Peering into the Future
Reviewing worship attendance numbers at staff, it was noteworthy that while in-house attendance has remained flat over the last year, online viewership has increased 39%. What those numbers really mean is hard to parse. But of those numbers, we have had a consistent average of 86 YouTube accesses each week, which does not tell us how many people are worshiping in each home. If that is even 1.5 persons per view, then that attendance number is 129. Add that to the average 302 people in-house plus some number of Facebook worshipers and you have a total that approaches our pre-pandemic attendance totals.
These are calculations of reality that I never imagined five years ago. Online? QR codes for registering attendance? Zoom meetings and virtual classes? None of these were part of our life together in 2019. Now it is difficult to imagine our lives without them, they seem so common. Technology – and the future – came at us all jarringly fast.
It should not surprise us then, that as we gather in our small groups over the next several weeks to discuss what our church could look like 5-10 years from now, we will feel discomfort – even jarringly so – because it will seem so different, strange, and even off-putting. Our Church Council created a Futurist Team to imagine scenarios for our church in the future given several unavoidable “drivers” that are changing the way people think and act about their faith, worship, and involvement in a church. Like the pandemic, these drivers are unavoidable and affect nearly all churches in similar ways. Our responsibility as leaders is to prepare FUMC Plano for those coming changes. Therefore, as we did with the sale of land and the reality of disaffiliation in our denomination, the Futurist Team is holding a series of Open Chat Sessions for you to hear and respond to our best research and prediction of our likely future. You will also have the opportunity to offer your best ideas; this is, after all, the church of all of us.
These Open Chat Sessions will be via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and Thursday, Sept. 19. Click HERE to sign up and receive the Zoom Link. There will also be two in-person Open Chat Sessions on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 9:30 and 11 a.m. No need to RSVP for those; just come to the Chapel.
So, bring your open minds, bring your imagination, and bring your faith as together we lean forward into our future with our best collective thinking. As the Spirit moved through the house churches in the first 200 years after Christ before there ever was a formal “church,” so the Spirit will move through us and move us toward the Christ who is in front of us, always leading us into the future that God sees.
Thank you for your prayers, participation, and investment in that future.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
The Landscape Changes
One of the most mesmerizing experiences of my renewal leave was to watch transfixed the transformation of the view behind our cabin in a matter of days.
Three years ago hurricane-force winds, along with years of tree-loss due to disease and bark beetles, resulted in dense treefall in much of the forests around our area which created plenty of fuel for eventual forest fires. The U.S Forestry Service and local fire-fighting agencies partnered to thin out the San Isabel National Forest with financial incentives for property owners to do the same. The owners of the 40 acres behind us which abuts the national forest hired an outfit that came in with hydraulic rotors attached to excavators and tank-like vehicles (see above). This operation took down a 50-foot pine and ground it into chips within five minutes – a task that took half a day for me and my chainsaw. It was fascinating to watch.
Within three days, the dense undergrowth spanning 100 yards behind our cabin perch was cleared. And for the first time you could see the stand of tall white-trunked aspen in the distance next to Dodgeton Creek, leaves flickering in the breeze. On the floor were the ground remains of downed trees. A year from now a growing array of wildflowers and grasses coaxed forward by the sunlight that will now be able to reach the forest floor. It is resurrection in a most beautiful form.
One thing I learned during my prayer and renewal time is that resurrection was not a one-time, time-bound event that we celebrate at Easter, but rather an every-moment reality for the eyes that look and see. One of the reasons I am excited to be back is to see how the landscape is changing around us – literally and figuratively. God is at work in the resurrection that is happening before our eyes on a scale that is far beyond our individual abilities and the tools we each have. But like the Forest Service in partnership with other public and private interests, when we pull together as a church, the landscape changes. Transformation happens, resurrection is before us, and Christ is alive in ways we could not have imagined or seen otherwise.
It is good to be back; it will be even better to see what God will be up to in our landscape this fall. See you in church this Sunday!
Who’s at Your Table?
by Guest Writer Rev. Judith Reedy
“We all start on the outside, the outside looking in. This is where grace begins. Just when all hope seems lost, love opens the door for us. (Jesus) said, ‘Come to the table…sit down and be set free.’”
