)

Cooper Center has been changing lives and doing fantastic ministry for ninety one years with the support of the United Methodist Women and churches....what a great way to be partners in ministry with children.

♦ MAY YOUR CHRISTMAS BE WONDER-FULL AND PEACE-FULL AS THE NEW LIFE OF CHRIST FILLS YOU, YOUR CONGREGATION, AND OUR WORLD....JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD HAS COME!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Published December 1, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THANKSGIVING MORNING thousands of families (I would guess, for the stories I hear) had something more, or better to eat because of Thanksgiving baskets or food pantries or Thanksgiving dinners from our United Methodist Churches. Probably many of you helped out by donating food, or serving or delivering food. I hope you need no thanks...but thanks for doing at least this! As Linda and I helped out Thanksgiving morning and delivered hot meals "with all the fixins" to folks we did not know, I was struck...and convicted...by several thoughts.

1. There are more people out there in need than I realized. The "facades" of our houses and neighborhoods can be deceptive...or maybe sometimes I just ignore and don’t want to see what is really there. We were delivering to 200 families...including one that would meet us at the Wal-Mart parking lot...and this was not a so-called "poor" community.

2. As we made the visits, I was reminded again how important it is to get out and meet your neighbors...the ones you don't already know. That's why many of our churches are now doing house to house visiting in their neighborhood...you meet a lot a great people...and you learn a lot...as well as giving you the opportunity to confront the "shy/fear" of ringing a stranger's doorbell (as one woman said to me once during visitations, "I'd rather have all my teeth pulled without Novocain, than visit strangers!" But after it was over, she was ready to do it again...it was such a good experience).

3. "All the Fixins" are not just gravy, pie, turkey, and sweet potatoes. The real fixins that count the most are simply being present, caring, showing interest and concern...just show up! The people that we visited were "hungry" for more than a meal. They seemed most delighted by the simple fact that we came..."hello"....."how are you doing?"...."it's good to meet you"..."that's a wonderful picture of Jesus on your wall"....."how long ago did your husband die?"..."would you want me to pray for you?"...and on and on.

4. And then I was "convicted"...why do we only do this on or around Thanksgiving, as if that's the only time people are hungry, or lonely or hurting...as if it's the only time of the year (maybe Christmas too) that we're called to "love our neighbor as ourselves"...as if it's the only time that our churches (meaning "I") need to learn about our neighbors...make new friends...grow beyond "shy/fear."

5. And I was "convicted" that once I start to say "hello" and build a relationship with someone, it proves how shallow, or frightened, or insincere we are if we never come back...never follow-up...never risk really getting to know each other...really caring...really loving as Jesus first loved us and continues to love us through all eternity. What happens next after the Thanksgiving visit, or the person receives food at your food pantry, or clothing or toys from your church? Could we move beyond "hand-outs" to "hand-in-hands" for the long haul? Or, now that I've been to their house, what if I invited them to my house?...what if I asked them to pray for me? What if we had Thanksgiving, and Christmas and Easter...and Pentecost every day?

♦ "PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM" Isn't it amazing how often the ancient lectionary reading assigned long ago for the week speaks directly to the circumstances of our lives and world...that's the way it is with God's Word...amazing. I can't help but note this week's invitation in Psalm 122:6 to "pray for the peace...." and Isaiah 2:4 to "beat their swords into plowshares...."

Even though there are extraordinary challenges facing those who have gathered in Annapolis for Middle East peace talks, let us pray believing that with God all things are possible. I was on a conference call Wednesday that included Rabbi Michael Melchior who helped found "Mosaica," a center for interfaith relations in Israel , and is a member of Israel 's Knesset. He encouraged everyone to think about "what the price will be if we don't achieve peace." And I remembered similar words from an Arab Christian friend from Ramalah...in 1984! The price in blood, injustice, fear, bitterness continues to bankrupt humanity and destroy the hopes of both Palestinians and Israelis. Pray for Peace with justice. Pray for all those who are oppressed. Pray for all the leaders of this process and the nations involved that they may find Your way where there seems to be no way. Pray...Pray...Pray...and work for peace with justice wherever you are.

♦ BETTER THAN ANOTHER TIE OR TRINKET....."Are you looking for that last minute exceptional gift"...so the tag line goes from hundreds of merchants. But what about offering "UNITED METHODIST GIFT CARDS"...or whatever you want to call them. One church made up cards with a special mission cause on each one...a $25 card to help build a UMC school in Angola ...a $10 card to help fund a missionary in Russia ...a $50 card to buy live stock for families in Liberia ...etc. You can find lots of these kind of projects in the UMC Advance catalog (it can also be accessed on line at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/give/advance/). You can have Sunday School kids "hand design" each card. Make these cards available at your church for people to purchase in honor of the person to whom they will give it as a Christmas gift...its better than another tie or trinket...to know that someone honored you (and Christ) by giving an exceptional gift...funds to help others in this world...plus you won't have to wear it or store it like ties and trinkets you wish you hadn't received.

God is doing great things...get in on it...be a partner in ministry.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

==========================================

Dear Partners in Ministry:

Published November 19, 2007

♦ I BELIEVE…IN THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS…AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING. These ancient words of our faith…my faith…from the Apostles’ Creed took on even fuller reality as my mother-in-law, Betty Silvis, passed unexpectedly into eternal life on October 31st, “All Saints Eve.” She was a gentle, caring United Methodist pastor’s widow, who had been a wonderful partner in ministry with her husband who had for many years served on the pastoral team of Christ Church , Bethel Park , PA , the largest United Methodist church in the northeastern United States . To the end, she was more concerned about others than herself. She was always interested in our ministry in New England , and I am sure she prayed for you (maybe because she knew the Bishop you have to put up with). There is no question in my mind, or heart, that she has entered into the eternal life promised in Christ.

And there is no question about the “communion of saints.” Linda and I are very grateful for all the prayers, cards, and expressions of caring that have come from the “saints in New England .” Thank you for “being” what we believe!

♦ ON MY WINDSHIELD last Sunday, after church, was a piece of blue paper stuck under my wiper blade. At first, I thought that I had been ticketed right there in the church parking lot…maybe for parking there over an hour! But I had my excuses ready for court…there had been a wonderful children’s choir that had sung two numbers, and the adult choir had two great anthems, and then there was the trumpet player, and they dedicated new hymnals, and people had lots of prayer joys and concerns, and the passing of the peace was so enthusiastic folks didn’t want to stop, and the Bishop was preaching and got swept up into the Spirit of the occasion, and he went on a little long (I’ve spoken to him about this sort of thing before!)…so it was a little over an hour…and then you add the fellowship time afterward…it seems folks just didn’t want to go home.

Guilty as charged. This church is alive, dynamic, and growing, and “time flies when you’re having church!” Is that what they say about your church? Are you guilty of passionate, inspiring worship? (Remember they accused the Wesleys of being too enthusiastic.)

It turned out that the blue slip of paper on my windshield was not a ticket after all. It was a note from the youth group that had washed my windshield while I was in church. The note read, “Faith and works. Works and faith, fit together hand in glove.” James 2:18 (The Message)

That passage from James was used at the founding of their church, St. James UMC in Merrimack , NH , in 1967. We were celebrating its 40th Anniversary last Sunday. In 1967, it was the first United Methodist new church start in New Hampshire in the previous 40 years! It is now a wonderful, vital congregation. Just think what would be missing if, with the help of the Conference, that church had not been founded 40 years ago. That is one reason our Conference is helping to start new churches today. It takes both faith and work on the part of many. But when you see what I saw Sunday, we join in thanksgiving for people of “faith and work” at St. James…and in every congregation…including the youth…who are living out their faith and work, work and faith.

♦ As we share the bread of the table this Thanksgiving, let us also share thanksgiving for the Bread of Life, Christ our Savior. And following Him, let us give thanks for the challenge and blessing of serving those who are hungry for the bread of the table and those hungry for the Bread of Life! As always, I give thanks for being a partner with you in this ministry.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ A WAVE OF BUDDIST MONKS in their crimson robes, coming down the road in Rangoon, Burma, shoulder to shoulder, making their quiet witness for justice and non-violence. That was the riveting photograph in a recent Time magazine that caught my attention. I could not take my eyes, or my spirit, off of that scene. Spiritual leadership! We talk a lot about it, but here it was being lived out against all odds. In the face of persecution, oppression, and even death, these "powerless" thousands of spiritual leaders were leading by their example of courage, peace, and simple presence. While the photo showed the unique and diverse faces of each person, they were in community and unity with each other in their common witness. The contagion of their spiritual leadership was drawing others into their community of witness...I was drawn into solidarity with this wave of witness as I stared at this photograph.

"Oh God," I prayed, "let us....let me....be a part of such a wave of spiritual leadership in our places and time."

What if we United Methodists would stand together, and move together out into our neighborhoods to be a spiritual presence with those who are oppressed? What if our unity in Christ were so strong and confident, that the world would "know we are Christians by our love?" What if we reclaimed prayer, and presence, and simply "being" Light and Salt as God's revolutionary, "incarnational" way of spiritual leadership as lay and clergy?

I'm still pondering and praying. I hope you are too. Our world desperately needs a wave of spiritual leadership.

♦ RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS were generously flowing from the youth group at the Acton UMC the Sunday I was there. I was surprised with a bag of Hershey kisses...I almost couldn't preach, my mouth was so sweetly full...which might have been the greatest "kindness" of all if I had cut the sermon short. The note on the bag read, "These ‘hugs and kisses’ are a small gift of our love to remind you that God's love is with you each and every day!" Lots of people were being "randomly blessed" that day, as I was...and the youth were having great fun surprising us all. Maybe your youth would enjoy... and learn from this too...along with the recipients!

♦ SPEAKING OF CANDY....one congregation is asking its young people to share half of the candy they collect on Halloween with the local homeless ministry....There's a sweet, sweet Spirit in that place!"

There are so many ways to creatively be a wave of spiritual leadership....think creatively....act boldly....be the Body of Christ! As always, I'm blessed to be a partner in this ministry with you.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Dear Partners in Ministry,

Published September 29, 2007

September has been full of amazing signs of life in many of our congregations as we have begun a new season of worship, education, caring and outreach all across New England . I am grateful for each of you as you give leadership in your congregation in creative and transformational ways. Here are some creative things I experienced recently in my travels.

♦ HANG OUT OUTSIDE....On a beautiful fall Sunday at Glastonbury (CT) UMC they had set tables on their lawn for refreshments before church, instead of after. People driving by could see that this congregation was having a good time together....plus there were better (and healthier) goodies to munch on than at Dunkin Donuts....and "holier" too (sorry). Some of our churches are doing pumpkin patches on their lawns, and inviting neighborhood children to join in the fall fun after school or on Saturday....or hold Sunday School among the pumpkins. Kids may be the ones to bring their parents to that kind of creative, inviting, "outside-the-walls" church. Think outside the box of your church's four walls. Get outside where the community can see how lively you are.

♦ WEDNESDAY NIGHT COMMUNION..."It's become a joy of our life". At the Corinna (ME) UMC they have started a Wednesday night communion service from 6:00 to 6:30 pm that is growing. During the sharing of "joys and concerns" in the service on the Sunday morning I was there, a man offered up thanksgiving for the Wed. communion service by saying, "It's become a joy of our life!"

I believe we need to offer more worship opportunities, in different styles, at a variety of times to meet the spiritual needs of those in our congregations and, even more, those who do not attend worship now because of it's time (many people are working at traditional times of worship) or style (just note the different musical tastes of different generations). This is not a new idea. John Wesley held services every day, often several times in the same day....at different places. When Jesse Lee came into New England , and our membership was growing so quickly, he preached at different times and places every day. When I was growing up (not quite so long ago as Jesse Lee) we had services Sunday morning (more formal, using the classic hymns, ordered liturgy), Sunday evening (more informal, gospel hymns, more spontaneous flow), and Wednesday night (lots of prayer, scripture readings, testimonies, devotional hymns, silence time). These different times and styles met different people's needs....all of it in glory to God.

This congregation also has a great food bank, several Disciple Bible class opportunities, and they were going out two by two in visitation in their community. They are a "full service" church. What about yours? Instead of a "canned" bulletin cover, the bulletin cover featured a wonderful picture of one of the young people in the congregation.

♦ VERMONT UNITED METHODISTS met recently to discuss and pray about where God is calling them for the future. They are currently a part of the Troy Conference, headquartered in Albany , NY . The Troy conference, along with three other conferences located primarily in northern New York state are considering uniting into one new conference. Of the seventy three who gathered for the Vermont meeting, fifty voted (unofficial and non-binding) to explore becoming a part of the New England Conference. On October sixth there will be simultaneous sessions of the four primarily northern New York conferences to officially vote concerning their future. An official resolution may be passed on Oct. 6 to enable the Vermont churches to explore coming into the New England Conference. In preliminary conversations at our Annual Conference last June, openness was expressed to welcoming these sister New England churches into our conference. If they ask for further exploration, we would begin with conversation/listening sessions throughout the New England Conference in late October. Further opportunities to consider this would come at pre-conference District meetings in the spring, with additional deliberations at the 2008 Annual Conference.

Let us pray for our sisters and brothers in Vermont and the four Conferences that will be meeting on Oct. 6th.

As always it is a great adventure to be partners in ministry with you in this season of creative life in the New England Conference...I can understand why others might want to come and join us in what God is doing here.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

Bishop Weaver in New York City during July explosion -- See The Sky Is Falling in his most recent letter below

Published July 27, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

It is hard to believe that summer is almost half over. I have had some wonderful experiences as congregations are doing some CREATIVE SUMMER THINGS such as:

♦ OUTSIDE SERVICES...some of you are having them on the nearby beach, or the front lawn, or picnic pavilions in a park. Think about where the people are and go to them, just as Jesus did.

♦ SUNDAES ON THURSDAY are being offered at Acushnet Long Plain church as outreach to the community. The pastor approached the owner of a neighboring ice cream shop to be sure he would not be upset by this "holy competition." To the pastor's surprise, the owner not only offered his support for this good project, but also offered to donate some of the supplies! There is a "sweet, sweet spirit" in this ice cream ministry and community.

♦ OUR CAMP MEETING ASSOCIATIONS around New England are in full swing. I was blessed to preach at Hedding (NH) a couple of weeks ago....generation after generation return to this "holy ground" from all over the country. They are in their 145th season! This Sunday I will preach at Ocean Grove, NJ, where about 200 tents (which were featured in "Better Homes and Garden") still surround the Great Auditorium which seats 10,000. I will speak at eight services throughout the week...with people coming dressed in everything from Brooks Brothers suits to bathing suits....and its great to see generation after generation eagerly awaiting their opportunity to inherit the tent and share the faith!!!! Later this summer I will vacation at Chautauqua (My folks bought a cottage there the year before I was born. I've been there every summer since....now our children and grandchildren make it a must to be there.) where there is worship every day in the 6,000 seat open-air amphitheater which is still filled on Sunday. Later this summer I will be blessed to preach at Maine's "Chautauqua by the Sea" Ocean Park.

I mention all of this to remind us that our ancestors were not "stuck" in their traditions or churches during the summer. They went outside and founded these great summer communities for worship and education and fellowship. They used these wonderful places to invite others to "camp meeting" and "revival" which often energized laity and clergy for the rest of the year. They were not shy about trying new things or stepping "outside the box." We should continue to learn from their creative boldness for our new century.

♦ THE SKY IS FALLING... July 18th I was in New York City for a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations for the Roundtable on Religion and Foreign Policy. It was a fascinating inter-faith meeting, which I will share more about some other time. Following the meeting, I took the subway down to Grand Central Station where I got on the 6 pm shuttle bus to go to LaGuardia Airport. The driver had put my suitcase in the luggage hold under the bus, taken my ticket, and I had just taken my seat on the bus. All of the sudden there was a horrendous explosion. There was a roaring sound like the engine of a plane. What appeared to be massive billows of smoke were enveloping a very large building right across from Grand Central. The thousands of people crowding around Grand Central Station at that rush hour began to run, many women leaving their shoes behind. A man shouted into the bus, "Get out, and run for your life." ;The driver had already disappeared. All of us on the bus exited onto the street, joining the rushing crowds....leaving our bags behind on the bus.

It was like a scene out of 9/11. Debris seemed to be falling out of the sky. Little drops of mud were raining down on us. My suit, glasses, and head were soon covered with this falling substance. People were running and crying. Everyone seemed to be trying to call out on their cell phones. Police and fire fighters arrived quickly and ordered everyone out of the area, clearing a four or five block area all around Grand Central Station which by then had been closed to pedestrian and subway traffic.

Even though I had not been in New York City on 9/11, I was then Bishop of the Philadelphia area and we immediately organized teams to go into NYC to help in the aftermath. I heard lots of stories and talked to people who had been there on 9/11. Weeks and months later it was still fresh in people's minds. Clearly on this July 18th day in 2007, it had all come rushing back to the collective consciousness of all of us who were caught in the midst of this event that seemed so eerily similar to 9/11.

Those of you who heard about this on the news know that what really happened was that a 24" steam pipe under 41st Street had exploded. What appeared to be great billows of smoke were really steam. The debris from the sky was steam droplets carrying mud from the gaping hole on 41st Street. The massive continuing roar we were hearing was the steam escaping.

Among the things I learned in this event was that when you are on the ground in the midst of something like this you have no information other than what your senses tell you. And because you do not know what is really happening, you immediately connect what you are sensing with events in your history (e.g. 9/11) that you do know something about. But it is easy to jump to wrong conclusions. Sadly this is often what happens in our relationship with people or cultures that may be strange to us. Prejudice and racism arises out of past experience, or stories we've heard, rather than recognizing that this new experience may be very different.

Secondly, it is easy to be panicked by those around us. If everyone else seems to think that the sky is falling, maybe it is. But, maybe it isn't. It is important to try to keep our own "wits about us," and not just give our judgment over entirely to the crowd. In this case, I made the decision that it was indeed prudent to leave that area at least until I had better information about what really was happening. When I got a safe distance from the scene, I found myself in conversation with total strangers about what was happening, swapping stories and information, and helping each other decide what to do next. That kind of exchange (Wesley might call it "holy conferencing") is far better than just "following the crowd." It is a gift in these kinds of events when the "crowd" becomes "community."

Third, as the events unfolded my first thought was not about my bag (although I eventually got that back...another interesting story), but I first thought about my loved ones and the well being of the people around me. Ultimately in life, things....our baggage…aren’t important. Oh, if we could only live every day focused on relationships rather than occupied with "things."

Finally, there really is a peace that passes understanding....even when your senses are telling you to panic. That peace comes as a gift, not because of anything you start to do in that moment, but because of a whole life of moments when you've "learned to trust in God." It's what some early Christians called the "holy habits" of meditation and prayer, knowing Scripture and cultivating friendship with Christ.

May God give us all such gifts for the living of every day.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

P.S. I will be on renewal leave for the next few weeks. Thus, there will be no PIM emails coming your way. But let us as partners in this great ministry keep prayers going each other’s way! Thanks be to God.

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June 29, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ REVIVAL AT SYMPHONY HALL: Recently Linda and I attended "Gospel Night" with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. It was a Spirit-filled evening in this grand old hall featuring the Boston Pops Gospel Choir and pastor and singer Marvin Winans (brother to C.C. Winans and pastor of a 4,000 member congregation in Detroit .) There were several things I noticed that should speak to any congregation looking for "revival....new life"

1. THEY HAD MOVED THE "PEWS" Even though Symphony Hall is one of the venerable, historic landmark, concert halls of America , they have made some "radical" changes to adapt it to the 21st century. All of the rows of screwed down seating on the first floor were gone! Instead, small tables with four or five moveable chairs each filled symphony hall. I was accustomed to having MY numbered seat in My row when I go to a concert hall....it all seemed a little chaotic....but it was wonderful. We could actually move our chairs and face our neighbors. While we were waiting for the concert to start and during intermission, we had great conversation with total strangers including two who were just in Boston on business trips and looking for something to do. One was from Australia ….I learned about Melbourne from him and he learned (a little) about Boston from me. By intermission, following Gospel pieces like "Count it all Joy," we were talking about faith, and God, and joy that is everlasting....and I didn't bring it up first....he did.

Some of our churches, "venerable and historic," have taken out their pews and replaced them with moveable chairs that allow for much more flexibility, community building, and sometimes a little holy chaos (where's My row and seat???).

2. FOOD WAS BEING SERVED....DURING THE CONCERT. It was amazing how smooth and unobtrusive this was to the service....oops, I mean the concert. There were times, like during solos, when no food was being served, but there seemed to be a natural rhythm to this, sort of like how most people who show up late for worship know when its appropriate to come in without much disruption....it used to be that some churches were so up-tight about this that they marked in the bulletin when ushers could seat late comers. I was always grateful to serve churches that were relaxed enough to be just glad they had come and could be graciously incorporated into the flow of worship without a spot-light being put on them...."Look, the ushers are now bringing in the slothful latecomers."

I know the thought of food in the worship service seems awkward to many of us....but then there is the "Lord's Supper" that we share....and Wesley adopted the Moravian practice of the Love Feast (I was in a Moravian Church that served hot chocolate and a kind of German donut....it was a festive and joyful time of sanctuary fellowship in the context of worship and thanksgiving.)....and some churches, including my last one, have a more informal service where people drink coffee and move about during the service getting fruit or cookies, in a setting with moveable chairs and a few tables for those who want them....and remember Jesus did much of his ministry eating with people. How might that work in your church?

3. A LARGE SCREEN that can be down at appropriate times and at other times up graces the front of symphony hall now. They realize that we are living in a visual age. During the opening service at Annual Conference, I was able to use a couple of film clips during the sermon, which a number of people found very powerful. I don't do that every time I preach, but it is certainly good to have that capability available. The cost of such equipment is coming down and it’s a great way to get young people to help out in your church with their technical gifts.

4. A LARGE NUMBER OF YOUNGER, DIVERSE PEOPLE WERE PRESENT for this evening at the Pops. I remember twenty or so years ago having a conversation with the Managing Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony who attended the church I was serving. He was concerned about declining attendance, lack of diversity and the older average age of those coming to concerts, not only in Pittsburgh , but across the country. He mentioned some of the ideas I've listed above. We then talked about how these ideas might apply to our church. Some we instituted, some we didn't. At the Pops concert as I saw all the younger and diverse people around me, I wished we had instituted more of those ideas than we did....frankly, the symphonies of our country have done a far better job addressing their decline in attendance and lack of diversity and young people than the majority of our churches have.

5. FINALLY, IT'S THE CONTENT THAT COUNTS! The above items 1-3 really only address the context. We can do all those things, but if there is no passionate, inspiring encounter with God in the "context," then all the "bells and whistles" won't make any difference. Yes, the revival at symphony hall that night was enhanced and facilitated (that's why we pay attention to our "facilities") by the things I mentioned above, but it was the spirit of the people who had gathered and the content of the experience that made it full of "revival" for the soul and the community. The music was excellent and moving. While well planned, the evening had times of surprising spontaneity. Rev. Winans had with him children from his church's school of the arts (over 1,000 now enrolled, many from disadvantaged neighborhoods) who added so much. It wasn't just the professionals who shared their gifts (read "clergy") but everyone, children, church members got in on the act....acts of praise, testimony, offering their gifts....the Boston Pops Gospel Choir, a wonderfully diverse group, was doing the same.

And the SPIRIT....room had been made for the Holy Spirit! Even in this "secular" setting no apologies were made for the presence of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it feels like we are embarrassed by the Spirit's presence and try to contain and control it. That night it showed up in quiet moments and energetic moments, in laughter and tears, standing with hands clapping and sitting with hands prayerful.... in short "we were having church." And then a remarkable thing happened. When the "planned program” and encores had "run out" the spirit of worship "ran on." Almost everyone in the audience (by now, "congregation") stayed on....a little child came out and began to sing "Go Tell it on the Mountain,” the Gospel choir joined in, variation on variation, this was beyond the encore....it was the "core" of witness and joy that began to unfold. Ten o'clock arrived, when I presume the orchestra's contracted time was up, and they left the stage. But a few curious (or maybe faithful) musicians stood around the stage and strummed their bass fiddle or tapped their cymbal. By now a woman in the audience behind us had her tambourine going and someone up on stage had commandeered the organ. It did not go on forever, but long enough for me to wonder if such a thing could happen in our United Methodist Churches....revival at symphony hall....revival in your congregation. Thankfully, it is happening in some United Methodist congregations that are being creative and open about both the context and content of worship. It can happen in your church.

Let's partner together with God and each other for "revival" in all of our churches. Pray about it....talk about it....then, do it, by the Grace of God.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Published June 1, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

I know it’s been a while since I last “partnered” with you via email. In part, my delay has been because of travel from South Carolina (Council of Bishops meeting) to Montana (a daughter’s graduation) to Caribou, Maine (for a wonderful District Day....3 inches of snow the day before....and a moose sighting on the eight hour drive home while remembering with thanksgiving how far folks in the farthest reaches of our Conference often drive to get to Conference meetings), plus lots of points in between. In part, my delay has been because of my beloved home computer on which I write these great literary works late at night. (I found a little time at the office to try to write this one in the midst of meetings, appointments, conference calls, and the always expected unexpected). No, it was not my home computer’s Windows 98 problem this time (by the way, lots of you sent notes of sympathy, and a few notes of “HOW OLD????” in response to my last description of my adventures with Windows 98). This time it is the DSL connection that is down....for almost two weeks now. Verizon promises they are working on it....they even sent a real live human being to work on it one day. I think DSL must mean Dud Signal Link. Anyhow, I’m back.

♦ MOTHERS DAY I was blessed to be preaching at Union Church in Boston. This is a wonderfully diverse and dynamic congregation reaching out to the city. There were lots of big bright hats and symbolic flowers. The men’s choir sang and then two young men shared original “rap” compositions along with their testimonies of giving their lives to Christ. One of the young men had been a member of the Bloods gang and the other, the Crypts gang. Violence and fear had been their way of life. Now the love and hope of Christ had turned everything around. They testified to the nurturing, mothering influence other Christians, women and men, had had in their lives.

I was reminded of several things: 1) How important and powerful testimonies about what God is doing in our lives can be....we Methodists used to do it regularly in our worship…I hope your church allows space for it, at least, sometimes. 2) The young people have wonderful, fresh, creative gifts to share….if we give them a chance. It was great to see young and old, big bright hats, and my own feet moving to the rhythm of faith-filled rap. 3) The spiritual nurturing of the “mother church” and those of us in it, can have a powerful and life-changing influence....it’s the best “gang” going!

♦ SOME UNITED METHODIST NEW ENGLANDERS FROM VERMONT are beginning to ask if we would be open to welcoming them into the New England Conference. Those Vermont churches are currently members of the Troy Conference, which is mainly in New York State, centered in Albany, NY. The Troy Conference is in conversation with three other conferences in New York State about creating one, northern New York conference. These conversations about joining together have been initiated in those conferences for the sake of enhancing their effectiveness in Christ’s mission. However, if this were to happen, some in Vermont are wondering if it would make more missional sense for them, as New Englanders, to explore coming into the New England Conference.

With this as the backdrop, Albany Area Bishop Susan Hassinger and members of the Troy Conference invited representative leaders of the New England Conference to meet last Friday for preliminary conversations about whether we would be willing to open up a conversation within the New England Conference exploring the idea of welcoming Vermont United Methodist Churches into our conference.

Much of the day was spent sharing information about the New England Conference, our vision, strengths and challenges, and the direction God is leading us. Likewise, we asked questions and heard about the Troy Conference and, in particular, about the Vermont churches that might want to join the New England Conference, which could lead to a change in our Conference boundaries.

We are pleased that New England has been invited into this conversation, however, it is important to remember that nothing has been decided. The Troy Conference has been in serious conversation, but has not yet decided whether they want to become part of one northern New York Conference. The Vermont churches have not decided if any, or some, or all of them would like to ask to become a part of the New England Conference. There will be greater clarity around these questions after a special October 6, 2007, meeting of the Troy Conference.

And, it is important to remember that we, in the New England Conference must have time to consider how we would offer a genuine and warm welcome to Vermont churches if they wished to come this way. (By the way, the Canaan, VT, Church has been a wonderful member of our Conference for some time.) As one of our team members said, the question is, “If they want to join with us, will there be room in the inn?”

These conversations are just in the beginning stages for us in the NEC. The group from our Conference that represented us last Friday believes that there could be significant promise in welcoming Vermont churches into the New England Conference and the vision of “boldly proclaiming Christ to the world.”

As a next step in our conversations, we have added a “listening, sharing” session during Annual Conference next week to begin to talk about whether we would be open to deeper, detailed conversations following October 6 if there are Vermont churches wishing to join the New England Conference. There will be additional “listening, sharing” regional gatherings in the fall. In all of this, we seek to do God’s will and what is best for God’s mission in our world....so let us make this a matter of prayer as well as “holy conferencing.”

♦ A GREAT INVITATION that I saw on a church bulletin recently reads: “ENTER TO WORSHIP, STAY TO LEARN, EXIT TO SERVE.” If you issue that invitation, make sure your worship is inspiring, the learning opportunities are many and relevant, and that there is some way and place to serve that engages every disciple, young and old, in what John Wesley called “practical divinity.”

♦ PRAY FOR ANNUAL CONFERENCE, JUNE 8-10 AT GORDON COLLEGE....AND ANNUAL CONFERENCE SUNDAY IN EVERY CHURCH, JUNE 10.

God is doing amazing things among us....I’m glad to be a partner with you in what God is doing!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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April 13, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ CHRIST IS RISEN…HE IS RISEN INDEED! On Easter Sunday I was in Williamsburg, Va. with my wife Linda and her family who live in that area. When we entered the sanctuary of the United Methodist Church for the Easter service, no lights were on, no music playing, and everything was still draped in black from the Good Friday service. Unseen, somber voices read the scripture accounts of what had happen between Christ's death and Easter morning. It was a startling reminder to us all (and maybe disconcerting to those who had not been in church since Christmas) that Easter does not just magically appear out of nothingness like a mythical, bouncy bunny. Rather, Easter emerges out of draped, dark, despair, troubling silence, and the experience of the "Light" being out! If you weren't there on Good Friday (which probably most of the congregation were not) its hard to "get it" on Easter. It is not sugar candy, but pain and suffering that make Easter so amazingly sweet.

And then the voice turned hopeful and the story turned to resurrection and life. Some young women came down the center isle toward the shrouded altar. "Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive?" Then came acolytes bearing the glow of candlelight. Music began to sound. The lights came up. The choir followed in the procession along with young and old carrying flowers...and more flowers...and more flowers appearing from all directions. And then drums and organ and singing and soon we were all standing and engaged in this transforming drama.....that might just pierce the shrouds and draped despair and troubled silence of our own lives and time gathered there listening....hoping.....yearning....for Gospel....for Good News...for meeting the living Christ "again for the first time."

I wish I had thought of creating such a marvelous opening to Easter Sunday worship in the churches I served. It was so appropriate to the day, and to the crowd, and to the Good News of Christ, which is so powerful when connected to the worst-news settings of our lives. I am so grateful for the new things I learn and new insights I receive when I visit churches like this one, and many of yours. We can learn so much from each other. You might want to rethink Easter worship for next year.

By the way, the preacher, Steve Jones, started his sermon by telling a wonderful story that had been told some years before by his sister's pastor. His sister lives here in New England. And her pastor was Blaine Taylor. Many of you will remember Blaine's wonderful ministry here in New England, the seeds of which are still bearing fruit in many places and lives, including on an Easter Sunday morning in Virginia. It's a small world....it's a great "connection." It's amazing what God continues to do with the seeds of faithful ministry you and I and our congregations plant. Christ is risen...He is risen indeed.

♦ READING TIME MAGAZINE recently (April 2 edition) I was struck by the references to United Methodists or United Methodist work throughout the magazine. The cover article was "Why We Should Teach the Bible in Public School" stimulated by United Methodist related Boston University's professor Stephen Prothero who has suggested that we need to learn about the Bible and other religions in order to be truly educated. The very next article in the magazine had a half page picture of Robert Weisbuch, President of United Methodist related Drew University who is challenging the justice of rating systems in higher education. A later article on recovery in New Orleans noted that "denominational bodies ranging from United Methodists to Southern Baptists; and local churches, synagogues and mosques have led the region's recovery efforts." And, of course there were references in various places to United Methodists like Hillary Clinton, George Bush , John Edwards, Dick Cheney and even United Methodist George McGovern whose father was a Methodist pastor. My, we are a diverse group, aren't we? But one in Christ. Think of the ways this United Methodist movement has touched and continues to touch lives and the world.....including you and me who will likely never make Time Magazine, but who can continue to make an impact on the lives and world around us.

♦ DON IMUS and his racist, cruel remarks about the outstanding Rutger's women's basketball team should give us all pause. How is it that our culture (and maybe some of us) support and encourage "shock" stars such as him. Are we the ones listening to folks like this? Do we know of others who do, and we never express our perspective with them? Are our children being shaped by music, videogames, or movies that demean women or races? Do we support the companies that produce or sponsor such things?

And what about my attitudes? Are those of us who are white conscious of our own ways of speaking about persons of other races or cultures?...Or even what we think without saying it out loud? As the old saying reminds us, the test of a true Christian is who he or she is in private.....when only God is listening. I know that I must continue to work on my own issues of racism and white privilege. Oh yes, I can, like Don Imus, plead that it was just an unintentional slip.....that I am really a "good" person. Let us not delude or excuse ourselves. Let us rather use this as an occasion to examine our own hearts and language and behavior. Let us use this as an opportunity to reflect on how we are confronting racism in our own lives, church, community and world. Let us pray for Don, and the women, our society and ourselves.

As Harry Johnson of our Conference wrote to the Boston Globe, "perhaps Don Imus isn't the disease, but the symptom." Let us all pray for healing. And then let us pray for the insight and courage to address racism in all of its forms for the sake of Christ and our own souls.

♦ THE GIFT OF NEW LIFE visited our family this Easter in a very special way with the birth of Ava Tenneyson Schelling on April 6 to my daughter Becky and her husband Brad (and sister Emory). They live in North Carolina, so Linda and I were able to "itinerate" (to use a good Methodist word meaning to unexpectedly get up and move ) over from Virginia to see Ava. As I held her on Holy Saturday, hearing her breathing, watching her squint her eyes open, feeling her heart beat against my breast, being aware of her awkward rooting about for nourishment, and being surprised by the expressive capacity of her voice (she's in training for either preaching or hog calling), I marveled at how she had twenty four hours before been comfortable swimming in the embracing, warm confines of her mother's womb with its secure world of easy nourishment and no diapers or shots, or need to work at breathing. What a shocking change. What an amazing new world. What unimagined adventures and discoveries ahead.

Easter can be that same kind of spiritual birth moment also. We must be born anew, again and again into the awesomeness of this new world of life in Christ. It changes everything. It is amazing. What adventures and discoveries ahead when we know new life in the risen Christ! It is my prayer for Ava, and all of us this Eastertide.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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April 5, 2007

Dear Partners in Resurrection Ministry!

♦ MINGLED...On Palm Sunday I worshipped in one of our wonderful congregations where all sorts of people mingled together...children running in waving palms mingled with limping elderly....those who lifted up joys and celebrations at the prayer time mingled with those who brought prayers of deep anguish and grief...those who were enthusiastically ready to follow Jesus mingled with those who were not so sure.

This Holy week is such a strange concoction of parades and prisons, belief and betrayal, shouts and silence, tombs and triumphs all mingled together. But then aren't those the "partners" in the real ministry of following Jesus?

One of the devotional exercises I do every Holy Week is to listen to the complete work of Handel's Messiah. Too often we only hear the joyful "Christmas portion" of his magnificent testimony of faith. As I was immersed in it again this year, I was struck for the first time by Handel's light and joyful rendering of the promise that "His (Christ's) yoke is easy and His burden light" which is immediately followed by "Behold the Lamb of God" and the heavy strains of the Passion section of the Messiah. It is all mingled in the Christian life.

I invite you to ponder this profound mixture in your own life as we move through these last days of Holy Week into Easter. Reflect on the "minglings" in the life of your congregation and how they may lead to a new resurrection for your church. Take some time to "survey the wondrous cross,” at once our symbol of death and resurrection. Mingled ministry is what Christ lived and gave us. Embrace it.

"See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?"

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Published March 23, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ MY COMPUTER STOPPED DEAD ... which is one of the reasons I've been delayed in getting a Partners in Ministry out. I've also been on the road a lot... but every time I came back, and thought I had the computer going again, it pulled another trick on me. Yes, I started to think it had a mind of its own.... or was demon possessed. While I have a computer at the office, I generally do Partners in Ministry at home, late at night, when there are no interruptions and where the muses flow more freely (or is it that I am so tired that I just let flow what flows without the will or energy to endlessly edit and perfect... sorry for you who have to put up with the results sometimes). And now the freedom to control my computer has turned on me, and it (or should it be a personal pronoun) is controlling me.... it is making me angry… it is frustrating me.... it is delaying Partners in Ministry... it is against me. And even though I claim the promise of Romans 8 that "if God is for me, who can be against me," I am sure Paul never had to deal with a frozen computer!

I called the Microsoft HELP line... waited fifteen minutes for a real person (Why is it that my computer machine is acting like a devious person, and the company that promises to have a person to help is acting like a devious machine?).... and then I was told that my "Windows 98" software was no longer serviceable by phone, but that I could get help for it on-line...BUT "ON-WHAT" AM I SUPPOSED TO GET "ON-LINE!!!!!!”...my computer has stopped dead.

So I decided to turn it off, and give both of us a break. A little time and a few prayers (not for the computer, but for me) later, I turned the computer back on. It, of course, scolded me in bold letters for having turned my poor defenseless computer off improperly. For some reason, I always feel guilty... like I've wounded a good friend. Then the computer started to scan to see just how bad the damage was that I inflicted on it. Predictably it froze at the same place it did before while scanning for damage. Maybe, I thought, it’s time to buy a new computer.... but then I'm sure this is all a conspiracy to get me to buy a new computer.... I WILL NOT GIVE IN! Maybe if I hit this key or that key, or this combination of keys, or shake the console, or say nice things to it.

I accidentally hit the "enter" key. Miraculously something happened.... not enough, but something. I hit the "enter" key again and suddenly the screen turned to blue... and then to the beautiful (but old) Windows 98 logo. I smiled and patted my computer as if welcoming back a long lost friend who will help me reconnect with you... "Dear Partners in Ministry....."

The moral of this story: Sometimes when it seems that the machinery of ministry (computers, buildings, budgets, structures, committee meetings, etc) are against us and broken, it’s good to turn it off, take a break, experience Sabbath. Sometimes, without our knowing it, the "key" to a fresh start is right in front of us. It just takes patient trying and trusting that "if God is for us, who can be against us!"

♦ WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN was the music Dan, a wonderful eighteen-year-old member of the Oxford UMC, sent me, asking if I would play a trombone duet with him when I went to preach there a few weeks ago. The only problem was that I had "lost my lip".... (I know, some of you think bishops have too much lip) that is, my lip muscles were not strong enough to play much. The other problem was that this talented young musician had written his own jazzy arrangement, which was a little too difficult for an out-of-practice-bishop to play. But I was willing (or crazy) enough to try. I practiced every night (my wife and dog were very longsuffering.... even though they retreated to the farthest corner of the house). Our kind neighbors never called to complain (thankfully it was cold and all our windows were shut).

When I got to the church, Dan suggested that we might march down the aisle leading the choir in the processional. It was then that I had to confess. "I'm not sure I can walk, read the music, and toot all at the same time anymore." "Oh, that's OK," he said, "We can just stand up here at the front." "And, I'm sorry but I don't think I can play the difficult middle part," I said. "Oh, that's OK, I'll be glad to take that, why don't you play this easier melody line." I was delighted (and relieved). We had a great time and the "saints did come marching in"..."saints" in the plural... partners in ministry... young and old, talented and not so talented, with lip and without.... there we were the body of Christ, some singing, some marching, some just watching, helping each other out, each doing his part, all of us together doing our best... and God multiplying it with joy.

When we are "called" we all must dare to risk, giving what we can, knowing that other partners in ministry will be there to help.

♦ INVITE 150 PEOPLE TO VISIT THE CHURCH has also been a commitment by the members of the Oxford Church. So for the last few weeks people have been inviting friends and neighbors to the church.... and keeping track of who is invited... and who invited them... and who shows up. Attendance has been growing. Plus, they have creative, temporary signs put up that catch the attention of folks driving by (instead of relying on the usual church bulletin board that blends in with the landscape and faces the highway rather than the flow of traffic.... like a lot of our churches). By the way, Dan, who is a senior at a Catholic School, invited the Roman Catholic Bishop to come the Sunday I was preaching (and playing "When the saints...."). In a hand written note back to Dan, the Bishop graciously said he was busy... one more person invited to visit.... you never know.

♦ A TEEN CHURCH is one of the innovative things they are trying at the W. Kennebunk church. It happens on Sunday morning, and the teens really appreciate it. They also are invited to give leadership in the regular church service.

I look forward to "connecting" more regularly with you now that I'm not on the road so much... assuming my computer cooperates.... we have all kinds of partners in ministry. I'm glad you are one of them.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Dear Partners in Ministry,

Published February 22, 2007

♦ WHEN THE WORLD CHANGES. Last Tuesday through Friday, I was at the Northeast Jurisdiction College of Bishops' meeting near Baltimore, MD.... during the BIG CHILL ice and snow storms that hit the East Coast. "Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice," Robert Frost wrote in his poem "Fire and Ice." If he had visited parts of the East Coast last week, he surely would have concluded that when the ice hits, the world almost comes to an end, or at least a dramatic stop. (Where was global warming when we really needed it?) Crusted with snow and ice, instantly the world changed. Just ask Jet Blue passengers. We have trouble handling change.

Some folks (including "all powerful bishops") couldn't make it to the meeting... what would we do? Even a speaker couldn't make it.... could we change the carefully prepared schedule?... the very thought of it, two hours of unexpectedly unfilled time in the middle of the day.... what would we do with it? Being the undying romantics that we bishops are, having unwittingly (or half-wittedly) set this week-long meeting over Valentines Day, some of us were concerned that the flowers that we had sent our spouses (collective sigh!) would not get through the ice and the storm.... and they didn't.... could love endure (as I Corinthians 13 promises) such a change as this? And then there's Daisey, our dog who has lived in Virginia all her life, without the benefit of more than a few flurries of snow.... but who is now in Boston... and the world suddenly changed from grass and bushes and smells, to a vast , cold, odorless expanse of what looks and feels like white linoleum under her feet.... where is one, you know, to go????sniff, sniff.... she wasn't trained for this! We have serious dilemmas when the world changes.