This past Sunday pastor Amy challenged us in the most engaging way to answer that question! She implied that our answer may come as it did to Peter – while we are on our way to answer the door. Do we, as did Peter, invite everyone to our table, whether it be Gentiles, tanners, or Jews, or fill-in-the- blank, or do we require more time to think about it?
When my family built a modest gathering place in the “country,” we wanted to have enough space for a long Amish table. We placed that table with benches and chairs right in the center of an open space and immediately realized there was not enough room for everyone at our first Thanksgiving. We brought in – temporarily – a sturdy picnic table that Rick had bought at an auction. We have continued to add people at that second table, and now we are packed in at meals, fully using both tables. One of my daughters-in-law looked at me recently and said, “You know we can never move that table outside, right?”
The delightful part of that is that at those two tables, we all do not look the same and we do not all think the same, yet there we all are – huddled in close together, breaking bread together.
Pastor Amy said that Peter’s decision to include everyone happened on the way to answer the knock at the door. It was dinner time, and he invited them in, and they sat at the table together. Were they finally able at that table to see God in one another? If so, it was nothing less than the reconciling work of God and God’s love and grace.
Many of you are often at table with others at Drinks and Discussions, Dinners for 8, youth dinners, Sunday night dinners, Maundy Thursday meal, and so many others. As Pastor Amy said, at most any function we have, there is food … and there is a table.
Melting Into Grace
By Rev. Rebecca Grogan, Minister of Adult Education
I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond tired of the hot weather. I am no hypocrite though; you’ll also hear me whining about the cold weather. I find this to be the pinnacle of the human condition. We have a hard time with contentment.
The world doesn’t help us much. As Christians we are supposed to “be like Jesus.” That isn’t reflected in the news, social media, and our political system … much less how strangers are treated and those different from us.
So, what does that mean to us? That means as Christians, we must take a stand. Not by “drawing a line in the sand” kinda stand, but within us to not join in the world view. We must be humble in our stand, not self-righteous. We must remember that we believe in love. That doesn’t mean we have to be silent, but humble and loving if we have to respond.
If you are participating in a Sunday morning class, you’ve probably heard this. If you go to worship on a regular basis, you’ve probably heard this. But now, now, we need to practice what we’ve learned. Grace is how we know God to be. Let grace in your life be your witness.
Change and Context
By Rev. Rebecca Grogan, Minister of Adult Education
With the kids going back in school, I remember my first day of school and wanting to wear my new sweater. My mom wisely let me. It was too hot for a sweater, and I almost melted walking home from school that day. But it’s fall, isn’t it? Time for a change.
Change, even if it’s for a good reason, can be hard to handle. After overhearing a conversation in which one person was explaining a change to another, I wonder if communication isn’t the reason that change is met with opposition. Change needs to be clearly communicated and in defense of all, we just don’t hear all the same.
This comes to reading too. The Bible is not an easy book to understand at times. It was written a long time ago, in a culture far different from ours. However, people are people no matter what the century. In the Bible it’s important to understand what it meant to those for whom it was written before we can interpret that truth to our own time. We have to know the context of what we are reading.
With that in mind, I am beginning a class in September from a book entitled Context by Josh Scott. It is all about understanding scriptures from the Bible by examining the original circumstances of that time. It’s a great way to begin reading your Bible or to get better insight from your current Bible study.
I knew a woman in another church, who attended every Sunday and was active in Church Council. She confessed to me she didn’t know where any of the biblical stories I had used as sermon material. I was surprised. She relies on what she hears in church or anywhere for that matter to inform her faith and spiritual walk. That’s a good way to get hoodwinked into erroneous “truths.” We all need to know how we believe and what we do to walk in the way of Jesus.
I invite you to purchase Context by Josh Scott, bring a Bible, and attend this study on Mondays either at 10 a.m. or 7 p.m. Registration links are below. Come learn how to read your Bible and be inspired by the deep truths it has to reveal.
“Water, Water, Everywhere …”
by Rev. Judith Reedy, Associate Pastor
The 227- year- old poem goes on to say, “and all the boards did shrink.”