Lovett Weems, an expert in church renewal, did make it to our meeting. His central message is that the world has changed from ten and twenty years ago.... different cultural "smells".... music... language.... people (younger, more diverse).... it feels very different under foot. Can our churches change in appropriate ways? What do we do? We clergy and laity weren't trained for this! As someone has said, sometimes we seem to be "God's frozen people." But many of our clergy and laity are confronting the "Big Chill" and are discovering exciting new ways of doing effective ministry in this changed world.

Saturday we had another good session with about 250 clergy at Wesley UMC, Worcester, MA (we had the first one several weeks ago in Maine). There were many good reports about transformation that is happening through our "NATURAL CHURCH DEVELOPMENT" training. A number of churches are trying new forms of worship, small groups, and reaching out to the unchurched (did you know at least 40% of the population in much of New England is not active in any church! Plus, next to the New York Conference, the New England Conference has the largest population.... 14 million.... in its boundaries). 33% of the population in New England is between the ages 21-45; 27% is between 0-21; and only 13% is above 65. Think about the profile of your own congregation... does it look as diverse and young as your community? If not, maybe you should take advantage of some of the good training workshops our staff is offeri ng in the next couple of months for this changed world.... this world that God so loved that God gave us Jesus! (Call your DS's office for details on training events in your region.)

♦ SPEAKING OF ICE ... I have heard of, and met wonderful lay men and women who have brought their shovels and snow blowers to our churches to help clean walks and driveways so that folks can get to worship.... as well as all the many other activities for the church and community that happen throughout the week. THANK YOU! John Wesley called this "practical divinity." The church of Jesus Christ is alive and in ministry because of volunteers who, often without being asked, simply pitch in to accomplish whatever needs to be done without any fanfare. As one of your partners in ministry, know that I am grateful to God for you and your faithfulness in things small and large.

♦ CLERGY CLOTHING.... was a feature story on the front page of last Sunday's Boston Globe (it must have been a slow news day). The Rev. Victoria Weinstein is offering advice to men and women clergy on how to dress. I agree with Jesus when he advises us not to be "anxious about clothing. Consider the lilies of the field... even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matt. 5:28-29) But then sometimes I look down and realize I have on one brown sock and one black sock... I wonder if Solomon wore socks...well, I know lilies don't. So for us humans, walking-around-in-socks clergy, maybe there is someplace between being "anxious" and at least being "aware" of what we have on.

Weinstein says, “in a position of leadership.... the problem with frumpiness isn't so much aesthetic as it is a problem of looking as though you are not paying attention... and that you are not part of today's world... if we look like we walked out of 1972." I guess my lime green polyester leisure suit won't work anymore. And for me, that is the question about our clothing as clergy.... does it "work" to help us connect and communicate in the particular context where we are? Clothing is not important in and of itself (except that you should have some on).... but does it help or hinder your effort to relate to people? The answer to that will depend upon those with whom you are trying to relate for the sake of the Gospel, while not trying to be someone you're not.

I'm not sure all of this is worthy of a front page article in the Globe, but I do believe it's worth being aware of your socks, and what you have on, and if it's "working".... but don't be "anxious."

As always, I feel blessed to be a partner in ministry with you.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Published February 13, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Thank you for your prayers and support on my various travels and spiritual adventures since Christmas. I'm very glad to be home and to begin sharing with you again through Partners in Ministry some of the amazing things God is doing through your faithfulness and our work for Christ together. It is no wonder that this season of the Christian year following Christmas is marked by "Christmas tide" (the ripples of Christ's birth ought to stir the complacent waters of our churches and lives into a tidal wave of joy and commitment to follow Christ) and "Epiphany" (the manifestation of signs of light and new life breaking into the ordinary places of our world).

ON DECEMBER 27 , I took off with 19 high school students and four other adults on a "Mission of Peace" to Nicaragua. The "Mission of Peace (MOP)" is an adventure for spirit and understanding organized by our UMC Northeast Jurisdiction Youth Ministry. Every year, for over twenty years, MOP has taken teenagers from our churches for deep immersion in other countries (e.g., China, India, Russia, Zimbabwe, etc.) and the churches of those different cultures as an exercise in Christian community building and peacemaking. Originally inspired by Bishop Dale White (one of New England's own) these young people (and those of us with them) have their hearts and minds opened as doors are opened on great new experiences.

The young people crafted this "mission statement" to guide our experience: "Seeking to make a difference, we put aside yesterday's baggage in order to experience the presence of God's universal Love. Through peaceful sharing and fellowship with our Nicaraguan sisters and brothers, we live to mutually uncover God's will while bridging our communities." Here's some of the ways we lived this mission:

-- Sharing in a five-hour worship service that went until midnight on New Year’s Eve... everyone agreed it was a powerful way to welcome in the New Year.... many Nicaraguan young people were at the service also (where were you New Years Eve?.... more of our churches ought to try offering worship as a way of celebrating the New Year).

-- Learning to literally "juggle" (I never could catch that third ball... but I do juggle a "mean" schedule quite well), and sing lots of high spirit, high energy songs, sleeping on a church floor along with various "critters" and no indoor facilities (we have that in New England too), crazy skits with dunked-in-the-water endings (yes, the "Bish," as many of the kids called me, ended up all wet, too), and lots and lots of times for small group introspection, connecting with Jesus, and midnight conversations about what did this all mean.

-- A sojourn to La Churreca, the massive Managua city dump, which spews seething fumes and smoke into the atmosphere while hungry dogs and cattle and humans, including children, scavenge through the refuse. A thousand of our brothers and sisters make the dump their home. Two thousand more on any given day join in digging for something, anything, to sustain life. That night I wrote in my journal:

NOTES ON THE INFERNO

Searing smells, noxious noise, heat of hell, menacing machines, and.... mortal flesh.... scavenging on the ruins of civilization.... like after some atomic blast.

Site of the war of the worlds... worlds of Haves (who have such waste) and Have-nots (who have not even waste). A putrid pasture for cows, a torturous treasure

hunt for children. The stuff of dreams cast away.... the stuff of dreams yet to be discovered. Creation's garden landscape disfigured by man-made mounds of

muck.... so incompatible in its mix, that it must burn, like the heart within me experiencing the combustible combination of God's children mixed with the

garbage of our greedy indulgences. Shall all we who enter here... this inferno... abandon hope. Or shall we readers of Romans 5 claim the hope ignited by

suffering, that produces perseverance, character, and a hope that does not disappoint us.... like the hope of the Christ crucified on the city dump of the skull.

A New England United Methodist, Cheryl Avery, is helping some of these people to relocate into a new life in a new place of Christian community, safety, homes, education and economic promise. (check out www.outofthedump.org ) Through her, we were able to meet extraordinary people trying to live and share their faith in these circumstances. It is a hope-full story. The vision for this project was born during the 2003 Mission of Peace visit to Nicaragua when, after visiting the dump, a United Methodist teenager from the Troy conference asked Cheryl, "What can I do to help change this?" Out of that question arose the Chacocente Project and many, who are now helping, bring hope and change. Christmas tide, Epiphany...."What will I do???...it is the question that washes over us when we are trying to follow Jesus in this world of brokenness, injustice, poverty, and...... through Christ, a hope that does not disappoint us!

I will have many more experiences to share with you in the coming weeks from the Mission of Peace and then the team that came from New England for an additional week of celebrating and strengthening the great "Nicaragua Covenant" which the New England Conference has had for twenty years with the Iglesia de Cristo. But more on that later.

THIS PAST SUNDAY I was blessed to be at Wesley Church, Concord, NH. I was there the whole day because they have services at 9 am, 10:30 am, and 6:30 pm. There was a good turn out for each service. If you want to reach more people, provide a variety of times and styles in worship. By the way, the "Electric Praise" music team that provides the contemporary music at the 6:30 pm service has gone to visit other churches to help them develop new services. (It's the CONNECTION .... you may be interested in being in touch with them). Also, they have just installed screens and projectors in a very appropriate way in their traditional style sanctuary... it adds a lot to all of their various styles of worship. You may want to visit and see how it’s done. Their phone number is: 603-224-7413.

PRAY FOR THE NORTHEASTERN COLLEGE OF BISHOPS... for vision, for courage, for loving spirits, for wisdom, for Christ-centeredness.... as we meet in Baltimore for most of this week.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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December 8, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THE NEWS HAS REPORTED THAT CHRIST HAS BEEN STOLEN from manger scenes in several communities around New England this season. The same thing was reported in the community where I served my first appointment years ago. The Christ child was missing from the manger in front of the town volunteer fire department. Everyone was horrified. All kinds of accusations were made. What grinch stole Jesus? Then it was discovered that someone had simply forgotten to put Christ in the manger scene.

We sometimes point the finger at commercialism, or secularism for robbing Christ from Christmas. But maybe the real reason he seems to be missing from this season is because we have not taken the time to place Christ at the center of our celebration. Take time to pray and read scripture every day.... put Christ in your daily scenes of life. Plan special ways of serving the poor in your community.... put Christ in your daily commitments of life. Among your decorations, use an Advent wreath, or Advent calendar.... talk with children about the Christian symbolism of the evergreen and read them children's books with the Christmas story (there are some beautiful ones). Talk about the magi giving their gifts as the reason we give gifts. The first thing Christmas morning, read again the Christmas story, sing your favorite carol, light a candle, and offer a prayer of thanks for Christ.... maybe Christ is missing from our Christmas because we haven't taken the time to put him there in the first place.

♦ GIVE THANKS FOR THESE FAITHFUL CHURCHES that I visited just before Thanksgiving in the Connecticut/Western Mass. District: First UMC, Stafford Springs, CT; Monson/Glendale UMC, Monson, MA; Federated Community Church, Hampden, MA; Crystal Lake Community Church, Ellington, CT; Windsorville UMC, Broadbrook, CT; First UMC of Willimantic, Mansfield, CT; Moodus UMC, CT; Baltic UMC/Versailles UMC/Bethel Community Church, CT; Moosup UMC/Oneco UMC, CT; Danielson UMC, CT; and Putnam UMC/North Grosvenordale UMC, CT. Among the wonderful things happening I noted these:

Monson/Glendale Church connects prayer partners of one child and one adult. They celebrate this spiritual relationship by making bookmarks with each child's picture on it for the adult to use in his or her Bible.... as a reminder to the adult to pray for the child. Each year the prayer partners change. This is a wonderful mentoring program for everyone. One eight year old likes to sit with her prayer partner in church every Sunday. We need to surround children with lots of examples of what it means to live the Christian life and faith.

Crystal Lake Community Church has had its first Vacation Bible School in twenty years...with great success (start planning yours for next summer). They also have services on the town beach and free movie nights in the summer. They are going out visiting their neighbors and new residents of their community regularly. Plus this historic church (its 1790 parsonage is still standing.... the first Methodist parsonage in New England...no, the pastor does not still live there.... something about no indoor plumbing.... details.... details) now has six keyboards and musicians to help with its services...they're thinking future, too. (I hope your church is, also.) No wonder they are alive and growing.

♦ BLACK NATIVITY is a wonderful "gospel song-play" of the Christmas story by Langston Hughes. We went to see it the other night in Tremont Temple's sanctuary (Tremont St., downtown Boston.... running through Dec. 17...see it if you can...it gets a "three thumbs up" from me). At the beginning, dozens of singers, children and adults, appear out of the darkened sanctuary carrying candles, singing "Go tell it on the Mountain." Later in the drama, they sing it again, with the children running out into the audience, inviting us all to join in telling that "Jesus Christ is born!" Near the end, they sing again and again the repeated question, "Why don't you think about it.... why don't you think about it...why don't you...."

Have you thought about how you can tell the Good News of Christ's new life "on the mountain," in your neighborhood, at work,.... everywhere?

When we were in Mozambique, Africa, recently, where the church is growing so quickly, one of our African lecturers said, "Evangelism is the heart beat ministry of the church." That is, children, youth, adults "go tell it” with their lives (and words, if they must, to paraphrase St. Francis)... find ways to communicate the Good News of Christ. What is the heart beat of ministry in your church this Christmas? This is a great time of the year to simply invite a friend to come to church with you.... even offer to pick them up.... have lunch together afterward and share with them the joy of Christmas and what it really means to you. If kids can do it at Tremont Temple in Boston, certainly we can do it where we live.

♦ PARTNER ACROSTIC...someone who gets "Partners in Ministry” sent me this acrostic that Rick Warren uses for "Partner":

P = pray together

A = appeal to common interests

R = reach out in love

T = tell your story

N = nurture friendships

E = expect God to act

R = represent Christ with your life

I'm very grateful to be a "partner" with you in Christ's ministry.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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November 21, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ I HAVE RETURNED FROM MOZAMBIQUE, AFRICA, FULL OF THANKSGIVING for all God has done and is doing through our United Methodist movement around the world. A small delegation of us went to visit President Guebuza who expressed his profound thanksgiving for the impact the United Methodist Church has made through churches, schools, hospitals and leadership in Mozambique. He spoke with moving conviction about the "values" of human rights, justice, peace, and hope that flow from the Christian Gospel. And I was thankful to be a small part of this United Methodist movement, representing those of you who faithfully lift up your prayers and offerings every Sunday to support our missions in thousands of places around the world.

As many of you have already heard or read, on the last night of the Council of Bishops' meeting we were unexpectedly blessed to have Nelson Mandela and his spouse, Gracia Machel join us for dinner and share very powerful witnesses to their faith and thanksgiving for their Methodist upbringings. Both of them were born into extreme rural poverty. Both had courageous mothers of faith who, at great personal sacrifice, made sure their young children knew that God created them as worthy as any child in the world, and sought for them the opportunity for education which came through Methodist mission schools. And I thought of all the Methodists in Britain (Mandela was educated in British Methodist schools in South Africa) and America (Machel in United Methodist mission schools) who "cast the bread" of their prayers and contributions "upon the waters" decades and decades ago, never imagining that they were investing in the transformation of the world through these two great leaders.

Mandela is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the father of freedom in South Africa. Machel, the widow of Mozambique President Machel, became the first woman Minister of Education for Mozambique in 1975. At independence, 93% of the country was illiterate, with mission schools providing most of the limited education that there was. Today, illiteracy has dropped to 23% due in large measure to the work of Gracia Machel. She said, "I am standing here mainly as a Methodist child....From the Methodist Church I had an obligation to give back to those who had supported me. I had to give back to the community." One of the three persons who most profoundly influenced her life was Mabel, an United Methodist missionary, "who gave me my reference, principles, and values."

In the two weeks we were in Africa, we met dozens of people who are making an extraordinary difference in this world...many you will never hear of....but who are alive today, and educated today, and committed to following Christ for the transformation of the world today....because of the commitment of people in our churches over the years to share the life changing, world changing Good News of Jesus Christ in this world. And I was thankful to be in the company of these saints, and to be a partner in ministry with you in our "mission shares", which are touching young lives today who will be tomorrow’s world leaders.

Aren't you glad....thankful....to be a part of this United Methodist movement also?

♦ WHEN YOU GET TO THE DOORS OF HEAVEN, Mandela said he has a recurring vision that the angel will come out and ask who you are......and where you are from.....but that all of that sort of thing will not be what the angel will be interested in.....but rather how have you lived?

Mandela repeated this story several times....always pausing to ponder the outcome of the story each time. Maybe that happens when you get to be his age of 87...but his implication was that it is something for all of us to ponder throughout life....whatever our age. Have we lived by faith....have we loved God and our neighbor as best we can...and left the rest to God's Grace? Read Matthew 25 again. How many times recently in your United Methodist Church have you talked about (or heard or preached a sermon on) "when you get to the doors of heaven?" Jesus, Wesley, and now Mandela all seem to think this is a pretty important question....what about you?

♦ SUNDAY, I WAS AT PEOPLE'S UMC in Baileyville, ME (that's in "downeast Maine" which always seems to me to be "upnorth Maine" when I drive it). It's a wonderful congregation....they claimed to have the most "beautiful new furnace" in Maine....$50,000 worth of furnace....plus $200,000 worth of great renovations which have made the church much more hospitable, accessible and contemporary (they even took down the old tower that had leaked forever....why do the roofs in so many of our churches slope down into the walls of the tower/steeple...what were those architects thinking???). New people are coming....the Sunday School is growing....and they have one of the best new bathrooms I've seen anywhere (yes, that makes a big difference....handicapped accessible...is your church restroom as clean and inviting as your home bathroom???...someone told me once that they don't go to their church because they don't want to "go" in their church...check out your bathroom). One of the laity told me that they didn't "have one cent" when they stepped out in faith to start all these renovations....but they knew they needed to do it to do 21st century ministry....and once they started, the money just started to appear in all kinds of unexpected ways....and with the great faithfulness of this small membership congregation with a large spirit. They are a thankful people....giving is part of their thanks! By the way, they use d a wonderful response during the time of lifting up prayer concerns. The person offering the concern ends by saying, "This is my prayer," and the congregation responds, "This is our prayer."

My prayer is one of thanksgiving for each of you and our partnership in this great adventure of ministry here in New England and around the world. I hope that it is your prayer too. "Best of all, God is with us."

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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October 26, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ SOME AMAZING THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN THE KOREAN MINISTRIES in our conference. Last Sunday night I joined in the celebration of a new Korean congregation that has just started in the Cambridge/Arlington, MA, area. Home base is at Calvary UMC in Arlington, but the ministry is already reaching scores of students at Harvard and MIT, along with others. The church is named "Vision Community UMC". The sanctuary was filled with members of this new congregation and friends. Already a great music team (violin, guitars, keyboard....and superb singers....they didn't ask me to bring my trombone....I wonder why???) is helping to lead the congregation in dynamic worship. This is but one of the ten new congregations we pray God will give us the resources to start by 2008 in this conference. It is a wonderful partnership of support from your Mission Shares, our national office for Korean ministries, a "partner church" in New Jersey (they came in several vans that night) , the Calvary UMC, our office of Congregational Development, the Hope District office, and the many dedicated members of this congregation. Keep this new, growing ministry in your prayers.

And then Monday night, I was blessed to be at North Boston Korean UMC which was a new church start some 30 years ago. One of the founding members was there with a bright and joyous smile....considering what God has done....and is doing there. Out of the 74 congregations on the TRI State District, North Boston is now 6th in average attendance, fourth in financial strength, and most importantly, very, very strong in spiritual strength (prayer meetings early every morning, a strong Sunday School, a youth group of 60). They have started a Korean School that teaches about the culture and language to about 70 children including Korean children who have been adopted by American parents who want their children to know their roots. They are reaching out to the Cambodians in the Lynn, MA, area with worship and programs for children there. The reason I was there was that they wanted to partner more closely with the co nference and to share with the DS and me a wonderful comprehensive plan for expanding ministry (including English language ministries, building needs, new evangelism opportunities, etc.) for the next five, ten, and twenty years!

Does your congregation have that kind of vision? I remember reading as a young pastor, "The organization that does not plan for the future, is not likely to have one!" Over the next twenty years, the congregations that I served adopted four successive five-year plans that gave us clear objectives to achieve in response to God's call and the needs of our community. If you would like help in developing such a strategic ministry plan for your church, contact your DS....there are good materials available to guide you in the process. And don't take forever developing the plan (we had a six-month process)....because the goal is not to have a plan, but to get on with doing effective ministry (which is well planned).

♦ IN THE CATEGORY OF PLANTING SEEDS.... Several weeks ago during our visits to 20 churches in the Mid Maine District we stopped at the Belfast UMC, where about a year ago we had held the Bishop's District Day on Creative 21st Century Evangelism. People from many of our churches attended that day, which included going out, two by two, to visit homes in Belfast. When it came time to go out, the monsoon rains descended...speaking of two by two, Noah’s animals would have headed "in", not "out" that day. But we are called by Christ to "go out into all the world".....rain or not. Thirty or forty pairs of wonderful United Methodists went out...remembering our Baptism....and an hour or so later we came "swimming" back drenched, but very blessed. I told you some of those stories last year after the event.

But, this year, as I was getting ready to leave the Belfast church, after my half hour visit with the pastor and laity, a woman came up and introduced herself to me by saying, "You came to visit my husband and me last year in the pouring rain!" Then she went on to explain that they were not "church folk", and because they had a business that needed them all weekend, they had lots of reasons they couldn't "go to church". But she said to her husband, "If those people can come out in rain like this to tell us about the Belfast Church, maybe we ought to try to go and see what it is all about." It wasn't until the first of the year, she said, that they finally "got around to going." They found in Belfast UMC a wonderful, welcoming community of believers in Jesus Christ...and new joy for their own lives in this faith community. They are now active members, and she even took time out from their business, in the mi ddle of the day, and the middle of the week, to come and say "thank you for visiting us."

Many of our churches are now out visiting in their neighborhoods again....building relationships, learning about the needs around them, inviting people to come share in the joy of their congregation....planting seeds....you never know what God will do with those seeds....or how God will surprise you, even a year later.

Also, during that District Day a year ago I led a "Community Leaders Luncheon" at Belfast UMC gathering various educational, religious, business, government, service agency, law enforcement, and other leaders together to talk about the strengths and challenges in the community, and how our churches can help. One of the things that surfaced in that conversation was the need for a "directory" of all the different kinds of programs in that community that are available to help people....including the programs that churches offer in that area to meet spiritual and other needs. (I've found that some communities have such directories, but they don't include the churches and their programs in the directory and it’s not widely distributed.) At the end of the luncheon everyone agreed that some kind of directory that everyone in town could have would be a great help....and that the churches had a lot to contribute to it too. Our pastor, David Abbott, and several other community leaders agreed to work on this.

Well....this year when I came to the Belfast Church, the reporters and cameras were there, along with some of the community leaders who had been there for the luncheon last year, for the launching of "WHERE IN WALDO" which is a website, "to find community services....and ways to serve our neighbors." They are distributing throughout the community refrigerator magnets with the website address on it. Check it out...www.whereinwaldo.org. Maybe your community needs such a resource. I'm hearing that some of our churches are now organizing these "Community Leaders Luncheons" in their own areas with great response. Call David Abbott (207-338-5575) to learn how it was done.

Another good idea from there....they recently had a service called "Facing Your Giants” where they celebrated "recovery" and four lay persons shared how their faith had helped them deal with their addictions. In the churches I served, we had very good relationships with the leadership of the recovery groups (AA, NA, etc.) that met at the church. With their permission, I attended some of the meetings...which reminded me of what the church, at its best, ought to be like...confessional, communal, open, honest, caring, welcoming and supportive of anyone and everyone. Speakers from those groups were very happy to share in Sunday worship services from time to time. The Holy Spirit always moved in transforming ways in those services.

♦ SPEAKING OF THE TRAGIC STRUGGLES MANY PEOPLE HAVE WITH ALCOHOL and other drugs (Yes, we should never forget that alcohol is a drug), I have deep concern about Question 1 on the Massachusetts ballot this year which would result in the significant expansion of the marketing and sale of alcohol by allowing for the sale of wine in such places as grocery stores and convenience stores. It would be the first foot in the door, with beer and liquor interests quickly following to ask for the same right, as they have in some other states. According to the New York Times Almanac, alcohol is "directly or indirectly responsible for approximately 100,000 deaths annually....Additionally, alcohol is implicated in the three top causes of teen deaths: accidents, homicide, and suicide." One out of ten people who drink will become a problem drinker/alcoholic with all of the attendant impact on health, family, and work. It is the most abused drug in our culture...and for good reason a "controlle d substance"....not just another benign beverage to be promoted and marketed along side your favorite bottled water in the grocery store.

Our United Methodist Social Principles are clear on this matter: "We affirm our long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God's liberating and redeeming love for persons.....We support the strict administration of laws regulating the sale and distribution of alcohol." It is out of love and concern for our neighbor who may become a victim of alcohol, that we choose to witness to the lifestyle that can be lived joyfully and naturally without the drug of alcohol. In fact, the percentage of the population that drinks is lower, and the amount of alcohol consumed much lower today than it was in 1980. This decline may be one of the reasons the alcohol industry is pressing for expansion of marketing outlets. (Incidentally, the state of New Hampshire has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country....maybe we should open liquor stores right on the turnpike, as they have.... if "convenience" is our greatest concern).

While encouraging people not to use alcohol, we are hopefully beyond "condemning" those who do, but also hopefully not beyond concern for the substantial and well documented consequences of drinking, and commonsense safeguards in our community. It is no accident that Massachusetts has the third lowest rate of drunk driving deaths in the country. It is no accident that many law enforcement officials oppose question one on the ballot. As I travel around Massachusetts, there does not seem to be any lack of liquor, beer and wine stores....fully convenient and accessible for marketing to those of the legal age who choose to use alcohol. Surely, that is enough. I invite those voting in Mass., and all of us, to seriously reflect on this issue in terms of our own personal lifestyle and our state's policies. I plan to vote "NO" on question one.

♦ PRAY FOR THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS as we meet in Maputo, Mozambique, Africa next week. Our United Methodist Church is growing very quickly in Africa and we have much to learn from our sisters and brothers about theology, mission, evangelism, worship, stewardship, etc., etc.... as we follow Christ together. The center of Christianity is no longer in the global north and west, but rather the global south. The United Methodist Church is increasingly full of rich and diverse gifts from the global Body of Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us in all that we do. You won't hear from me for two weeks, but I will also be praying for you and our Conference every day...God has a wonderful future for us as partners in ministry, not just here, but around the world....it is our parish!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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October 20, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN SO MANY OF OUR NEW ENGLAND CONGREGATIONS.... For example, give thanks to God for these twenty congregations that I visited recently in the Mid-Maine District: Rockland: Aldersgate, Camden: John Street, Union: People’s/Searsmont, Belfast, Searsport/North Searsport, Unity, Clinton: Brown Memorial, Fairfield/Fairfield Center, Oakland: Oakland-Sydney, Waterville: Pleasant Street, Vassalboro, Belgrade Lakes: Community, North Vienna, Readfield, Monmouth/East Monmouth, Hallowell, Randolph/East Pittston, Gardiner: High Street, Richmond: Dresden-Richmond, North Woolwich. Like your congregation, each of these congregations is unique with its own history, strengths and challenges, but the great common "connector" (remember, Wesley called us the "connexion") is a deep commitment to Jesus Christ that is lived out in wonderfully diverse ways here in New England . Thanks be to God! Here are some things I heard and saw while visiting these churches:

SEVERAL OF THE CHURCHES HAVE REOPENED THEIR SUNDAY SCHOOLS....HALLELUJAH! For example, Unity Union had no Sunday School but decided to renovate its Sunday School space anyhow! (under the belief..."build it and they will come".....sometimes we think to ourselves, "well, we don't have any children, why should we fix up our Sunday School space....and then a family shows up, takes one look at your Sunday School space and never comes back. It's like the one church that told me they didn't need to worry about being handicapped accessible...ramp, bathroom, etc....because they didn't have any people who were handicapped.... DAAAAH!) We need to prepare ourselves for ministry, not for what is NOW, but for what could be in the FUTURE.

So, Unity Union learned about the "Rotation Model" style of Christian Education....which rotates students through different "spaces" which allow them to experience and learn the Gospel stories in different ways....and they took four, old, ordinary rooms and transformed them into a media room (complete with classic...meaning old, theater seats given to them by the Pentecostal Church down the road...and screen...and puppet stage), an art room (with lots of different ways to artistically reflect on a Bible story), a music room (for singing, drumming, "making a joyful noise" for our faith), and a story room (comfortably set up for telling and hearing faith stories).

This "renovation" became an opportunity to involve the whole congregation in helping out with Christian Education (carpenters, painters, cooks, prayers, contributors....it cost about $500.) This church said, “Yes, we are going to prepare for the future we believe God wants us to have....and that includes Christian Education for children.” This space is now used for Vacation Bible School in the summer and a growing Sunday School. (Call Pastor Rick Boyden at 207-948-3473 to hear more of the story.)

VOLUNTEER IN MISSION TEAMS HELP BUILD CHURCHES. Both Waterville : Pleasant St. UMC and North Vienna UMC are celebrating the "miracle" of new buildings for expanded ministry in their communities. Both have dedicated laity and pastors who "rolled up their sleeves" to get it done. But both also had teams of other United Methodists from beyond themselves (including from one of our camps) to come and help in the building. That's the United Methodist Connection in Action! Want to know more....call Pastors Arlene Tully ( Waterville , 207-872-7564), or Ned Crockett ( North Vienna , 207-293-3710)

A VERY ATTRACTIVE "FAMILY ROOM" was created at the back of the sanctuary at the Readfield UMC where families can be together, and informal, and interactive during the worship service. One man actually became very active in the church, simply by being invited to help with the construction of this room....he is rightly happy to be a part of a church that shows its caring for children and families. They also have built a stage in a youth room for skits, videoing (some of you saw their video "production" at the special session of Conference...."America's Funniest Church Video").....but also a "production" of young people engaged with God, each other and mission....they raised $5,000 in three years to buy Heifer animals!) In that youth room there were pillows with the picture of one of the young persons on each pillow using creative textile art....remember how Jesus was asleep on the pillow in the boat in the storm (Mk 4:38)...it's OK in youth ministry too...maybe they need their sleep.

This congregation also connects in ministry with United Methodist related Kents Hill, ME, school. People from both the church and school go together on Volunteer in Mission Teams out to serve others. (If you have a school and college near you, I hope your church is building bridges to those young people who are often eager to be involved in things like VIM, or music ministries, or ways they can have a "family" away from home, etc.) Contact Pastor Karen Munson, 207-685-4211, to hear more of the story.

A "STARBUCKS" STYLE YOUTH ROOM is one the many creative things happening at the North Woolwich UMC. The lighting, furnishings, art, colors all intentionally have the feel of a Starbucks shop (although I didn't smell any exotic coffee). This is in a newer part of the building, but the whole facility, including the nineteenth century sanctuary has a very tasteful, contemporary feel, without being "costly". It would be a great place to visit if you are thinking of "updating" your facility.

This, and all of the above churches, is also a reminder that the real spiritual vitality comes with the people who enter the building and the ministry that flows out of these buildings. But the building needs to be a "fit instrument" for ministry and mission, worship and education. North Woolwich is a place of wonderful growth (in all these ways).....and even though it sits out in the country....it has become a regional church drawing people from all directions.....the word gets around! For more of their story, call Pastor John Thorpe, 207-442-9564.

ENOUGH FOR NOW.... there is more about the churches I visited that I will share with you next week. As you may have noticed, this week I have been adding the names of the pastors, in case you want to directly follow up with any of these churches as you explore new ways of doing effective ministry in your community. But, it is very important to remember that these things happen because of "PARTNERS IN MINISTRY”, not just the pastor, but laity and clergy dreaming, praying, and working together....connected to each other through Christ who gives us our diverse gifts and roles.

♦ VISITING A MUSEUM while in Tucson , Arizona , to speak at an event for the Commission of Equitable Compensation, I noted these two quotes which I have been pondering:

"Memory Feeds Imagination" Amy Tan

and

"We will be known forever by the tracks we leave" Lakota Proverb

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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October 16, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ YES, I AM STILL ALIVE AND WELL (It is well with my soul.) even though you have not heard from me for almost a month. During that time, I have been to Nigeria, on behalf of the Council of Bishops, (Thank you for your many prayers.), held a Bishop's Day on a District, visited twenty churches on the Mid-Maine District for two days, spent a day at Williams College helping celebrate the 200th anniversary of the "Haystack Prayer Meeting" that inspired our first American missionaries, met with the Boston University Board of Trustees, celebrated the installation of Heidi Chamberland as DS for the Connecticut/Western Mass. District, shared in the wonderful Special Session of our Annual Conference, went to Tucson last week to speak at a national gathering concerning compensation issues for clergy, spent the last couple days with the leaders of other denominations here in New England, and have managed preaching in Nigeria; Dorchester, MA; Kingston, RI; and Hadley, MA; plus dealing with all the travel involved and some critical day-to-day matters of the Conferenc e across these days. And, yes, I have been trying to care for some personal and family time in the midst of all of this....but, I hope you understand why I have missed being in touch with you.

Fear not, (or maybe you should) I have much to share with you out of these many great experiences. I'll try to spread it out over the next few Partners in Ministry, but I am very excited to see what God is doing through you and our United Methodist movement here in New England and around the world!

♦ NIGERIAN UNITED METHODISTS also have a great soul! As you know, their Bishop, Done Peter Dabale, unexpectedly died while attending a meeting here in the US. Because of a history of serious crises in our church in Nigeria and my experience there, the Council of Bishops asked me to accompany his body back to Nigeria and preach for his funeral service. He had asked that one of his sons (he has eleven children) come from Africa University, where he is in school, to the US to help with these matters. But, reflecting the paranoid state of our current immigration policies, we were unable to get him a US visa just to come to be with his dying father and to help take his body home. You can only imagine the additional grief this caused the family and the awkward position I was in as an American being asked again and again "Why?" Surely, we must help our government ask the "why" behind some of our immigration policies in this challenging time that includes terrorism, but also the need to be a caring part of the global family.

In keeping with Nigerian custom, we took the Bishop's remains back to his ancestral village (which I further describe in November's "SPIRIT.NET" publication). We, therefore, flew from Lagos, Nigeria, to a very small airport in Yola (northern Nigeria) arriving about midnight. There to greet us were about three hundred mourners, many of whom had walked for hours and days to get there. Most had been there the night before, expecting us then. They had slept and waited out in the open. It was both a somber scene as well as a time for prayers and thanksgiving as we all gathered around in the dusty, dark field for parking by the airport and celebrated being "family"...the United Methodist family from across Nigeria....and around the world....and confident believers that our journey on this earth in Christ leads to joyous eternal life. (In Amsterdam, as I was working with a very helpful KLM agent to be sure Bishop Dabale's body was being transferred to the right flight, she said to me, "Yes, we have Bishop Dabale." I smiled and said, "No, God has Bishop Dabale, we only have his remains." She smiled and responded in beautiful Dutch tones, "Amen!")

As I looked into the faces of our Nigerian sisters and brothers illumined by the midnight moon, and the Light of the world, that the darkness has never overcome, I thought of that wonderful Robert Lowry hymn, "My Life Flows On" (2212 in The Faith We Sing) and his words: "What though my joys and comforts die? I know my Savior liveth. What though the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I'm clinging. Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?"

And the band of drums and bugle began to play leading us in a procession of vehicles, bicycles, and pickup trucks filled with people out into the night. Three hours later, deep into the rural bush country down a long dirt trail, we reached Bishops Dabale's family village of huts clustered along the open path with scores of people waiting patiently in the middle of the night. At first glance you might say not much was there, but then the fullness and abundance of faith and love of that village, community of caring, family of faith, was as pervasive and rich as the sweet night air we were breathing. It was the atmosphere of the Spirit present in that place.

The prayers, and weeping, and soft singing continued through the night. Some cultures might call it a "wake", but for me it was more an "awakening" to the joy and power of Christ's love, life and presence...even in the weary night.... how can we keep from singing? And how can we keep from sharing this Good News of abundant life in Christ, now and for eternity, up and down the village paths and city streets around us? Is it any wonder that the United Methodist Church of Nigeria has grown from 10,000 in 1992, to almost 500,000 today. What might this mean for our witness here in New England as we partner in ministry?

Surely it was that same atmosphere of the Spirit that was at Williams College in 1806, two hundred years ago, when five students sought shelter from a storm under a haystack and there made the commitment to go out into the world, even beyond the college, even beyond New England, even beyond the infant United States, to share the extraordinary, life giving, Good News of Christ. A monument still stands on campus declaring, "The field is the world." It should have a familiar ring for us Methodists..."The world is our parish." A recent Williams College student has said, "Now, is our time!" Yes, here again in New England, and Nigeria, and wherever people cannot "keep from singing" because of Christ, it is our time to be reaching out in risk taking, life giving ways...making disciples of Jesus Christ.

I'm so glad to be a partner with you in the singing and serving. More later.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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September 13, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ SURELY GOD IS PRESENT. Late last week I returned to the office after a wonderful time of Renewal Leave that included preaching for a week at historic Ocean Grove, along the Jersey shore where people still vacation in about one hundred tents and scores of Victorian cottages and rooming houses clustered around the Great Auditorium (that seats 10,000) where we had stirring Sunday morning and evening worship where God was surely present...and in sunrises and sunsets on the beach. As always it was an interesting mix of preachers for the summer (this is my sixth time there) including James Forbes (Riverside), Tony Compolo (Eastern University), D. James Kennedy (Coral Ridge), Will Willimon (UMC Bishop)...all over the map theologically...but surely God was there.

Then there was such diversity of music heard in the Great Auditorium, and at the Chautauqua, NY, amphitheater, and in local churches, and humming in the super market...classical choral and symphony, pop and rap, ABBA, the Beach Boys, and Frankie Avalon (I've only heard of them in history classes, of course.) and in every case their own unique references to God...surely God uses such rich diversity.

And, of course, there were the rich moments with family and a few friends as Linda and I celebrated our marriage at Williamsburg, VA, UMC. (Thank you for all the warm cards and messages.) We ended the service with communion as our first act as husband and wife. As we planned the service, I noticed something in the liturgy for communion in a wedding service that I had never noticed or had done before. It suggests that the officiating clergy first give the communion to the bride and groom, and then they offer it to the rest of the wedding party and congregation. It was a deeply moving time as Linda and I shared the bread and the cup with our eight daughters (who were the "wedding party") and family and friends from diverse religious traditions...who were drawn to this common table of God's Love shared in human community and marriage...surely God was there.

Last Sunday, the communion table was set again at the Conway, NH, UMC where we were celebrating the 200th anniversary of this church. Started in 1806 by circuit rider Bates and a few hardy laity when New England and New York (led by Aaron Burr, who had killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel) were trying to break away from the "united" states, this congregation has survived and thrived through so much change and diversity and still wonderful disciples from that congregation reach out through VIM and in other ways to share the love of Christ, present at that communion table, and shared out into the world...surely God was there...as God is in all of our lives, and days, and ways, and diversity...THANKS BE TO GOD!

♦ PRAY FOR OUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS IN NIGERIA. Over Labor Day weekend, Bishop Peter Dabale, the UMC Bishop of Nigeria, died at the age of 57 at our Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. His untimely death has stirred difficulties as well as deep grief in Nigeria once again. You may recall that I traveled to Nigeria in December to help bring peace and reconciliation to that divided conference and to help preside at their Annual Conference session.

The Council of Bishops has asked me to accompany Bishop Dabale's remains back to Nigeria and to seek reconciliation once again among the factions as we gather for the funeral and prepare for the future. Because of the urgent nature of this need among the 400,000 United Methodists in Nigeria, I have had to rearrange my schedule (thank you to those effected) in order to go immediately (There have been difficulties getting Nigerian clearance to take the body back....but finally I will leave today (Wed.) with the funeral happening on Saturday, September 16 in the United Methodist Cathedral in Jalingo (which had been closed by the civil authorities because of unrest last fall). Pray for the spirit of peace and reconciliation...and Christ's love...to prevail. Pray that we all may live together, there and here, as Christ would want us to as his disciples.

♦ ALSO REMEMBER these wonderful "partners in ministry" in the New England Conference from "former days": BISHOP JAMES K. MATHEWS (Bishop here from 1960-72) had a mild stroke earlier this summer impacting his speech (but not his amazing spirit...at 93). He is recovering well, but he and Eunice will not be able to go to India in October to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Methodist missions there. He started out as a missionary to India, where he met Eunice, E. Stanley Jones' daughter. In 1956, as India Secretary for the Board of Global Missions, he and Eunice attended the 100th anniversary celebration. They have made over 60 trips to India and are close friends to the Ghandi family. Keep them and our brothers and sisters in India in your prayers.

And also, remember BISHOP SUSAN HASSINGER (Bishop here from 1996-2004) who is coming out of retirement for two years to serve the Albany Area from which Bishop Susan Morrison just retired mid-quadrennium because of health. They are blessed to have Bishop Hassinger as she brings her many gifts to helping that area as it seeks to discern future merger possibilities. I saw her last week, and she is looking forward to this important ministry...and she sends you all her warm greetings.

♦ Finally, we heard Loretta LaRoche, a wonderful comedian, at Chautauqua. She suggests that when you wake up in the morning and celebrate the great gift of life that God gives us...again, for another day...we ought to shout out, "I'M BACK!" It's great to "be back" by the Grace of God, and sharing ministry with you as God unfolds marvelous possibilities before us...surely God is here.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Letter from Bishop Peter D. Weaver
Re: Special Session of Annual Conference

July 27, 2006

Dear Members of the New England Conference,

Grace and Peace to you in the name and Spirit of Christ.

God is doing amazing things in New England as we seek to live into God’s vision for us of “boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ to the world.” In June our Annual Conference took significant next steps in that journey by approving recommendations that impact the way we develop and apportion our budget and mission shares. In order to implement these recommendations for 2007, we have called a Special Session of the Annual Conference to:

1. Consider and act upon our 2007 Annual Conference Budget, 2007 Pastor’s Health Insurance Premium Co-Payment, and

2. Consider and act upon Conference Rules changes from the Rules Committee, and

3. To share creative ways to communicate and interpret with our local churches the life changing, world changing impact that ministries and mission supported by our budget will have.

We will be meeting on Saturday, September 30, 2006 at the Timberlane Regional Performing Arts Center in Plaistow, New Hampshire. (http://timberlanepac.org/) We will begin at 9:30 a.m. and expect to have our agenda complete by 3:30 p.m. All persons who were elected as members of Annual Conference for 2006 are considered members for this session as well. The cost for each person will be $15 which will include lunch (collected at the door on the 30th). Further information about the site and other details will be provided separately.

It is very important that every church be represented on September 30th as we

make critical decisions and prepare to take these next steps in strengthening our work for Christ. I look forward to seeing you at Conference.

Grace and peace,

Bishop Peter D. Weaver

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July 24, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THANKS for the many kind expressions of congratulations and support from the New England United Methodist "extended family" in Christ as Linda and I prepare for our marriage in Williamsburg, VA, United Methodist Church on August 12. We are very grateful for your friendship and prayers.

♦ "THEY RESTORED MY FAITH IN GOD" was the testimony of one older woman about a team of United Methodist teenagers from Connecticut who had come for a week of work helping those in some kind of spiritual or material need in the West Chelmsford area. Living and working out of our United Methodist Church, these young people (about 40 in all) were an "United Methodist Army" (as they call themselves) of love, compassion, and witness. The older woman's mother and father had just died recently and she had wondered if God was really with her. Then these energetic (one man called them a "moving machine"), joyful (we are a resurrection people), faithful (one Roman Catholic who was helped said, "It's such a wonderful way to show God's love) young people "incarnated" the presence of Jesus in ways that changed the spirits and attitudes of those they served....as well as transforming the lives of these young people through this exceptional week-long experience of living, working, and praying together (even while sleeping on a church basement floor....but isn't that the way God works....when you least expect it!) One older man was so enthusiastic about the impact of these youth..."These people could bring world peace!" he said. Plus, a 23 year old who was a part of the leadership of the experience has made the decision to begin moving toward becoming a youth minister. He says that during the week his "eyes were opened to do more of God's work!"