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a tale of crime, punishment, and redemption. A Mariner shoots an Albatross (a bird of good fortune) and is gravely punished by an outside force for this act. However, by learning to love, the Mariner is partially absolved.
In 2024, we understand something of the cause and effect of water everywhere - right here at FUMC Plano.
On the afternoon of July 4, as we were preparing for our Patriotic Pops concert, we sustained a leak in the sacristy (see “before” on the left). The sacristy is right behind the choir loft and stores many seasonal paraments, banners, candles, and communion supplies in various cabinets.
Doug Gray, our Facilities Manager, immediately began the process of wading through and drying out the sacristy, and his brother Nick soon joined him to begin that labor-intensive job. The concert was a rousing success, and most folks were unaware of the water leak.
In the coming weeks, members of the altar guild, staff, and office volunteers –and of course Randy Jennings–worked with Doug and his team to move and reorganize the contents of the sacristy (see “after” on the right).
Fast forward a month to the evening of August 6. A water line break under the chapel coincided with a hot water heater break on the second floor, and we were in drying-out and remediation mode again! Point people were here immediately to see the drying-out through, morning events were bumped up, alternative locations were designated, and plans are being made for remediation.
I am in no way implying that the above occurrences are tales of crime, punishment, and redemption. I am claiming, however, that this community is a place where we learn to rebuild as we work together, and in our work together, we learn to love.
See you on Sunday as our very own Minister with Youth and Families, Sarah Henson, brings a “fresh voice.”
IT REALLY DOES TAKE A VILLAGE!
by Guest Writer Rev. Judith Reedy
Pastor Judith Reedy visited the village of Ganta in Liberia in 2004.
On a recent trip to fire and flood devastated Ruidoso, we discovered that visitors to that “village” are frequenting the small, sparsely attended shops there and supporting those shops with their purchases. I was reminded of my second trip to Liberia, when a group of high school and college students – along with a few of their parents and one of my sons – stayed with me in the jungles of Liberia in a village called Ganta. It was there I learned the true meaning of the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.”
One of the women who cooked our meals told me that she was “raising” her sister’s daughter because her sister only had enough money to feed her first child and could not afford another. She saw my surprise and asked, “Wouldn’t you do that for your sister?”
I said, “Yes, but I cannot imagine that my sister would ever ‘allow’ me to raise her child.”
She said, “What if it were the best thing for her child? Children need more than one or two parents. After all, ‘It takes a village.’”
The African proverb means that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children so those children can experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. For our church, this proverb means that a community of people must provide for and interact positively with not only the children, but one another, especially through these next three months and into perpetuity!
Pastor Matt obviously subscribes to this proverb as he takes his sabbatical with the utmost confidence in the congregation and the staff. He knows “the village” will be caring and capable disciples, praying for and helping one another, at every possible turn in the road, “doing unto others.” Thanks be to God!
See you Sunday in worship,
Dogs Days End and We’re Off to the Races!
Meteorologist Pete Delkus of WFAA Channel 8 said last night that the “dog days of summer” – the hottest days – officially end on August 14 … which is just about the time that fall activity at our church begins heating up! As new Minister of Adult Education Rev. Rebecca Grogan noted about our fall planning session two weeks ago, “Y’all have a LOT going on in this church.” From a “balcony” level, here are some shifts and surprises in store for you this fall:
Fresh Voices series during the month of August kicks off on Aug. 4 with Rev. Blair Thompson (who has been consulting with our Futurist Team over the summer) preaching and Mardi Bowen leading our Blessing of the Backpacks.
A congregational survey coming in August from our Futurist Team, followed by a host of small group meetings with all who want to attend with God’s future for our church in mind.
Rev. Rebecca Grogan joins us on August 1, working with our adult Sunday School classes, two new Bible studies, and new offerings for fall.
Griffin Shoemaker begins leading our Modern Blended Service musically in August while also working with our Children’s Choir and Youth Band.
Enough: Discovering the Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity, by Rev. Adam Hamilton will lead our preaching and teaching focus in September as we lean into God’s generosity in our lives and our response to that grace.