In a few weeks the West Chelmsford Church will be sending a youth team to Connecticut to have a similar experience there. This "United Methodist Army" youth ministry movement has been a great vehicle for helping others and a vital part of youth ministry for a growing number of churches in our Conference.

If you want to know more about it, feel free to call pastor Mack Hagins at the W. Chelmsford UMC (978-251-4834). And pray for these youth, and also the many others involved in mission teams from many of our churches this summer.

♦ SPEAKING OF WORLD PEACE....I know that you grieve, as I do at the escalating violence in the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon fight with each other.

I was struck by a scene on NBC news the other night. They were reporting and filming as a rocket came spiraling into a town square. Everyone - children, women, men - ran for the bomb shelter. One man fell to the ground as the exploding bomb killed him. As the camera continued to run, an elderly woman began to cry that her husband was no longer with her...where was he?....someone please help. Knowing that her husband had his cell phone with him, she frantically called him on his cell phone. A moment later, the faint sound of a cell phone ringing could be heard coming from the dead man's body.

And I reflected on how far we have come with technology...and how so very far behind we are in "peaceology"....knowing the things that make for peace, as Jesus put it as he wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:42). We are experts at telecommunication, and ignorant about reconciliation. We know how to call for pizza, but not for peace. We can connect cell phones over long distances, but not the hearts of neighbors who live next door, or in the next nation. We know how to send the "impulse" that rings just enough so one can hear it, but not how to motivate the "impulse" that brings justice so all can see it. We know how to program our communication machines with the sounds of cute little harmonies, but where are the programs for our communities and world to live in the sounds of real harmony. We think we have progressed so far, when we are still as primitive as our ancient ancestors to whom God sent Jesus with a personal "call" to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

When will the killing stop? When we begin giving at least as much commitment, creativity, resources and sacrifice to making peace as we do to making war. I know this is not simple. I know it is about sin that is persistent at the core of our being. But I also know "Christ is alive and goes before us to show and share what love can do!" (hymn 383,verse 4)

♦ LITTLE BOLTS IN THE BIG DIG. There are lots of lessons to be learned from the Big Dig fiasco (Yes...I have recently sat in traffic trying to get to the airport with lots of time to "look up" and ponder the ceiling above me). At least one lesson is very old....."It's the little things that count!" If the little things are not cared for... strong.... connected... then grand visions crumble. One of the sayings our sixth grade teacher made us memorize was: "A small leak will sink a great ship." Then she would wax eloquently about character and education and greatness....composed of the strength of many small things, behaviors, learnings, "bolts."

You may think a cluttered lobby as people enter your church is a small thing....but people may not come back again. You may think that an insensitive (loose) comment spoken in haste to another member of the congregation, or the pastor, is a small thing, but it can damage relationships forever. Watch the little things in the life of your congregation....tighten up on the little "important" connectors with God and one another....so that when people come to your church and "look up," they experience God's wonderful presence and can trust this is a place of joyous spiritual journey.

Take some time to "look up" this summer....I'll be praying for you all as we continue to "partner in ministry." A church sign board I saw recently says: "God never takes a vacation from us."

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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July 13, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ During the last two weeks I have been away including a great several days at DUKE DIVINITY SCHOOL for some continuing education at the Dave Thomas Executive Conference Center (yes...the founder of Wendy's...he was interested in leadership excellence...as well as hamburger excellence...I prefer the "Frosty" please). The Lilly Endowment is supporting a gathering of UMC Bishops to explore how we might be more effective as we serve the church....as it serves the world....for the sake of Christ.
I mention this, because we are all needing ways to grow in our effectiveness in ministry...laity...clergy...bishops. We heard presentations and talked much about "normative effectiveness" and "contextual effectiveness"....which I believe applies to all of us. What are the standards of effective ministry that should be expected of all (normative...needed everywhere...ie. vital worship)? And what are the signs of effective ministry particular to your unique community context (contextual...needed in specific places...ie. vital ministry with industrial workers in a mill town)? And then, how do we become a community of learning, growth and mutual accountability? How can Bishops and DS's be held accountable? You might have some suggestions, as we all work on this together. We do have a wonderful "Episcopacy Committee" for the Conference that serves as my "PPRC" for support, counsel and evaluation. In addition "peer review" was discussed at Duke. And of course always spiritual reflection and listening for God's "calling/evaluation/making all things new."
One of the reasons Wesley formed small groups was for mutual accountability in love with each other and God. How is it working in your life and growth as we seek to become (go on to perfection) more effective disciples/pastors/bishops?

♦ During some days of vacation, I was pulling weeds....they never stop do they....even Jesus took note of them. And among the weeds was POISON IVY. I didn't see it, but it saw me....and then I saw it breaking out a few days later all over my fingers...you know the story. It grew ugly and terrible. And then (with a little help from the pharmacist....please don't send me your home remedies...I've tried them all over the years) the most amazing thing started to happen. REGENERATION. In a few brief days that which seemed so awful began to disappear as new skin appeared and healing took place. It really was amazing to watch. There were natural processes unfolding, unnoticed on ordinary days, by which I was being regenerated...made new! By God's Grace it can happen in our spirits, congregations, and world also (we are entangled in a lot of "poisonness" stuff...greed, violence, racism, etc.). With a little help from the Holy Spirit, new life and health is possible. It is amazing when we cooperate with God's natural regeneration processes how the old passes away and, behold, the new comes (see II Cor. 5:18). P.S. I'm not doing anymore weeding this summer...I have a good excuse.

♦ TRUE "POPS" CONCERT. On July 4th the Chautauqua Pops Orchestra (at Chautauqua Lake,N.Y.) performed a wonderful concert which ended with the traditional 1812 Overture in a nontraditional way. As the 6,000 of us attending entered the Amphitheater for the concert we were all given three paper bags. The audience was divided into four sections. And when we neared the end of the 1812 Overture where the "canons" are to boom forth, the conductor gave the cue for everyone to blow up their paper bags. Then came the cue to each of the four sections of the audience to explode their bags in succession. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. And then the sequence again! Well, I (and I am sure many of the musical "purists" at Chautauqua....after all, this was on NPR radio) thought this was going to be a "bust." But it was great. It actually sounded like huge canons going off (except for a few "off beat bags"). Everyone was in on the action...and joy...we were "playing" with the symphony. It was a whole new experience of a wonderful old tradition.
I've been blessed to be in some of our churches where traditional hymns are sung to new tunes, or a new beat, or flute and drums (no paper bags yet). I've seen children leading the prayer time...a different sound, and profound conversation with God. I've heard people read their poetic "psalms" for the act of praise, using contemporary language and images. These fresh ways of sharing our traditions can sometimes raise questions among the "purists"....but everyone may be surprised by the way God arrives in creative ways. Summertime is a good time to test out some new things now and then. Do you have ideas you want to share?

♦ AND LAST AND BEST ...with deep gratitude to God and great joy, I want to share with you that on August 12 I will be "joined in holy matrimony" with Linda Sells in the Williamsburg, Va. United Methodist Church where she is a very active member. (This was decided over the 4th of July weekend sometime between the "poison ivy" and the "pops").
Linda and I, and our families, have been friends for many years. She is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. (as I am) and the daughter and granddaughter of United Methodist ministers. Along with being the mother of five daughters, Linda considers her teaching as "ministry."
It was a blessing to have Linda at the New England Conference Ordination Service in June. She has already been impressed with the spirit and warmth of New England United Methodists. I am delighted to share in this very special "partnership in life" with her. Rather than gifts, we are asking our family and friends to offer prayers for us and, if they wish, to make a contribution to a favorite mission or charity.

As always, thank you for your many prayers....I continue to pray for you, our church and world.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

June 22, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ About a week ago I was "flying high"....this was on my way to visit our United Methodist Church on the ISLAND OF NANTUCKET . We have a wonderful congregation there doing some amazing things. As we flew in, I could see the multi-million dollar homes lined up below. The pastor of the church said to me, "Our main competition here is ‘mammon’". There is a forgotten and often ignored community of immigrants and service workers also living on the island. It is our United Methodist congregation that is connecting with these important people. Our doors are truly open to all. One man shared how this congregation provided a haven of hope for him and how, one Sunday, he went out to find and minister to another man suffering from addiction to alcohol.....the church now has a twelve step program centered on a relationship with Jesus Christ! Plus, they offer home and hospitality to drama groups....and summer visitors (While we were there, a tour guide who is a United Methodist....I think from central Pennsylvania ...dropped in to listen to what New England Methodists are doing...we offered each other blessings...what a "Connection")...and the church is always open...just come in....pray....feel the Spirit! I'm glad we are there....and have been since 1799....the church building since 1820....think of the early Methodists venturing across the waters back then, not for a vacation, but for the "vocation" of sharing Christ with the forgotten.....and we're still doing it there. Is your church venturing out too?

♦ Does your community need help? How can your church help to organize your community to address things like senior citizen transportation, education, affordable housing, economic crisis issues, all of which test the soul and try the spirit? Wesley was called a "methodist" because of these methods of organizing for both personal holiness and social holiness. And we've been organizing ever since, not as our goal, but as a means to the end of being instruments of God for the transformation of the world.

Last week I met with United Methodists from all over New England who are a part of the INTERVALLEY PROJECT , which is helping our churches listen to their communities, identify community needs, and then organize to promote change in their communities. It's about raising up leaders and equipping them and then empowering those, often without voice or traditional "power", to make a difference. I was delighted with what I heard was happening. Some of our most creative pastors and churches are involved. There are already five areas in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island where we have congregations involved. There are staff people who can help you develop one-on-one relational conversations in your congregation, as well as neighborhood, to help identify the real needs (spiritual, communal, material) that are all around you....and which God deeply cares about.

If you're interested in more information, contact the InterValley Project director, Ken Gladston through their website at www.intervalleyproject.org or email intervalleyp@aol.com. God is doing some great things through "partner in ministry" coalitions such as this.

♦ Someone sent me some more "Things you never hear in Church:"

"I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time." (I wonder if Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount in 20 minutes???)

"Personally, I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf." (The greens are ripe for the harvest!)

♦ Thanks for all the prayers offered up during Annual Conference...I felt that spiritual undergirding as I was presiding. Pray now for our congregations, pastors and families that are in transition....starting new appointments July 1.

♦ With this "edition" of "Partners in Ministry" we head into the summer with some conferences away (like next week at Duke) and some vacation ("Come find a quiet center..”) and thus, "Partner" editions will only come now and then. And oh, yes, I'll have time with my loved ones, kids and grandkids (I like it because I become a kid again, too....sand....water splashing....lots of ice cream). May you find time to "be at peace....and simply be" with God and loved ones, too.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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June 16, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THANKS BE TO GOD for this Annual Conference and our holy gathering last week at Gordon College. It was a time of sweet reunion, soaring worship, spirited debate, review and celebration of things accomplished, and "visions dancing" of things yet to come, by God's grace. When we gather in all our rich diversity, God makes us greater than the sum of our parts.....we are the Body of Christ. Still far from perfection, we confess our times of brokenness even as we continue to strive for greater balance so everyone's perspectives can be heard and respected, and always, always for love and gentleness to prevail in our relationships with each other. We are still growing in many ways, but I am glad to be a part of what God is doing among us.

I will not attempt to recap everything here. (Otherwise it would take you another three days to read it!....or sleep through some of it....as I noticed some folks now and then doing in our "holy conferencing"....naps are also holy.) Here are just a few highlights that pop into my mind:

♦ Great participation by young people...the drama production by our camp youth...more "youthful" delegates (I love us older ones, too.)....the Africa University Choir (Pray for them as they face 1,000% inflation and political turmoil in Zimbabwe.)....our new "regional youth ministry" design.

♦ Vision Walkers 2 as we looked at the many ways great progress has been made during the last year...including a new office of congregational development, many outreach/evangelism training days (nearly 3,000 visitation contacts made!), "thick action" around social justice concerns such as health care, hundreds of local church visits by the Bishop, D.S.'s (doing all the charge conferences), and many local church resourcing days led by our staff, the new Ministry Information Center on our website....etc.

♦ Celebration of 50 years of full rights for clergywomen was very creatively done throughout the conference with fascinating and courageous women from the past "popping in".....as well as a great evening celebration (did you know that our conference has the highest percentage of women clergy in the denomination!)....and our earliest, living, ordained clergywoman, Lynn Josselyn (deacon, '63; elder, '66) preached a rousing ordination sermon.

♦ Missions, missions, missions...were highlighted again and again with representatives from Nicaragua, Africa, the Nehemiah Project (approved by the Conference as a great way to address the affordable housing crisis), Katrina response (and UMCOR's help with our recent New England flooding), approval of a host of very worthy Conference Advance Specials through which your church can be directly partnering in mission...

♦ New approaches to the ways we do ministry together as we approved the excellent work of the Conference Transformation Team (restructuring our Conference, District, and cluster "systems" for getting things done), the Bishop's Financial Summit (new approaches to stewardship, budgeting, mission shares, and major long-term financial challenges facing us), and the Board of Laity which is launching this fall a major expansion of "Lay Speaking" options to include many more facets of lay training to strengthen our local churches.

♦ Together for tomorrow far exceeded its original goal of $10 million....with the total so far being $15.5 million....plus, nearly $90,000 more was pledged in one day at annual conference with most of it designated to our camps and retreat centers (which is the only category in which we are still a little shy of making our original goal).....and many churches are still making their local church appeals (you can too, if you haven't already...call your D.S.). Many said, "It couldn't be done in New England".....but with our abundant God, and faithful people...."all things are possible!"

♦ New Appointments (over 100) were announced and celebrated throughout the annual conference session as the pastors and lay representatives of those churches receiving new appointments came forward to receive their "missional epistle" (which outlines missional objectives for their new partnership in ministry) Keep all of these pastors and congregations and those on extension ministry in your prayers through these coming weeks of transition.

Isn't it a blessing to be partners in ministry together in New England with God and each other!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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June 2, 1006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THE TRI-STATE DISTRICT DAY IN MILFORD, NH (May 20) focusing on outreach and evangelism was, by the grace of God, another amazing day (and the rain held off!) All of these days begin with a Community Leaders’ Luncheon because it is very important to listen to those who really know the needs of the community before we start to try to relate to that community or neighborhood. We heard moving stories about homeless teens who go from one friend’s house to the next....while trying to maintain a "normal" life of going to school. And like in many communities, we heard of the need for transportation for seniors. (One of our churches, where retired folks volunteer to transport other seniors to doctors’ appointments or wherever, and in the process a relationship is built...and conversations about God's love and strength emerge, just naturally....and soon some of those transported start asking for transportation to that church).

When we asked how the church could be a better partner in helping with the needs of the community, the police captain challenged us by reminding us that the most important gift churches have (and the most needed) is the spiritual gift....the Good News of God's love....the values of the fulfilling life....simple caring for the hollow heart that is behind so much abuse, crime, addictions, violence......but we must connect with real people in our neighborhoods. One town selectman suggested that churches could bring "Prayer, Passion, and Participation" (He sounds like a "three point" preacher).

And that's what over thirty teams did in Milford that afternoon as they connected in the neighborhoods of Milford. One woman, who was very reluctant to do house to house visitation, said she would rather "have all of her teeth pulled without Novocain!" But then she told of the great experiences of meeting folk, easy conversations, connecting with real needs, learning how really welcoming people are, and how God provides the openings to share a word about your own faith, even with total strangers, without forcing it....it just happens. Again, lots of "follow-ups" were identified for the Milford Church....some of whom came that night to a wonderful service that was held in the community room at the town hall (where unchurched are more comfortable coming...plus, our Milford Church is still under construction).

A number of our churches are now planning or already out doing visitations in their own neighborhoods.....its great for hearing the needs around you, meeting your neighbors, and sharing the bread of life with others. Try it, if you haven't yet.

♦ STONINGTON, ME, about six hours from Milford, was where I was blessed to preach the next day, May 21. They claim to be sitting on the most beautiful harbor in Maine. (Don't write to me.....I know, every other church on the coast says the same thing.) But I am sure of this, they are beautiful people, like so many of our smaller membership churches, who are doing some creative things and attracting new people. For example, they had moved chairs and created a warm semi-circle facing the congregation for all of those who were helping to lead worship (a variety of laity, clergy, young, old.....). Persons playing two folk guitars and a dulcimer led the music. The singing was upbeat and there was a close circular feeling in the worship space....instead of being spread all over it and worship leaders distanced up in the chancel. And there was movement! When it came time for communion, we all went to the fellowship hall where tables were set up for the common food and "community" we would share at the conclusion of communion. We all stood in a large circle a round the room....an ordinary church basement room, made extraordinary by that circle of love and Jesus....it was real, no pretense, natural. No wonder there is growth happening there....plus an unexpectedly amazing response to Together for Tomorrow, which was above goal already as they “kicked off" the "public" effort that Sunday. Great things can happen in small places.....beautiful things can happen in the "harbor" of God's loving congregation. Allow God's creativity to inspire you and your congregation to do some things differently...dare to change the rhythm or sounds or space configuration of your worship...keep it real and natural...just as Jesus was real and natural.

♦ Sunday afternoon, I drove back over to New Hampshire and joined our Conference Lay Leader, Dr. Oscar Harrell, and John Blackadar in a trip up to LITTLETON, NH, where we slept before spending Monday visiting some wonderful congregations up near the Canadian border. (In one church a man told me it had snowed at his house that morning....May 22!!!!). Among the many great ministries in their communities we heard about, one particularly moving one was at Milan UMC, which is about five miles from a state prison. It is the "Tools For Life Prison Ministry" which is led by a member of that church who had been in prison herself. She uses journaling, prayer, and "holy conversation" (Wesley called it a "means of grace") to connect with the prisoners and get them to reflect on their lives, spirituality, and the future. Every Thursday night a team from the church goes to the prison. One inmate said, "Our week begins on Thursday night when you come....and then we wait for the next Thursday to come again."

If you are near a prison, contact the Milan Church to find out about this simple, but powerful ministry...."I was in prison, and you visited me" (Matt. 25)

And when I finally arrived back home in Reading, Mass. that Monday night after my 1,000 mile plus three day journey, I was tired....but it was a "good tired." You know what I mean. Of course, sometimes serving the Lord takes all we have (don't worry, God refills us to overflowing), but it is exhilarating just to witness what God is doing in so many of our churches and people. I wish I could take every one of you with me. We would never again question the power of the "connection,” or the possibilities that abound when you reach out into your community, or the sheer joy of risk-taking creative ministry...or how everyplace there are hurting, spiritually hungry people. Many of these churches have dedicated, but part-time pastors....so you know all this happens because of teaming the clergy and laity....or what Dr. Harrell (who has been on hundreds of these local church visits with me) likes to call "THE CLAITY."....partnership in ministry.

♦ REMEMBER TO PRAY DAILY FOR OUR ANNUAL CONFERENCE SESSION COMING NEXT WEEK (June 7-10).

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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May 19, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ AS THE FLOODS HAVE COME to New England, so have a flood of prayers and offers of help come from United Methodists beyond our region. Monday we received a call from the staff at the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)...even before we called them! Our Northeastern Jurisdictional Volunteers in Mission (VIM) coordinator is already getting teams ready to deploy to help....plus he is coming next week to help assess the need. Mission Central in Pennsylvania is sending "flood buckets" with supplies to help people clean and disinfect their homes.

"Cast your bread upon the waters," and it will come back to you, says Ecclesiastes 11:1.....an appropriate image for what is happening to us. So many of you have made flood buckets by the hundreds for others, and served on VIM teams that have gone to the Gulf Coast and elsewhere, and contributed to offerings to support UMCOR as they have helped in other places in the world, and offered up your prayers for others in need....and now it is coming back to us.

Thankfully, the damage of United Methodist churches and parsonages has been limited (and much of that we expect to be covered by the good Conference Insurance Policy that covers all of our churches) but UMCOR, VIM, and our congregations are also busy helping their neighbors and communities. We'll keep you up-to-date on how you can help....and what is happening as we continue to get more information.

♦ AS THE RAINS CAME LAST SATURDAY about 120 gathered at a Community Center in Warwick, RI, for the RISEM District Day of 21st Century Outreach Evangelism in that neighborhood on behalf of Asbury Church. In spite of rain, thunder, and lightening (it takes more than rain to keep God's good people down) 30 some 2x2 teams went out visiting to listen to the needs in the community, share the love of Christ, and invite unchurched neighbors to Asbury Church.

Like on the other Districts where this Day has been held, amazing things happened, by the Grace of God. Among the many who were warmly welcomed and invited in for conversation as they visited homes was one of our callers who had decided that making these kind of calls just wasn't for her. So she emailed her pastor to say she wouldn't be going to the District Day. She said that as soon as she hit the "send" button she had a "Holy Spirit surge” in her own spirit encouraging her to go, in spite of her reluctance. So she came. And.....she decided to go out visiting when the time came (in spite of the rain). And.....her team mate and she were invited in at one of the homes they visited by a woman who shared about some serious difficulties she was facing.....difficulties similar to ones our team of visitors had faced themselves in life. It was a wonderful time of sharing, faith, and hope and the offer to pray and to follow up...including offering to get phone calls from the woman visited. The visiting team is ready to go out and visit again!

One of the teams was invited in by a woman still in her wedding gown. She and her new husband were between the wedding service and heading for the reception. What timing!.....They were excited to have our team pray for them....I'm sure, for the rest of their lives, they will tell the story of those strangers who showed up unexpectedly and prayed for their new marriage...and hopefully they will continue to give thanks for God's blessings.

Kudos to the four teenagers who went out as a part of teams....and reported back great experiences. And again people from different churches who did not know each other were teamed together to go out, and when they returned they said things like, "I've made a friend for life." Even for people who have known each other for years in the same church, going out to visit and share God's love together takes your relationship to a new, wonderfully deeper level.

Many, many seeds were planted that rainy day....and many of our churches are now planning to do, or doing visitations in their own neighborhoods as a result of these District Days across the Conference. If you want to try it, give your DS a call.

This Saturday, the TriState District will have its District Day in Milford, NH....pray for the Community Leaders Luncheon, the teams that will go out, the evening Spiritual Life worship gathering, and.........sunshine! (but bring your umbrellas, in case...it takes more that rain to keep God's good people down).

♦ GIVE THANKS for these wonderful, faithful congregations in the CTWMA District I visited last Monday: Bernardston United Church; Greenfield, First UMC; Leyden UMC; Northampton, Christ UMC; Amherst, Wesley UMC; Belchertown, Hope UMC; Wilbraham United Church; Southwick, Christ UMC; Burnside UMC; and these wonderful faithful congregations I will visit this coming Monday in the NH District:

Groveton and Stark; Colebrook; Pittsburg and Canaan, VT; Milan; Center Conway; Conway and Moultonville; Tuftonboro; Sanbornville; Concord.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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May 12, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ THE DA VINCI CODE movie is on the way to opening this month. Recently I walked into the Barnes and Noble bookstore at Boston University and the first display table at the front door was piled high with Dan Brown's best selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" and twenty-seven other related titles! Time and Newsweek magazines have given the book and film extensive coverage along with a cover story on Opus Dei, a Catholic organization that plays a prominent role in the story. "60 Minutes" challenged many of the so-called "facts" in the book. Now in every Wal-Mart and drug store there are stacks and stacks of the book in paperback.

It is a "cultural phenomenon" that I hope you and our churches will take note of and see this as an opportunity for ministry. This book and film are reminders of the great curiosity people have in things spiritual and religious. Just think of the box office gross of recent films with spiritual themes: "The Passion of the Christ" $610 million; "Chronicles of Narnia" $544 million; Kingdom of Heaven $210 million. The book and film are also great conversation starters whether with friends, family, at work, with your neighbors or for studies by youth or adults at your church or in homes (holding the discussions in homes makes it easier to invite unchurched neighbors.)

There are a number of books and study guides available to help guide the conversation. I was in one of our churches several Sundays ago that had ordered in bulk "The Da Vinci Code: A Companion Guide to the Movie" which is well done. (To order go to www.davinciquest.org) Ken Witherington, who spoke in our conference recently on this subject, has extensive writings and a book as do many other authors.

One of our churches, which is near a movie theater, scheduled “conversation opportunities" for moviegoers following certain evening and Saturday showings of "The Passion of the Christ." Dan Brown says, "My hope for "The Da Vinci Code" was, in addition to entertaining people, that it might serve as an open door for readers to begin their own explorations and rekindle their interest in topics of faith." While there is much "fiction" (even in the "facts") in Brown's story that we need to address, I hope we will focus mainly on the positive quest for faith and a spiritual life that many people are experiencing these days. Focus on the Good News of Christ as you sort it out from the distortions in the novel. This is a wonderful opportunity for you and your church to connect with new people.

♦ Wednesday I was in Washington, DC, for meetings and "THE PASSING OF THE GAVEL" service at the Methodist Building Chapel on Capitol Hill. After two Grace-full and challenging years as President of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church I passed the President's historic gavel on to our new President, Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of the Houston, Texas, Area. One of my colleagues called it the "passing of the gravel"....there is something to that. Part of the challenge for me was to be the first two-year president of the Council as we are living into a new style of leadership and focus of mission, while at the same time being newly assigned to serve the New England conference and get to know you and the challenges/opportunities we face here. Thank you for your gracious support and understanding as I have tried to do my best with both responsibilities. I could not have done it without the prayers and partnership of many great colleagues on the Council and wonderful partners in ministry on the Cabinet, staff, laity and clergy of the New England Conference. I am very grateful to be serving with you.....and glad my term as President, along with the gravel, has passed.

♦ While in Washington, I passed a church with this MOTHER'S DAY saying on its sign board: "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy".....and I might add, "or a ton of bishop."

Always coming up to Mother's and Father's days, I am grateful for the nurturing my parents and others gave to me. In order to honor our parents, the last church that I served decided to give up the tradition of inviting people to give flowers in memory or honor of their parents, and suggested that a person might rather give the funds to provide a "Toiletries Kit" for a homeless woman in honor of their mother, or an "Underwear Kit" for a homeless man in honor of their father. I will admit that visitors in the service always looked a little surprised when I started talking about "underwear" to honor our fathers. But, it proved to be a very meaningful (and useful) way to help others in honor of those who have so helped us and taught us the self-less giving of the Christian life. It's too late for Mother's Day this year, but your church might consider something l ike this for Father's Day next month.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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May 3, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

As I think about the last seven days of partnering in ministry with you and many in the work of Christ, life has been full of amazing moments of grace as well as events that remind me of how much further we have to go in faithfully following Christ. But then, isn't that the natural rhythm of our Christian lives? Here are a few of those moments and events:

♦ TUESDAY, Camp Wanakee was "hopping" with teens there for a week long confirmation retreat...I learned some great new "hopping" camp songs! I asked the group what they thought about their churches. A variety of answers went something like this..."wonderful people"...."boring worship"..."great mission trips"..."wish some older folk would care about what we think, too"..."a lot of us drop out when we don't think there's anything there for us"..."Yea, I want to be a Christian, but its tough these days." We are blessed with some outstanding young people. They are not just the future of the church....they are as much a part of the church today as any of us. Let's hear what they have to say.

♦ THURSDAY, Boston University inaugurated Dr. Robert Brown as its tenth President. Did you know that six of the ten were Methodist ministers? Dr. Brown is using one of those ministers' motto for the University to describe his own vision: "in the heart of the city, in the service of the city" and world (The Rev. Dr. Lemuel Murlin, third President). The inaugural events began with a service in Marsh Chapel at which the United Methodist Dean of the Chapel, Dr. Bob Neville, preached. The inauguration was held in Agganis Arena and televised throughout the University. Highlights included the University's "Inner Strength Gospel Choir" singing a moving rendition of Psalm 66, and the students of the University presenting Dr. Brown with a "gift" of 41,754 hours of community service completed in the city. The motto of the day was "Celebrating Our Legacy/Forging Our Future." It was wonderful to see strong threads of our United Methodist legacy evident throughout the day.

When I think of those Methodists who risked and sacrificed to start this University, I often wonder about the new ministries we are starting today...and you are starting today in your church...and what unimagined impact they may still be having years from now.

♦ SATURDAY , Bangor, ME, was the place where community leaders and 120 United Methodists gathered for another day of sharing ideas about the importance of reaching out into our communities and meeting our neighbors (yes, literally going out two by two to call in the neighborhood...in this case, around Grace Church in downtown Bangor). It was another amazing day. Hundreds of contacts were made including conversations on the street with teens, many of our folk invited in for meaningful spiritual conversations (including a Jehovah Witness family we visited...boy, were they surprised!), single parents with deep needs, people who asked for prayer, and a number of folk who expressed interest in checking out the church. Some came that night to the "Y" where we had an informal "Spiritual Breakthrough" service...and some came for the Sunday service. Many good seeds planted. You ought to try it in your neigh borhood. (By the way, did I tell you that the Vernon and Rockville churches, that did this about a month ago, were so excited by the results that they had teams visiting in their community again last week.)

♦ SUNDAY morning, I preached at the Old Town, ME, church. The first things I noticed when I walked into the lobby of the church were about six large poster photographs of each Sunday School Class (shining, smiling faces of children and teens) creatively hung on the wall...yes, at first some people questioned whether such things should be hung on the wall...but it shows the church is alive and well (and creative). Then they showed me their new library which is very modern, complete with computer, DVDs, audio tapes, CDs as well as a range of recent books covering all ages....and it is heavily used. Many people are hungry to learn more about their faith during the week....make the resources easily and "attractively" available near your sanctuary.

♦ MONDAY, Dr . Oscar Harrell (our Conference Lay Leader), the Davises (TRI State DS's), and I traveled by water-taxi to visit three of our "island churches". These are wonderful congregations planted years ago by Methodists who were not content to just keep the good news of Christ to themselves on the mainland. They ventured out across the water and today these churches are the only year round churches on these three islands. They are meeting real needs. How far are we willing to go to meet real needs beyond our "comfort zone?"

At the West Baldwin Church we visited later that day, a woman shared how she was concerned for the youth of their community and their lack of a youth group at the church. She noticed the kids who came into the store at which she worked and started to get to know one of them who was having some real problems. He said he would be interested in a youth program and would bring some of his friends. So she started a youth group with young people from outside the church...they are having a great time....fellowship, prayer, contemporary music, and action. The church has built a wonderful, modern room just for such activities....much of it built by the members themselves....you ought to see it, and learn how they are now reaching youth in their community.

♦ TUESDAY , the Judicial Council (the Supreme Court of our denomination) handed down a decision that is of great concern to me as we seek to be partners in welcoming anyone and everyone into our churches, as we have celebrated by the stories above. They had been asked to reconsider a decision they made in November which had reinstated a pastor in the Virginia Conference who had been removed for refusing church membership to a man who is homosexual. Despite appeals from many, including our Council of Bishops, the Judicial Council refused to reconsider their decision. The court believes our "Book of Discipline" upholds a pastor's right to make such decisions. I believe this is an error in judgment by the court. Already there are efforts underway to rectify this by legislation to change and clarify the position of our "Book of Discipline" at the next General Conference in 2008.

I believe that profession of faith in Christ is the only requirement for membership in our churches, not moral purity nor perfection, however you may wish to define that (otherwise, who of us could be members?) Many places in our "Book of Discipline" make it clear that we are to be open to and welcoming of all people.

Therefore, I encourage all of our pastors and laity to reach out and welcome all persons into membership in our congregations. While there is diversity of opinion in our denomination, conference, and churches on many issues, including sexual ethics, we find our ultimate unity and hope in our common faith in Christ. Let us be partners in sharing the love of Christ with one another and all.

Let us, also, trust Christ to lead us through these days full of amazing moments of grace, as well as events that remind us of how much further we have to go in faithfully following Christ.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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April 26, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ A SURE SIGN THAT CHRIST IS ALIVE is the way the Christian movement continues to live and be an amazing instrument of God's love and hope, often in spite of our human frailties and sin. I was recently given a "brief history" of one of our federated churches that noted among the "special events" of its history:

+"The first pastor, the Rev. Thomas Weld, was dismissed in 1744 for reasons including a questionable relationship with one Rachel Wood." (Weld must not have been a Methodist because we weren't in New England in 1744...but, my, we do have long memories in our churches about "special events!")

+"The first church fight was over the location of the building....The conflict, brewing for 30 years was brought to a head when a member vandalized the unfinished building in 1767." (And, my, we do prolong our "fights" in church sometimes....all to the glory of God.... maybe that's why Jesus didn't build any buildings.)

+"The 1938 hurricane blew off the steeple which wasn't replaced till 1956." (It does sometimes take us a long time to get some things done.)

And you thought your church was unique in having its problems....but Christ is alive and His Spirit sees us through. We are a resurrection people. The congregation with the above "special events" has shared the love of Christ with its community day after day for over 250 years…. sometimes "in spite of" us, but always "in the spirit of" the living Christ. Thanks be to God for such continuing miracles.

♦ I asked A YOUNG GIRL , about ten or eleven, in one of my local church visits what she liked about her church. She responded, "It's fun." Then she paused and added with even greater enthusiasm, "It's fun, fun. No, it's fun, fun, fun!" She's obviously "Trinitarian".... and experiencing the full joy of God and the fellowship of her church. It's a young person’s way of saying, "Joyful, Joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love." I wish I could have had her share her joy at a church I visited where they were singing, "Joyful, Joyful, we adore Thee" as if it were a dirge. Most of those singing (only about half the congregation were even opening their mouths...not sure if sound was coming out) had their heads down in their books with no smiles, enthusiasm or joy about it.

How can we be a "resurrection people" and our worship be so joyless, boring, and lacking in the exhilarating, enthusiastic "fun" of the spiritual adventure that is ours in the risen Christ? No wonder that those churches where worship, singing, laity, clergy, old and young are alive and overflowing with the joy of Christ, are growing. I have seen that spirit in all different styles of worship and all sizes of congregations. You know it when you experience it. Reflect on the quality of spirit that is present in your church's worship. Talk to your young people about their experience in the worship services. Evaluate every "act" of worship to be sure it contributes to "act-ive," authentic engagement with God. Is there the expectation and environment for the Holy Spirit to move, or are we just going through lifeless motions? Our young people (or lack thereof) will often give us a clue to the truth. If you (laity or clergy) want help in creating the environment for vital worship in your church, let us know.

Various churches, I have noticed, are developing "COMMUNICATION COVENANTS" to provide guidelines for the ways we communicate and behave with each other in the life of the church. Many of these are based on Matthew 18:15-17. Check it out, and reflect on how that is working in your church. If you would like to develop a covenant, let your D.S. know...we can share various models with you. Here is one that the Federated Church of Ayer, MA, incorporated from Trinity UCC Church in Northboro, MA.

I. Thou shalt not employ indirect means in expressing concerns; rather, thou shalt speak directly with the person with whom a concern exists.

II. Thou shalt not communicate in a disrespectful manner; rather, thou shalt consider the feelings of others.

III. Thou shalt not remain silent on important matters; rather, thou shalt express thoughts, feelings and needs in an appropriate manner.

IV. Thou shalt not protest a person’s choice of _expression; rather, thou shalt explain the effect of the hurtful statements on the hearer.

V. Thou shalt not be overly engaged in vague communications; rather, thou shalt focus on the present reality.

VI. Thou shalt not maintain a closed mind; rather, thou shalt give adequate attention to a variety of ideas.

VII. Thou shalt not overlook the need for appropriate behavior; rather, thou shalt practice holy manners for a faith community.

VIII. Thou shalt not look for weaknesses in others; rather, thou shalt look for the good and seek Christ in others.

IX. Thou shalt not ignore the consequences of thy comments and actions; rather, thou shalt be responsible for thy words and behaviors.

X. Thou shalt not be downcast in thy contact with others; rather, thou shalt endeavor to reflect cheer and the optimism, which underlies our faith.

♦ PRAY FOR the Inauguration worship service and ceremonies that will be happening on Thursday for Dr. Robert Brown, the new President of United Methodist related Boston University. He is a fine, active Baptist. Also, remember to pray for the 21st Century Creative Outreach Evangelism Day we will hold Saturday at Bangor Seminary, Bangor, ME. We will meet with community leaders, learn from each other, and go out visiting in the community. Also, give thanks for the faithfulness of the following churches I will be visiting Monday on the Tristate District: Brackett Memorial, Peaks Island, ME; Evergreen UMC, Long Island, ME; Chebeague UMC, Chebeague Island, ME; Good Shepherd UMC, Gray, ME;

West Baldwin UMC, West Baldwin, ME

♦ Last Sunday, a grandmother told me about her four-year-old grandson who loves his Sunday School and church. He also loves to answer the phone at home. One day when he answered the phone, the grandmother overheard him say, "That's OK, Jesus Loves You Anyhow." When she asked him what the call was about, the little boy said, "Oh, the person said, 'I must have the wrong number.'" "That's OK, Jesus loves you anyhow!"

There are thousands of folk in our communities who are calling "the wrong numbers" to try to find real, joyful and peace-filled life. Let us have the courage and compassion of that little boy to let them know of Jesus' love for them....now and forever.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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April 13,2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Here we are at the cross and empty tomb again. It is the heart of the matter. It is the central reason for our ministry together. It is the event from which our life, our joy, our passions flow. It is the truth that has survived all assaults. It is the "love that will not let us go." It is the "hope that does not disappoint us." It is what binds us together as partners. It is our salvation. It is the salvation of this broken world. All else is secondary. It is simply:

CHRIST IS RISEN....HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Let us believe it....and live it....as partners in His life-giving ministry.

Easter-full blessings,

Pete

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April 4, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ YESTERDAY I VISITED THE FOLLOWING CHURCHES on the Tristate District: Trinity United Church, Seabrook, NH; Community UMC, East Kingston, NH; St. Matthews UMC and The Rock, Sandown, NH; Peoples UMC, Fremont, NH; Raymond UMC, Raymond, NH; Epping UMC, Epping, NH; Newfields Community Church, Newfields, NH; Newmarket Federated Church, Newmarket, NH; First Parish Federated Church, South Berwick, ME; Christ Federated Church, Kennebunk, ME. Join me in giving thanks for all the faithful and fruitful ways these congregations are making a difference in their communities for Christ. Here are a few examples:

♦ MEN'S GROUPS are growing. Sandown UMC has a variety of Bible study and prayer groups for men....some meet at the church, some in restaurants, at a variety of times that fit with the men's schedules. I was given a "calling card” announcing "First Monday Sandown" which is a monthly gathering open to all men of the community for worship, fellowship and discussion. Men of the church pass these cards out to coworkers, Home Depot clerks, neighbors or any men they sense might be interested. Last night (the first Monday of April) they were gearing up for a large turnout....the discussion topic, "Marital Lies!" (The wife of the man who was scheduled to lead the discussion probably wanted to "bug" the session.) I found in my own pastoral ministry a deep desire in men (and particularly younger men and "new Christians") for "men's only" discussions and retreats as they wrestled with life, their vocations, and Chr istian discipleship. Another church we visited yesterday has started two men's Bible Studies, which have received a good response. What is your congregation doing in Men's work? (P.S. I'm also seeing some creative new approaches to women's ministries. Even though women's groups have traditionally been strong in our churches, it's a new day, and younger women are much more responsive to one-day events and weekend retreats (done with excellence....have the Dads and others in the church provide childcare), as well as "hands on" volunteer in mission opportunities (not so much "volunteer in the kitchen" opportunities).

♦ THE "KIDS (Kids In Divine Service) CHOIR” at People's UMC in Freemont put on concerts regularly that draw family and new people to the church. Plus, the proceeds from the events go to missions decided by the children, with the first "tithe" going to the church. Not only do the kids (grades 1-6) have lots of fun, but they are learning about the needs of the world around them, the mission of the church, and the principles of tithing. One of the leaders said it is amazing to listen to these young people talk about these decisions and the insights they bring. Plus, they are eager to attend choir practice every Sunday at 8:30 am, followed by Sunday School, and then followed by worship....that's right, they are with their church "family" all Sunday morning, having a great time learning, worshipping, and preparing to serve....and they love it! Some of our churches seem to be afraid to ask "too much" of our children....but maybe we are losing them (and their families) because we ask "too little" and do not make it a joy to be in the church family all morning....(even one morning a week for Christian formation is very little compared to the hours of TV most of our children see in a week, or the hours in sports some children spend.) When programs at our churches are well done and full of genuine loving acceptance of children, kids respond!

♦ THE SENIOR CITIZENS' CENTER is a great place to meet new people and invite them to your church, according to an older woman I met on one of our visits this week. She did not have a church home (many seniors don't....and they sometimes feel "strange" about coming to church now "late" in life). But another senior citizen from our United Methodist Church got to know her through activities at the community Senior Center and invited her to come with her to church. The woman did, and loved it. Since then, she has invited her friends to come to "her new church," and they too are coming and loving it. See how the word spreads? But we must have the courage and caring to invite others into the wonderful experience of God's love that so many of our churches have. Where are there people you can invite?...next door, at work, on the golf course (yes, spring is here), in your friendship circle, at the senior center......Churches can grow by attracting senior citizens too, you know!

♦ SPEAKING OF REACHING NEW PEOPLE, on March 25 we had a wonderful day of "21st century creative outreach evangelism" training in the Vernon and Rockville communities of Connecticut. This is the fifth District in which we have shared such a day. Again, it was great.

The day started with a Community Leaders Luncheon, which included the Mayor, state legislators, non-profit organization officials, business folk, church leaders and others. As in many of our communities, they talked about the needs of youth, new immigrant populations (that many do not even recognize are now in the communities of New England), senior citizens and economic challenges. There was good conversation and ideas about how our churches could be better partners with community agencies, education, and government in serving the people of that area.

In the afternoon, I led the laity and clergy from the District Churches as we talked about "relational evangelism" and new creative ways to "get beyond the walls of our churches" and build relationships with new people, so that they too can experience the joy of knowing Christ and sharing in a loving community of faith that makes a difference in the world. Many good ideas surfaced. Then, around 4 pm about eighty people went out two-by-two to visit in the Vernon/Rockville area. A prayer team stayed at the church undergirding the whole effort with prayer. An estimated 400-500 homes and apartments were visited. Where no one was at home, a packet of information was left. In many of the visits, our teams were invited inside for conversation and prayer. A good number of those visited had little or no church involvement. One family had just moved in....they were United Methodists from another state....and were glad to have information about the nearby UMC congregation...said they would come. One young man had been addicted to heroin, and was now in a Methadone treatment program and yearning for spiritual renewal in his life. He, along with others that were visited that afternoon, came to the "Spiritual Life Event" we held that night at the Vernon Middle School auditorium. Music teams and liturgical dancers of District churches helped lead the service. At the end of the service I offered an invitation for people to come to various places in the auditorium for commitment or recommitment. Many came, including that young man addicted to heroin. We had opportunity for prayer and conversation. Sunday morning, he along with others we had visited for the first time on Saturday, came for worship. Plus there were scores of other names that surfaced out of the vis itation for "follow up" calls from the Vernon and Rockville congregations.