Our Golf F.O.R.E. Good golf tournament on Sept. 24 will be our focused fundraiser that largely replaces the parking income from the Plano Balloon Festival in past years.
Our new maintenance shed will be under construction and bids received for the parking and driveway of our “new front door” on the cross side of our church.
Do Unto Others will be our preaching and teaching focus in October as we learn and pray to love God and one another first as we make our way to the polls for the sake of our country.
We will remember with thanksgiving our departed saints in what always is a holy service on Nov. 3.
Multiple mission opportunities sprinkled all along the way.
In all these ways, we live out our Wesleyan heritage of personal piety and social holiness, connecting God and grace to self and community all along the way. To the leadership of our great laity and staff, again I say, “thank you.”
Rev. Judith Reedy is our Pastor-in-Charge beginning Monday, July 26, and I already look forward to being back in the pulpit on Sept. 1 (Labor Day weekend) to hear all that will have transpired. We will already be off to the races with the good news of Jesus Christ and his great love, thanks be to God!
In prayer for you all along the way,
Finding God in the Wilderness
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
This will be my morning routine for the month of August.
Earlier this year, our Staff Parish Relations Committee granted my request for a one-month renewal leave. By our Book of Discipline, clergy are encouraged to take a renewal leave or sabbatical every seven years for the purpose of returning renewed, recharged, and purposeful for the sake of the church and its mission. In 38 years of ministry, I have never taken one. We have been through a lot of transition in the last four years and more is coming, including new construction, new staff members, new ministries, and a new capital campaign next spring. Plus, our Futurist Team is working at the request of our Church Council to discern the direction our church needs to take in the next 5-10 years. All of this requires our best and my best.
Though it has the earmarks of a vacation, a renewal leave is different. On a vacation, you barely have time to unwind before you are winding back up and increasingly, we all “do just a little work” from wherever we are to keep the work wheels turning so that we can enjoy the rest of our vacation day. Our Lay Leader, David Boatfield – also on SPRC – advised me differently. He had taken a renewal leave while working for Adidas and what he learned he shared with me. “If you are calling, texting, emailing or otherwise staying connected to the work, then it is not a renewal leave.”
I have taken that advice to heart and have worked this month to do my fall work in advance to make sure all our systems are in good hands – both staff and laity. I know they are. Rev. Judith Reedy will be my one contact from the church and only in the event of a crisis. Our excellent staff is here to help you with your ideas, questions, and needs.
Otherwise, Cammy and I will be at our cabin in Colorado, cutting down dead trees, chipping the piles to make walking paths, hosting some family and friends, hiking, reading, and watching hummingbirds, nuthatches, and blue jays at the feeders on the porch. It is a solitary-feeling place where God feeds my soul. I will be away and in prayer and for all of you.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Only God Alone Can See
“The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed ...”
I just came from the South Central Jurisdiction Conference after listening to a stirring episcopal (bishop) address by Bishop Fierro Cynthia Harvey of the Texas Conference based in Houston. Bishop Harvey used this text and reminded us that by our baptism we are all seed-planters for God’s intended kingdom and that we rarely get to see the tree that grows into full maturity with all the different birds that flock to rest there. She was talking about the Church now and the Church we need to be in the decades that are coming. The Church for people who are looking for unconditional acceptance and love, regardless of their background, their ethnicity, their handicapping condition, their socio-economic level, the people they love, their knowledge of the Bible, or what they believe or don’t believe. They are looking for a place of true grace where they can find community and connection with a people of grace.
For the next three weeks, I will be preaching on our Vision Statement, “Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” As the description says, we have come a long way from the horse and buggy days of 1847 when FUMC Plano was founded in a cabin a half mile up E. Spring Creek Parkway. However, the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world has remained the same. Those first Methodists in 1847 could not have dreamed of the ways in which FUMC Plano has come to live into that vision at 3160 E. Spring Creek Parkway. Similarly, we cannot imagine how future United Methodists will carry on that same mission 147 years from now in 2171. But as Bishop Harvey reminded us, the seed-planting starts now. See you Sunday!
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,