An overwhelming number of those who went out calling said they had a great experience and were ready to do it again. Indeed, some churches that day were starting to talk about how they could do this in their community. Some are teaming up to help each other. God is moving in amazing ways in New England. Thanks to all of those who worked hard to prepare for the day....and now are doing the follow up....pray for them. (If you are interested there are still three more such days happening this spring...Northern Maine Dist., April 29, Bangor Maine; RISEM Dist., May 13, Warwick, RI; and Tristate Dist., May 20, Milford, NH....call the District office for details, or call Curtis Brown, Congregational Development, at 978-682-7555, for guidance as to how your church can become involved.)

♦ CELEBRATION: The Together for Tomorrow funding effort is now at $11.5 million....with many churches still engaged in inviting people to participate in this great effort to meet signficant needs in their own congregations, the conference, and world. WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Thanks be to God for the commitment and generosity of so many of you.

♦ PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF , the United Methodist President of Liberia, was featured last week in Newsweek Magazine (April 3). You have read of my experiences with her here.....continue to keep her in your prayers....she lives in constant danger from the forces such as those led by Charles Taylor who was much in the news last week as he escaped and then was recaptured. In this season when we remember the sacrifices of Christ, let us not forget those who are sacrificing much for the sake of their faith and commitment to serve this world.

As you prepare for Holy Week, know that I am praying for you and all our congregations daily....."what wondrous Love is this, Oh my soul."

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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March 24, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

This past week I have been blessed to be able to visit over twenty of our congregations. In my last PIM I invited you to pray for the churches on the Tri-state District that I visited on Monday. Give thanks also for the ones I visited on the New Hampshire District on Thursday: Concord; Hillsboro; Peterborough & West Rindge; Marlborough; Keene & Munsonville; Westport; Chesterfield & Richmond; Marlow; Sunapee & George’s Mills. Also lift up the ones I will be visiting Sunday afternoon and Monday on the Connecticut/Western Mass. District: Vernon; Rockville; Bolton; Manchester North; Manchester South; Hockanum; Wesley, East Hartford; Wesley, East Windsor; Mystic; Old Mystic; Gales Ferry; Groton; New London; Lee Memorial, Norwich; Portland; Glastonbury.

Here are some of the great things I saw and experienced:

♦ THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE VISUALS ....one church was collecting food for its food bank ministry. In the main lobby of the church someone had built a large "ark" that you could see into....and it was filled to the top (maybe six feet high) with food. You can't enter that church without knowing that they are a generous, creative congregation caring about those caught in "the storms of life." In the church I worshipped in last Sunday, they had stacked on the altar the 15,000 prayer request cards that had been received during worship by that church's intercessory prayer team over the previous twelve months. That "visual" reminded everyone of the extensive prayer needs in their church and world, and the very important work of the prayer team that meets weekly to lift up prayer for the needs that were submitted on the prayer cards the previous Sunday.

Think creatively about ways to communicate your various ministries through visuals....they are better than a thousand words!

♦ SCOUT TROOPS (girls and boys) were noted in several of the churches as an important way they saw their Sunday Schools and youth programs grow, and new families join the church. Part of the key is to have dedicated members of your church giving their time and talent to lead the troops, getting to know the young people and their families, and inviting them (if they do not already have a faith community) to participate in the whole life of the church.

♦ One church has seen its Sunday School grow significantly since they moved to a ROTATION CURRICULUM , which focuses on learning and exploring the meaning of a Bible story "rotating" through various ways of approaching the story for several successive weeks. For example, one week the children reflect on the story through video clips of movies or TV shows, the next week they do research on computers (used ones that had been given to the church), the next week through creative artistic _expression, etc. Different teachers lead the different weeks (making it a hit with the teachers) and the variety makes it a hit with the children...they don't want to miss the next Sunday. Best of all, there is an in-depth encounter with God's Word.

♦ AFTER THEIR CORNED BEEF SUPPER for the community, one of the churches had a Christian music concert in the sanctuary that same night. They were surprised to end up with a full sanctuary made up of many new people from the community who had come for the supper and decided to stay.....people are "hungry" for more than corned beef!...and some are now coming to worship.

♦ More reflections from these churches later. Tuesday evening, I was invited by the National Council on Foreign Relations based in New York to be a part of a teleconference with PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF , dedicated United Methodist and newly elected President of Liberia (and, first woman president in Africa). In response to a question I submitted, she spoke passionately of the importance of education and the mission schools that churches have provided all across Africa (remember that when your church is deciding about its "mission share.") On March 15 she had addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress (only the fourth African head of state to ever do so) .....the very moving speech is available on our conference web site. She spoke of being educated in United Methodist mission schools and her faith in God. She concluded by reflecting on the trust that the women of Africa have placed in her. Then she said to our Congress (and country), "Honorable members, I will succeed. I will not betray their trust. I will make them proud, I will make you proud, of the difference which one woman with abiding faith in God can do. God bless you." I've added the italics to remind us all, as United Methodists, of the difference each of us can make for God and the good wherever we may be.

♦ A QUOTE I came across recently (Indian Proverb) "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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March 16, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ YOUTH MINISTRY has been one of my passions in ministry for many years. For the nineteen years that I was the so-called "Senior Pastor" of multiple staff churches, I carried the youth ministry portfolio for the staff the majority of that time teaming with good lay folk and youth in leading those ministries. I did so, not because I thought I had so much to give to the youth, but because I knew the youth (both in the church and off the streets) had so much to share with me and the congregation as we sought to be relevant to our community and time. I am grateful for the many clergy, laity, and youth who are teaming together in great ministries all across our conference.

This week, Norm Thombs, the Director of our Camp Mechuwana, shared with the Cabinet some exciting news about a new chapter in the Conference support of youth ministry throughout New England. On behalf of the Directors of our three other camps and retreat center, Norm outlined our new regional approach to youth ministry that we have been designing for the last year and a half. Our camps and retreat centers will serve as regional centers for resourcing youth ministry. Their staffs and volunteers will work with regional youth councils, representative of each district and the rich diversity in our conference, to develop programs, training opportunities, and major youth events across the conference. Some events will be held at the camps and retreat centers, others in churches, and yet others in community facilities. Resourcing will also be offered to local churches loo king to start or improve their youth ministries.

Representatives from the four regional youth councils will form the Conference Council of Youth Ministries (CCYM) for conference wide youth programming development, including the long term goal of a yearly conference youth event. Many conferences now have such events reaching as many as 5,000 young people.

These new developments hold great promise for the unique nature of our conference and youth ministry here. Stay tuned (on your i-pod??) for more details. Keep everyone involved in your prayers. Wonderful things are happening.

P.S. I hope your congregation is getting ready to send your young people to one of our excellent weeks at camp this summer....over 4,000 attended our camps last summer....see your pastor for more information....form a "scholarship fund" so that every child who wants to go can do so. It will change their lives. I know, because I was a counselor (incognito...what kid wants a "bishop" as a counselor) at one of our Junior High camps last summer. At the end of the week, one of the kids in my room said, "Pete, I really do want to follow Jesus....what do I do now?" What a great commitment and question...for all of us!

♦ Last Sunday the church where I was preaching had a wonderful quote from Gandhi on THE BULLETIN COVER:

"Gandhi's Seven Deadly Social Sins: Politics without principle, Wealth without work, Commerce without morality, Pleasure without conscience, Education without character, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice"

I've noticed that some churches use their bulletin covers very creatively....instead of the same old boring cover every Sunday. Some will have a thoughtful saying on the front (If you have someone artistic...do it in calligraphy...or some simple design that illustrates it), or have children of different ages draw something about their faith to be used different Sundays, or have different people write a brief "testimony" on themes like the Grace of God, or the wonder of God, or God's action in the world, or "Thank God for....." Variety is the spice of bulletins (even varying the size, color and format so every Sunday has a "fresh feel").

♦ THINGS YOU NEVER HEAR IN CHURCH:

"Hey, It's my turn to sit in the front pew!

♦ PRAY FOR THESE WONDERFUL CONGREGATIONS that I will be visiting next week on the Tri-State District...It's always great to see what amazing things God is doing: Ballardvale United Church, Andover, MA; North Boston Korean UMC, Andover, MA; Pleasant Street UMC, Salem, NH; Hannah Tenney UMC, Salem, NH; North Salem UMC, Salem, NH; Saint Luke's, Derry, NH; Londonderry UMC, Londonderry, NH; Saint James UMC, Merrimack, NH; Milford UMC, Milford, NH; Brookline Church of Christ, Brookline, NH; Main Street UMC, Nashua, NH; Arlington Street UMC, Nashua, NH

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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March 10, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD ....Wesley reminded us that the "world is our parish" (not, the parish is our world). Some of us focus only on what we're doing in the church, instead of what the church is doing in the world that God loved so much that God gave us Jesus Christ. Lent is a deeply spiritual journey but always in the "worldly" context. Thus, we follow Jesus into the worldly wilderness (last Sunday's Gospel, Mark 1:12) and hear Jesus challenge us with "what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul?" (this Sunday's Gospel, Mark 8:36). And all of a sudden we are standing in the court room where the ENRON trial is unfolding....we are confronting the temptations of this wilder-ness world that bedevil us....we hold today's newspaper in one hand and today's good news Gospel in the other and know that ultimately Lent and our faith are not about the church, they are about the world and our life in the here and now. ..as well as our hope for eternity.

♦ In that light, the children in one of the churches I visited recently gave me their drawings on the theme, "THE CHURCH IS SPECIAL BECAUSE...." (It would be an interesting statement to have adults complete, too.) One child (age 5-8) answered by drawing the cross, the Bible, and the rich and poor helping each other. The Christ of the cross, revealed in the Bible, always points us to the world of rich and poor, war and peace, life and death, pain and joy, justice and injustice. The colors this child chose for the drawing were yellows, and oranges and reds...all colors of final joy and celebration...the good news of the Gospel (Maybe we should add yellow and orange to our liturgical colors!). By the way, I've seen some great banners hanging in our churches designed by children, but then created inter-generationally, full of bright colors and wonderfully reflecting the core of the Gospel....and our little children shall lead us!

♦ This past Tuesday, the Cabinet and I had a moving and informative afternoon with over 40 of our pastors who are serving in CROSS RACIAL AND CROSS CULTURAL APPOINTMENTS (note the word "cross"!....both stories of suffering and Easter dawning). It was a gathering of many different colors....reflecting who our world is....and more and more who New England is. The Conference is blessed with so many fine pastors who bring exceptional gifts of rich diversity. Many of our churches have embraced those gifts and are growing in spirit, joy, and yes, numbers because of it. But racism and sexism is still alive in many of our hearts and churches. We heard some of the tragic stories. How can followers of Christ treat each other this way? How can we love each other in new ways that reflect Christ's love for us....and our world in all of its rich diversity? Think about it in your own congregation and life.

♦ In Jimmy Carter's excellent book, Our Endangered Values, he reflects through the lens of his faith on many of the "world issues" facing our nation and the whole human family. He writes, "through prayer and contemplation on the life of Jesus, we must commit ourselves to a persistent and principled witness...for the gospel of life." I hope this will be an important part of our Lenten journey of prayer and contemplation on the life of Jesus. Last Saturday a group of about 30 of us gathered at the Conference Center to talk about common concerns for our world that could draw us together as United Methodists. I suggested four broad categories: Peace (violence we visit on each other in many ways), Poverty (we can make poverty history), Partitions (the walls that divide the human family), and the Planet (the care of God's creation). This Lent, contemplate the life of Jesus in relationship to these "world wilderness" concerns. Pray. Pray. Pray.

.....And know that I am always praying for you, as we partner in the journey of serving Christ and our world. I appreciate your prayers.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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March 7, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

This is A SPECIAL EDITION OF PARTNERS IN MINISTRY because I could not wait until later this week to let you know of a great example of partnership that is producing incredible fruit in the Together for Tomorrow (TFT) effort.

Sunday, while I was visiting his church, Mr. Art Hughes, President of the Preachers' Aid Society, shared with me that the Preachers' Aid Society has just approved a 1.5 million dollar challenge grant to the Together for Tomorrow campaign in addition to their earlier 1 million dollar challenge issued at the beginning of the TFT campaign. All of these Preachers' Aid Society dollars are being given to the TFT Retired Pastors' Health Care Endowment Fund.

What a great partnership this has been! When we launched the Together for Tomorrow campaign a year ago, the Preachers' Aid Society promised to match every dollar, up to 1 million dollars, given by churches and individuals to the Retired Pastors' Health Care Endowment Fund portion of the TFT campaign.

WONDERFUL NEWS....with early participation and stretch pledges, more than $1 million has been raised for the Retired Pastors' Health Care Endowment Fund. We met the Preachers' Aid Society's challenge and they are contributing $1 million. Thank you.

NOW, MORE WONDERFUL NEWS....because we have met the first challenge, and because the need to support our Retired Pastors' Health Care Endowment is so great, the Preachers' Aid Society is partnering with us in A NEW CHALLENGE for those churches that have not yet completed their TFT campaign or individuals who may want to give, or increase their commitment, in order to multiply the impact of their gift.

Here's how it works. The Preachers' Aid Society will now match fifty cents on every dollar pledged to the campaign, for any purpose, between now and the end of May. So, if we commit 3 million dollars more, then they're going to invest $1.5 million more in the Retired Pastors' Health Care Endowment Fund. (They're not just matching the dollars that we commit to Pastoral Retirement - they're matching all new commitments to regional and international needs. They're even matching the dollars that we give through Together for Tomorrow that are going back to our own churches.)

They gave to get us going. They're giving again to help us finish. They're giving to open our minds about what is possible. It is the spirit of giving that really is contagious. I am deeply grateful for the Preachers' Aid Society's vision and the opportunity that they are giving to all of us. I hope that we all recognize this gift and use it.

Thanks be to God for the great partnerships in this conference: laity/clergy, individuals/churches, churches/Preachers Aid....and thank God for the amazing things that are happening through them. By the way, the Retired Pastors' Health Care Endowment part of TFT is now at 2.3 million dollars and the total of all the parts of TFT is now at 8.7 million dollars. Thank you for your abundant generosity!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

March 3, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

LENT has always been a very rich time for reflection, re-centering, confession, and "going deep" into the mysteries of our faith and the life and sacrifices of Christ. For me it is a kind of "spring of the Spirit" in which dormant places in my spirit stir with new life. I find myself through self examination and repentance moving by God's grace beyond the "winter of discontent" places in my life toward the warm dawning of a new Easter of purpose and joy centered in Christ. The Ash Wednesday service I attended started in silence. Then came the hymn that always challenges me and invites me to "go deep:"

"COME AND FIND THE QUIET CENTER IN THE CROWDED LIFE WE LEAD, FIND THE ROOM FOR HOPE TO ENTER, FIND THE FRAME WHERE WE ARE FREED. CLEAR THE CHAOS AND THE CLUTTER, CLEAR OUR EYES THAT WE CAN SEE ALL THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER, BE AT PEACE, AND SIMPLY BE." (The Faith We Sing, 2128)

Our lives and ministry (lay and clergy) are too often just busyness and "clutter" unless they spring forth from that quiet center where God's "still small voice" guides us to "the things that really matter," and the Spirit frees us to "be at peace, and simply be" in joyful love with God and one another.

♦ Preparing for the Lenten journey, I had blocked out a day for spiritual retreat, prayer and fasting. I walked some that day through God's creation which reminds me that I am but a small part of God's moving in this world..."O Lord our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth!...who are we.....?" (Psalm 8) Then I felt the need for "sanctuary"....you know, that quiet space for meditation and reflection. On that weekday, the only church sanctuary I found open and prepared for any visitor (a little heat on, a few lights, particularly on the altar area) was a Roman Catholic Church. I took my Bible and went in. I was alone there for a couple of hours. The windows stirred my spirit, a pamphlet on confession (what they helpfully call "reconciliation") guided part of my time, the lighted cross caused me to focus and ponder and read the Gospels and finally make a new commitment. In those hours of s ilence, I sat, I knelt, I ambled around looking closely at the windows and artistic expressions in graphics and architecture. I was renewed.

Leaving the "sanctuary experience" I was grateful for an open church, prepared for the wayfarer. I wonder why we keep so many of our sanctuaries closed and locked, except for Sunday morning, as if the only time people should be "seeking sanctuary" is on Sunday, for a couple of hours, with little silence or solitude available? After some interesting conversations in the Board of Trustees (you can imagine...."but what if someone steals something? or hides under a pew and sleeps there all night? or just hangs out there all day? or spills coffee on our velvet pew cushions????) the downtown church that I served opened it doors and sanctuary all day long, every weekday. On Fridays, communion, with a guide to communion and meditation, and a pastor were available all day long. It was amazing how many people would come and go throughout the day. No planned service, no greeters except God. No expected time, except the timing of the Sprit's gentle nudgings. Sanctuary...safe space....grace space! (And the only things that were ever taken were pew Bibles!....and that's just fine.)

We still have some wonderful "country" churches that are unlocked 24/7 (I was told in one town that our church is where the town has placed the emergency heart defibrillator because they know anyone can always get access to it.....and also an open "sanctuary" for the spiritual needs of the human heart!). Maybe, Lent would be a good time to experiment with opening your sanctuary throughout the day, with appropriate signage outside to invite anyone, anytime to "come and find a quiet center.." What do you think?

♦ A WONDERFUL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM is happening at Calvary Church, Arlington, Mass. This church is the result of two churches merging about ten years ago and finding all kinds of new life and growth. When I visited there last Sunday, I noticed:

Sunday School is not at the same time as worship. Christian education and worship are high priorities for both children and adults and should not compete with each other. Thus, they have many adults (including a lot of men) team teaching during Sunday School....and they have a strong adult learning program on Sunday morning as well as in other small groups through the week. Plus, Sunday School teachers can regularly be in worship (Of all people serving in the church, they need their spirits renewed too.) and the children experience the first part of worship with everyone and then go for a time of additional Christian formation just for them. Think about how much time our children are exposed to the "teachers" of other values in our culture (i.e. TV, computer games, pop music, etc.). Having two times when the children are in Christian formation at least doubles the opportunity for our children to learn and live our faith values. If you are still doing Sunday School and worship at the same time, I encourage you to contact your DS or the Conference Resource Center about other models being done in churches in your area.

Creative, intergenerational activities integrated the study of Scripture with action. For example, on the Sunday before Lent, children and adults were given a Lenten prayer calendar. Each day there are the names of children in the congregation and around the world for whom to pray. Each family or person also received a table place mat with the map of the world on it, so that they can locate on the map the international children for whom they are praying that day. Our General Board of Global Ministries has many resources to help you do a similar thing in your church....or call Calvary UMC for these and other ideas....as partners in ministry we need to swap ideas.

♦ PRAY FOR THESE FINE CHURCHES THAT I VISITED THIS WEEK ON THE METRO HOPE BOSTON DISTRICT: St. Nicholas UMC, Hull; Quincy Community UMC; Heritage UMC, Braintree; Marshfield UMC; Whitman UMC; Bethany First UMC, Roslindale: Haitian Ministry UMC, Roslindale; St. Mark's United Parish UMC, Brookline; Brighton Community UMC; and Newton UMC.

♦ A friend in Pittsburgh who wrote a devotional for her church's Lenten Daily Devotional Booklet suggests, "Have breakfast with God...Share a coffee break with God...Try going out to lunch with God...Sit in front of the fireplace with God." Take those ordinary times of your day and intentionally plan to spend some of them with God during this special season of Lent..."Come and find the quiet center"....."sanctuary"....every day. (By the way, daily devotions written by members of the congregation are a wonderful, 21st century way to share our "testimonies" and faith-journeys with each other. Some churches are doing them on-line and simply sending them to everyone via email....you could still do this for Holy Week in your church....or plan ahead to do a daily devotional booklet for Advent)

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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February 26, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

LAST WEEK I was at the winter meeting of the Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) College of Bishops meeting, which includes the ten active and all the retired bishops of the NEJ. The NEJ covers the thirteen UMC Conferences from Maine to West Virginia and west to the Ohio line. A number of other groups came to meet with us at the same time in Baltimore as a way of conserving time and money. Several things that might interest you as we Partner in Ministry across the Northeastern U.S.:

♦ A Committee was formed to look at the BOUNDARIES OF OUR CONFERENCES in the NEJ. Some conferences are talking about merging, some people are concerned that the NEJ will go from 10 bishops to 9 bishops in 2008, thus requiring some bishops to serve more territory, and always we need to be asking how we best serve the mission of Christ in the changing populations of the Northeastern U.S. The General Conference decides how many bishops the NEJ will have (based on a complicated formula, which includes looking at missional issues). I will be serving on that committee, in part because I believe strongly that these decisions should not be based on just maintaining "the institution" but rather on how we impact the "world parish" of our region....plus, I want to make sure the best interests of New England are at the table.

♦ A NEW VISION TABLE STRUCTURE (now in its fourth year) including clergy and laity from all the conferences of the NEJ met to finalize plans for a "Great Leadership Event" October 13-15, 2006. This will bring together leaders from all the NEJ conferences to share resources, swap ideas, and learn about "best practices" for addressing the three missional priorities of the NEJ: 1. Eliminating racism and celebrating diversity, 2. Starting new congregations, 3. Whole Gospel Mission (including evangelism, justice ministries, local and global missions). This will be the first time the NEJ has tried to organize in this way. For years our jurisdiction has resisted getting too "organized or coordinated" as a jurisdiction.....maybe it’s some of that northeastern Yankee independence. But there are many wonderful gifts throughout the NEJ conferences, and many common challenges, which make a new time of partners hip beyond our conference borders a good idea whose time has come.

♦ BISHOP SUSAN MORRISON, who serves the Troy and Wyoming Conferences (Albany Area) announced that this summer she will retire early for health and family reasons. It is unusual for a bishop to retire in the middle of a quadrennium. She has brought many fine gifts to the role of bishop. But it is a reminder of the health toll and stress this office often claims. For example, half of the women bishops have experienced serious health problems. (It would be interesting to look at the undue stress experienced by all clergywomen, often because sexism is still alive and well in the church.) Of the seventeen bishops elected when I was in 1996, seven have either died in office or asked for early retirement. (And there are those suggesting that we should have fewer bishops....giving each yet more to do....forgive the editorial comment). In any case, keep Bishop Morrison and her conference i n your prayers during this time of transition.

♦ One of the benefits of such gatherings is in hearing both the good things and challenges that are happening in other conferences in the NEJ.....and realizing that New England Conference is blessed in some great ways, and that we are not alone in some of the challenges we face. And I come home, very glad to be partners in ministry with you!

♦ I DROPPED IN TO WORSHIP in a church in the Baltimore Washington Conference on Sunday where I was reminded again how it feels to be a stranger. Thankfully no one recognized me (until the end of the service, when someone came up and said they recognized "the back of my head"....is that my best side?). Folks were friendly enough, but clearly with an agenda:" here, take a bulletin", or later "you must fill out our attendance registration...and pass it back!" Also, they talked about the "Asbury Project" with no explanation as to what it is....I'm sure all the regulars knew...but I didn't. I felt like an outsider. Everyone was very moved by the "return" of a young man who was present. Clearly there was something great about this....but had he just returned from the hospital, or a mission trip, or Iraq, or the Olympics????? It felt like it was a secret being kept from thos e of us visiting. And there was no help for anyone who may not have known the Lord's Prayer, or the 23rd psalm which we were all invited to recite...in King James English....no wonder a visiting teenager looked really perplexed ("my cup runneth over"....not only messy, but what does that mean?). Of course, after someone recognized my bald spot, they were really really friendly. What about your congregation? Are you selectively welcoming....like to bishops or the "right folks" if they happen in? Have you thought about how it feels to be a total stranger in your church? Are there unexplained things you talk about, unprinted things you expect everyone to participate in, "secrets" you expect every one to know (including where the bathroom is)????

♦ OUR SECOND GRANDAUGHTER, Audrey Miseon Park, was born at the end of January to our daughter Sarah and her husband, Jin who live in Maryland....so you know where I headed Saturday after our NEJ meetings were over. Audrey is of course beautiful (what granddad could see it any other way). Like with our first granddaughter, Emory Grace, who was born in July I have been wowed by all the new, high tech gadgets they now have since the days I was a parent: disposable diapers (ours were cloth...with pins that pricked), baby wipe warmers (ours were cold...talk about "tough love"), video monitors for the crib (talk about reality shows on your TV), "Einstein music" for the nursery (ours had to endure my off key renditions of camp songs), and car seats that work on grocery carts and turn into strollers (how did our kids ever survive?)

♦ The "high tech" is good, I suppose, but I notice that its still the old old "high touch" to which the babies respond the most...the delight of being held, the warmth of being hugged, the close sound of the mother's heartbeat, the cradle of the father's arms, even the quiet sound of a grandpap's off key camp song for a new generation. Nothing electronic will ever replace the love and relationship needed by a growing baby. And with all our new "high tech" gadgets in our churches (computers, keyboards, beepers for the nursery, etc....which are good) nothing will ever replace the love and relationship needed in a congregation of growing Christians....welcoming spiritually new-born folks into the family of God. How's your congregation doing at such relational nurturing?

♦ This week I spoke at a wonderful gathering of the "NEW ENGLAND INTERFAITH DISCUSSIONS ON ERADICATING EXTREME POVERTY" (NEIDEEP). I was very glad to see many United Methodists there. A Rabbi sounded the Shofar (rams horn) and reminded us that it is made of the same substance as our finger nails and toe nails....meaning that God calls us to put our hands and feet to moving for peace, justice and eradicating poverty. I will never look at my hands again without remembering that shofar call of God!

At the beginning of our interfaith worship were the words of Gandhi: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

As partners in ministry in this time and place, let us, our congregations, our conference, our NEJ, our UMC, "be the change God wants to see in the world." Amen.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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February 10, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ Thanks to all the clergy who were present and contributed so much to SATURDAY'S SPECIAL CLERGY SESSION. I have been reading through the suggestions and comments ("shorter lunch lines!!") developed in the small groups in the afternoon. There are many excellent insights..I continue to be inspired by the commitment and gifts that are in the New England Conference....including wonderful laity (don't worry...we'll be expanding Saturday's conversations to include laity over the next months leading up to Annual Conference). The statistics that we shared are available on the Conference website for all to see.

Also, some have asked for the text that I read from my Journal. I wrote it during my December visit to Nigeria after visiting our mission hospital in Zing where patients desperately wait, sometimes two or three to a bed, for help....for a doctor....we no longer have one there. Next to the hospital complex is a new, state of the art (for Nigeria) eye hospital....also with no doctor....no funds....only a very dedicated nurse. When there was a doctor there, hundreds would come from as far as Cameroon....there are so many in Africa suffering from eye diseases carried by water and insects....many are blind....and waiting....waiting for help....no doctor....no mission funds.....waiting. The nurse asked me why the United Methodists in the U.S. could not provide more help....like it used to?

The day before I had been at a wonderful outdoor service of about 8,000 in a remote area where some of the people had walked for days to get there. Most of those who came are very financially poor, but very rich in spirit. When the offering time came, the music started....and then the dancing...the people from each area represented came joyfully processing, singing and dancing, up to the large offering basket....children, old folk, teenagers (who had climbed up into the trees so they could see), mothers with babies wrapped on their fronts....singing and dancing....led by the pastors dressed in their black robes and white stoles that fluttered and billowed like wings of the Spirit...singing and dancing....such joy....such generosity....such faith that if they risked giving their little, God would provide for tomorrow (no 401k plans here....many of the pastors and D.S.'s hadn't been paid for months)....the pastors we re leading...........And then they called on the Bishops!!! Bishop Ntambo (from the Congo where they do this almost always) and Bishop Weaver (from New England where they do this almost never.....I never have figured out how to get my right foot to follow my left foot in dancing....that's why a hundred years ago I did OK at the "twist"....but I didn't think that would work here.) But with God all things are possible.....and when the Spirit says "dance" (and be generous), somehow the Spirit provides.....and Bishop Ntambo and I danced our way to the offering...and the offering baskets and hearts overflowed....the "Lord loves a cheerful giver," (the Greek word used in the New Testament for "cheerful" is "hilarion." The "Lord loves a hilarious giver"....think about your church....your own giving.)

And after experiencing all of this on the day before, the nurse at the hospital that day asked me why the United Methodists in the U.S. could not provide more help??? That night I wrote in my Journal: "What shall I tell them?....that we are too poor with our multiple TV sets and cars...and our Christmas tables laden with more food than many in Nigeria will see in a month. What shall I tell them, who tithe what little they have, when they ask how our mission dollars can be declining if our American United Methodist's are tithing? What shall I tell the Nigerian pastors who lead the way in the offering dance...pastors who have not been paid for months...about our pastors who will not lead in stewardship efforts, or even give "Together for Tomorrow" a good faith effort? What shall I tell them about churches that tell me they cannot pay 100% of their Mission Share, and then show me their new kitchen? What shall I tell them about churches that disagree on this denominational issue or that issue and think they will make a difference by not sending their mission share dollars, when th e only impact they will have is to leave a child without a doctor in Zing? What shall I tell them about the too many Christmas gifts I will buy with my VISA card to honor the Christ who gave it all for the poor....and the poor in spirit like me?

O Lamb of God who takes away the sins of self centeredness, greed, waste, lack of boldness, gluttony, and reluctance to love our neighbors as we love ourselves....have mercy upon us." What would you tell them?

♦ A COUPLE OF GREAT OUTREACH IDEAS: At the Scituate UMC, the pastor and some of the laity of the church hand out free two cents stamps, now that the postal rate has gone up.....the gift opens up conversation about their church and the greater gift of God's Love (that is even more amazingly free than a two cents stamp!).....it "sends the message." At Wellspring UMC, where I preached last Sunday, they are still giving free cups of hot chocolate in the nearby Christmas Tree Store parking lot...they were heading out that afternoon....even on Super Bowl Sunday. (They worship in a kind of community hall that they rent...when I got up to preach I noticed a gold and black Steelers' terrible towel hanging in the back of the hall....it was a "sign" of things to come...enough said.) This new congregation start has also amazingly exceeded it's $25,000 Together for Tomorrow goal already....reaching $34,000+. (By the way, Together for Tomorrow is now nearing $8 million in commitments...and many churches have been greatly blessed in the process...thanks.)

♦ Next week I will be at the Northeastern Jurisdictional College of Bishops meeting. Pray for us as we seek God's wisdom and guidance as we focus on leadership resources for equipping congregations "make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world".....that is our mission statement as a Council of Bishops.....and God is doing amazing things not only in the New England Conference, but throughout the United Methodist movement.

♦ Pardon one more football reference....knowing that I am a native of Pittsburgh, someone sent me an email with the message: "GO STILLERS".....while we should be "still and know that God is God," there also comes the time for mission-action....had the Steelers been "stillers" only, the game would have been lost. Once you know that "God is God" the mission-action starts in our congregations and community and God's love become "victorious" over the hatred and injustices and human suffering that confronts us on all sides...and is within us. It is wonderful to be partners (on the same team) with you in this ministry!

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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January 30, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

I have come home from Liberia, West Africa, more convinced than ever that "partnership" is God's way of changing lives and the world...changing both partners as both give and receive. Founded in 1822 by freed slaves from America, the capitol of Monrovia (named after U.S. President James Monroe) is home to the First United Methodist Church, also started in 1822.

I was there to represent the world-wide United Methodist Church as we joined Liberians to celebrate the inauguration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as President of Liberia (and the first woman elected President in Africa....they are ahead of the U.S.) She has been an active, life-long United Methodist and member of First Church, Monrovia. She requested that there be an ecumenical service of prayer at First Church on Sunday, Jan. 15, the day before her inauguration. The church was packed. The service was covered live from beginning to end. CNN was there along with many African and European media.

President Sirleaf, the Vice President (an active Baptist), and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (also United Methodist) were all there. Next door was the United Methodist school at which they had all been educated. Like Nelson Mandela of South Africa, so many of the new progressive leaders of Africa have been educated in Methodist mission schools. The next time your church is debating its mission share, just think of Nelson Mandela and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and thousands of others whose lives have been transformed and who have given themselves to the transforming of nations and the world!

During the service we sang hymns selected by President Sirleaf: "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee," "Jesus Is All the World to Me,, "We've a Story to Tell to the Nation," "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," "A Charge to Keep I Have,” and finally the singing of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus (with all the stops pulled out....and great African rhythm). I watched the President as she sang. She sang all the hymns, almost all the words, from heart! And by that I do not mean just from memory...no, by heart...with a heart of feeling, conviction, and deep commitment.

The Liberian United Methodist Bishop, John Innis, preached a stirring sermon titled: "A New Heart For Our Nation" based on Matthew 5:1-2...."Blessed are the pure in heart...." Then came prayers....lots of prayers...these are praying people...prayer has seen them through fifteen years of chaos and war (even the capitol city has been, and still is, without electricity or running water for fifteen years)...but prayer has provided "light" and the assurance of God's "living water." And the United Methodist Church has been there through it all. A United Methodist layman who heads a major electrical firm near Chicago is bringing engineers from his company to Liberia to see if they can help restore electricity....imagine that...all through United Methodist contacts...partners in ministry!

On the flight into Monrovia, I sat next to a young woman from Norway who works with refugees through the United Nations. As we talked, she asked me what I do. I was tempted to say, as some of you will recall from my sermon at our Conference Ordination Service last June, "I raise the dead!" But instead I responded with the tamer, "I'm a United Methodist minister." "Oh," she said, "United Methodist!...like in UMCOR...United Methodist Committee on Relief?....They are one of the best organizations with which we work...they're doing great things in the refugee camps...helping orphaned children, and the hungry.... holding death at bay!" Indeed, we, you are a part of the 21st Century death defiers...the raisers of the dying...through your prayers and offerings, and our brother and sister United Methodists and UMCOR in Liberia and all around the world.

At the end of the service I presented a Bible (following the tradition we use with U.S. presidents) to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Before the service started, a security official came over to me and said they had to check the Bible...could be dangerous stuff. In this day and age, I, of course, understood...they did the same with the Bible I gave President Bush (except it took them about a week to check it out...maybe someone was reading it...we can hope). When I gave the Bible to President Sirleaf I told her this story and how I had said to one of the security officials, "Be careful how you handle this Bible...it contains the greatest power in the world!" Yes, the gentle power of God's love...more powerful than all the empires that ever reigned, all the armies that ever marched, all the bank accounts ever amassed....the power of God's love that can change lives and the world. She nodded her head, "Yes!" She knows it....pray for her, Liberia, our world, and our United Methodist partnerships around the world that are bringing Gospel life to so many place of death and dying. (More on Liberia next week)

♦ Bishop Innis's sermon and President Sirleaf's great inaugural address can be found on ALLAFRICA.COM, a wonderful news service run by some United Methodists whom I bumped into on the plane flying into Liberia...God is good....and amazing....all the time!

♦ Pray for the following congregations on the Boston Metro Hope District that I am visiting this week.... partners in critical urban ministries: St. James UMC, Stoneham; Crawford Memorial UMC, Winchester; First Community/Medford, Medford; Mt Bellingham UMC, Chelsea; Saugus Community Brazilian, Saugus; East Saugus, Saugus; Trinity, Lynn; Lake Shore, Lynn; First UMC, Peabody; Essex, S. Hamilton; Wesley, Salem; St. Stephens, Marblehead.

♦ Also, pray for the special clergy session we will be having this Saturday as we seek God's leading to be better "partners in ministry" for the sake of Christ, his church, and the world.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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January 10, 2006

Dear Partners in Ministry,

♦ HAPPY NEW DAY or moment may be a better greeting than “Happy New Year,” describing how the gift of life comes to each of us. One new breath at a time. One new opportunity for reconciliation at a time. One new challenge to keep that "new year's resolution," at a time. One new occasion for choosing God's will or our own, at a time. Happy are those who treasure each moment, live it fully, and know, in the words of last Sunday's lectionary reading, (Mark 1) they are "beloved" by God in that moment...and trust, by faith, that it will always be so....no matter what the next moment, day, or year may bring.

♦ NEW YEAR’S DAY our family gathered in North Carolina for the baptism of our first grandchild, Emory Grace Schelling. (I'll show you the pictures later....but you get the picture don't you!) I was blessed to be the one to baptize her. She clearly has a hunger for faith, in that she got a hold of my cross during the baptism, trying to put it in her mouth. And then the wonderful pastor of the congregation took her from my arms (I somewhat reluctantly let go....of her....and that moment) and he walked with her up and down the aisles of the church letting the congregation get an up-close-and-personal look...some waved...one blew a kiss. The pastor gently shared that Emory is a gift of God, entrusted to this community of faith for loving and nurturing. Having let go of her, as we all must do with our children and grandchildren, I stood there realizing more deeply than ever that Emory, is not ultimately “our” child, but God's beloved child...and we are partners with God with every child God entrusts to us and any of our congregations.

And we sang that moving hymn from The Faith We Sing that powerfully affirms God's presence: "I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold....I’ll be there to guide you through the night."

That night, as January 1 turned to January 2, around 4 a.m. a fifty-one year old beloved child of God with the baptized name Martin Toler, Jr. got up and headed into a new day of life in Upshur County, WV. Down past the little white country church, named after the baptizer...Sago Baptist Church...and into the day/night of the mine where he was foreman of the crew that headed for the unexpected. "I'll be there...." His brother Tom says that he is sure Martin spent his last hours in that mine talking with others about faith....the faith we learn in communities of faith....often starting when we are babies... when someone who loves us, and knows God loves us, puts some water on our head.... and someone waves, and another blows a kiss, and sometime later we learn to sing, "Jesus loves me, this I know," or later still, "I'll be there to guide you through the night."

Martin's last note: "Tell them all....I’ll see them all on the other side....I love you, Jr." A fifty-one year old beloved child of God with the baptized name Martin Toler, Jr. got up and headed into a new day of life....for eternity

Don't ever doubt the importance of common water sprinkled on a child's head, or your community of faith and love, no matter how large or small. Keep sharing the Good News that in life, and death, and life beyond death, we...infant and elder...are God's beloved!

♦ Pray for these wonderful, loving, "baptizing," congregations that I am visiting this week on the Central Massachusetts District: George Whitefield UMC, Brookfield; First UMC, Spencer; Wellspring UMC, Shrewsbury; Hudson; First UMC, Marlborough; First UMC, Framingham; Wesley, Framingham; Community UMC, Wayland; Sudbury; Weston.

♦ RECOVERY SPOKEN HERE" is on the signboard of one of our churches I visited recently. The church has eight or so "recovery groups" (AA, NA, etc.) meeting there...plus that sign of welcome has attracted people from other recovery groups to worship and involvement in the congregation.

♦ Thursday, I leave for LIBERIA, AFRICA, where Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will be inaugurated as the first woman President of any country in Africa (note they are ahead of the U.S., too). She is a very active and committed United Methodist. As President of the Council of Bishops, I have been invited by her and Bishop John Innis of Liberia to attend the inauguration ceremonies on January 16 and participate in a national service of prayer and unity at which I will present President Johnson Sirleaf with a Bible from the Council of Bishops. Mrs. Laura Bush, also a United Methodist, is expected to represent the United States government at these events along with Secretary of State Rice. President Johnson Sirleaf received some of her education here at Harvard and has been a leading supporter of human rights and peace in Africa and the world. Bishop Innis has family living in our Conference and there are many Liberi ans who are members in some of our churches. This Sunday, offer prayers for our sisters and brothers of Liberia and for their President as she begins her historic service in Liberia and the world.

And as we pray for Liberia, and remember Martin Luther King, Jr., may we all commit ourselves, wherever we are, to be instruments of God's Peace.

Grace and Peace,

Pete

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Lay Speakers Go Back to the Classroom to Renew Their Spirit of Service to Christ

By Larry Price

editor@nkumcri.com

Published Saturday April 9, 2005 and updated April 16, 2005

Nine RISEM certified lay speakers from several United Methodist Churches from Cape Cod and one from North Kingstown UMC, Rhode Island began 10 hours of classroom learning and sharing on Saturday April 9 at South Yarmouth United Methodist Church. The group gathered again on Saturday April 16 for the final all day session to be re-certified as advanced lay speakers in the RISEM District.

(Photo at left, South Yarmouth UMC on Cape Cod)

Lay speakers from throughout the New England Conference repeat the exercise every 1 to 3 years, each time learning a new discipline that is part of a lay speaker's commitment to serving as a disciple of Christ. Usually, the classes are offered on different subjects at various churches over 5 nights, but the class at South Yarmouth is experimenting with two longer sessions over two days.

The South Yarmouth class focused on stewardship and learning that stewardship is not about a once-a-year-giving campaign to raise money to pay the bills at your church. It is about using the talents that God has given you to witness for Christ and grow and nurture other disciples of Christ who are filled with God's presence and become joyful givers in gratitude for all that God has entrusted to us. The theory is if a congregation is filled with the spirit of God and feels it has an important mission to serve God, financial giving will follow all year long. The South Yarmouth class is being taught by Andy Bennett of Harwich, MA.

On Saturday April 16, the group completed its studies. In closing ceremonies, former NKUMC pastor The Rev. Richard Davis, now retired and a member at South Yarmouth UMC, celebrated Holy Communion with the group.

(Photo at left, Lay Speakers after completing the two day course on Stewardship)

Throughout the RISEM District and the New England Conference, classes are being held during the month for the re-certification of advanced lay speakers and certification of new lay speakers. Lay speakers preach, study scripture, serve as liturgists and are expected to take a leading role in 'servant leadership' at their churches. There is no age requirement for leadership and lay speakers can vary in age from young adults to the most senior church member. The South Yarmouth class includes an 80-year old man who offered a stirring witness for Christ during today's first session. One of the many benefits of attending lay speaking classes is the opportunity to meet Christians from other churches and hear their faith stories. Not all lay speakers end up preaching from the pulpit, although many do, but all gain a confidence in serving Christ. They learn to listen to others and know the moment when Christ is calling them to put aside shyness or embarrassment and speak out in helping another find the joy of Christ.

If you are moved to become a lay speaker, check the next schedule of classes throughout the Conference. Classes are offered each Spring and Fall. Pray about it, talk with your pastor or one of the lay speakers at your church. You'll find it a rewarding experience.

"This Place of Worship Which Our Hands Have Made" PRESERVING 38 YEARS OF STEWARDSHIP: PHOTOS FROM THE PAST OFFER FAITH FOR THE FUTURE -- Full Story and copy of newspaper story announcing the birth of NKUMC> | Related: An Historical Timeline | Eleanor Bourn's historical account of NKUMC's birth

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