Church guide

Our Sermons are now on YouTube! You'll find us at: AsburyInEHT UMC .

THE WEDNESDAY POST 7/10/19 I guess I really don’t have to tell anyone that I am, at least at times, a weather “geek”. You see, I was thinking about this warm Summer weather and thinking back to when I was growing up in North Jersey. We would have what we called “Cook-outs”. My father would take out a very small charcoal grill, douse it with gasoline, and throw a match on it. Of course, it would literally explode, flames shooting up into the air, and completely charring anything on the ground under the grill. I did have to hand it to him, we never had to worry about whether the fire was going to start!!! And NO!!, I do NOT recommend that method of starting any kind of fire. So we would usually have hamburgers and/or cheeseburgers. Sometimes hotdogs, but they were more of a lunch thing for me, not a family dinner thing in our household. We actually had a wooden picnic table in the back yard, so we would put a plastic tablecloth over it and sit down to our Cook-out. We tended to do more talking when we ate outside. Not sure why. But maybe, especially in the Summer, I always wanted to finish the meal so I could get back outside to play some more before it would be time for bed. But if I was already outside, that draw seemed to have dissipated. So we talked. And I heard stories. Stories about when my parents grew up, stories about my grandparents, stories about my sister and me when we were younger. Sometimes, in our “modern” world of technology toys, social media and way too extensive choices of video media, we forget to tell each other stories. And we then miss out on all the richness of those family-based yarns. Tonight, at the Asbury Church, we will be having Dinner Church, with “Cook-out” food. We will have a brief worship service, we will share in communion, and we will, no doubt, engage in stories. People will sit around a table and talk. And probably, at one point or another, stories will emerge. It is part of our human heritage. Come and join us, and maybe even tell a story!? Asbury United Methodist Church, 290 Asbury Rd, EHT. Dinner Church starts at 6:30 and the goodies are complimentary! Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 7/3/19 That Summer weather I mentioned last week is here to stay! We decided to get to the beach so we traveled down to Strathmere yesterday afternoon after 4:30 or so. And we hit a bunch of traffic. I first thought “sure, it is summer and there will be lots of traffic.” But then I realized it was Monday afternoon. Not a time when a whole lot of people from north Jersey, eastern PA and even the New York area are coming down to the shore. That is something we all have to get used to every year. More traffic, more people in the supermarkets, more people in the restaurants, and even in Wawa. So, was it “rush hour”? I don’t know. There was a fair amount of traffic southbound on the Parkway. When we got off at exit 14, the exit ramp was backed up almost back to the Parkway itself. There is only a stop sign at the end of the ramp, so if there is a lot of traffic, it can get backed up. But, its Monday!? They are doing more work on the causeway out to Sea Isle, so, of course, traffic was backed up. It took over 30 minutes just to get to the beach at Strathmere. Now, I can’t complain. It was a beautiful day. The water was nice and clear, and cool, which often times goes along with clear. When we finally arrived, we sat down and just rested. I brought a book, but never opened it up. It was amazing just to watch the people, the boats coming in and out of Corson’s Inlet, watch the gulls, and just watch the water. Amazingly restful! A real blessing. And there was one other blessing that was not obvious to me at first. That other blessing was the traffic, the crowds, the people from far away who were there. Yes, traffic is worse. Yes, supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants and even Wawas are more crowded. So where is the blessing, you ask? I see it in the economic impact those “shoobies” make on our region. Without them, the economies of Atlantic County, even more so Cape May County, and all the shore communities would grind to a halt very quickly. Look at the impact of the casino closings on Egg Harbor Township. Our own wellbeing is tied directly to all of those people who get in our way, and make us wait at places we normally don’t have to wait. The next time you want to scream at all the traffic, just keep in mind that where we live, we are much better off with them than without them. Sometimes blessings can show up in the strangest ways! Continued Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 6/26/19 Summer is here, and so is the hazy, hot & humid weather. At least that is in the forecast for the next couple of days, or maybe more. So I guess we just need to get used to it. One summer, a couple of years ago, we never even put the air conditioners in our “retirement” house in Warren County. It stayed cool enough, at least in the evening and overnight, that we never felt the need to plug them in while we were there. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen this year! Things are slowing down all over the place. Except, of course, for the shore traffic that is once again something to be reckoned with anytime we are going anywhere between Friday morning and Monday morning! The church is slowing down too. Looking at our calendar, there are only 4 things happening in the entire month of July except what happens Sunday mornings. Our youth group, Phoenix, meets twice, there is Dinner Church on Wednesday the 10th and our Crafter’s Circle meets on the 16th. Otherwise the calendar is pretty empty. Maybe that is a good thing. We all may need a little “time off”. But someone reminded me once that just because we are on vacation, doesn’t mean the church simply stops. We did a lot of work. Our Sanctuary is now newly painted, and looks amazing. (You really should see it if you haven’t.) July is a time for vacation and relaxing, but ministry doesn’t stop. And, more importantly, the functioning of the church doesn’t stop. That is because God really doesn’t take a vacation. So, maybe while we are taking it easy and not getting involved in anything new, or even some of the same old stuff, just maybe we ought to think about the people in need that we have been supporting all along. They don’t get a vacation from their continuing needs. Those in need are just as much in need in July as they were in April and May. Just because we are taking it easy doesn’t mean they have it any easier. So maybe continuing to pray for them, and even coming to church and worshiping and praying will begin to touch your heart, and move you to do something unique in this “down-time” of Summer. Think about it. Pray about it. Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 6/19/19 What a beautiful day! Humidity is going down, and the threat of rain seems to have vanished, at least for now! Welcome to summer! There were times this winter when I was hard pressed to remember what it was like to walk around in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, but now that weather is here, but I can still remember shoveling the snow! As I get back “in the groove” I realize that we have a concert at the Asbury United Methodist Church this evening. A friend of ours, Charlie Zahm, is an amazing singer and guitar player. We have known Charlie for over 15 years and his skill and ability to entertain has only grown through the years. We also have something called Dinner Church this evening, prior to the concert. The Dinner Church consists of a few gathering songs, a brief message, dinner and dessert, followed by a more casual Communion. Tonight the dinner begins at 6:00 so we will have enough time to finish, clean up, and get into the Sanctuary for the concert at 7:30. The poster talks about Charlie singing Celtic and Maritime songs, but he may also throw in a few hymns and maybe even something more recent. I am anticipating another amazing concert from Charlie. And there really isn’t anything like live performance. We have a number of Charlie’s CD’s. and we love to listen to them, but a live performance is so much richer. We will be blessed by Charlie and his talents tonight and I want to invite you, again, to join us! Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 6/13/19 Wait… What day is it??? Wow. Being on vacation for two weeks is a bit strange. I completely forgot what day it is. I do have a reminder on my phone about the Wednesday Post, but, of course, you have to have the phone turned on, and with you in order to get the reminder!! Yesterday we ended up ordering about 2 cubic yards of recycled concrete. Yes, they even recycle concrete. We wanted to use it as a base for our new patio as well as a base to improve our car parking area at our home in Harmony, Warren County, NJ. Then we took off to go fishing on Mountain Lake, in ---- you guessed it! Mountain Lake, NJ. It is south east of Hope, NJ. It turns out that there are Muskees in the lake, which is one of the few natural spring-fed lakes in New Jersey. We didn’t catch any Muskees, but my wife did get a “hit” that doubled over her rod, but the fish got away. We spent most of the afternoon out on the lake just enjoying the view, the amazing weather, and just relaxing. So… I forgot what day it was. I think I have only missed one other “WEDNESDAY POST” since I began writing the post a few years ago. So, today we ended working all day moving 2 cubic yards of recycled concrete. Just about all day. And I am tired. But, at the same time, there is a feeling of accomplishment. And that is something that I think is important to all of us. And, further, I think often times we don’t give ourselves enough credit for the things we actually do accomplish. Most of the time, what we do is either what our employer expects us to do, or what our family expects us to do, or what our friends expect us to do. So, how do we get that sense of accomplishment? I think, just like I did, we need to recognize what we do on our own, and then celebrate it. I expect to post some pictures on Facebook about the work we did today. So, tonight we are celebrating by going out to dinner. OK, we already planned to do that anyway, but we can still celebrate!!! Whatever it is, even if it is simply accomplishing another day at work, go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back, and celebrate!! Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE 6/5/19 Once in a while it is nice to get away. I am on vacation and spend a on the Delaware River doing some kayaking and fishing. I was on the few hours river just north of the bridge from Belvidere, NJ to Martin’s Creek, PA. Just to let you know, the shad are running! I actually caught one, which is rather remarkable because most of the time the shad are not interested in eating. They are going up river, much like salmon, to spawn and then perhaps to die. There were a few that had completed their task visible on the river. It was supposed to rain this afternoon, but it didn’t. So my trip was delightful. I did try to paddle up a rapid. I had done that last year, but the river is much higher now, and the water speed is much higher, a greater amount of water is flowing down the river and besides my best effort, I finally gave up realizing that I was paddling hard, and seemed to be making progress, only to look over at the far bank and realize that I was keeping up with the flow, but not making any real progress up the rapid. I did catch a large mouth bass, and a small rock bass. But the best part of the day was just being on the river, paddling, casting, and just enjoying the beauty of nature. There was a bald eagle that cruised up the river. I didn’t see him catch anything, but it gave me a little hope as I paddled up the river. If the eagle were looking, maybe there would be some fish available. The temperature was in the high 70’s. While the day started out cloudy, the clouds broke for some blue sky and some direct sun. I ended up getting a little sunburn despite putting on sunscreen. All in all, a good day! But it took effort. Effort to let everything go and just relax. There are times when our lives get so complicated that we seem unable to enjoy the simple pleasures that are available to us. Without them, we can begin to wonder why we do all the things we do. For me, it is the simple pleasures that make everything worthwhile. So…. Let go and enjoy whenever you can! Blessings! Pastor Peter POST

THE WEDNESDAY POST 5/29/19 This is the second day in a row when a lot of us in South Jersey are under a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning. It looks like that may happen again tomorrow. We really don’t need this weather, especially since it is still spring!! But that is not what is on my heart this week. I have mentioned something called the Academy for Spiritual Formation. I attended this for 2 years, one week each quarter, for a total of 8 weeks. It was inspirational. It was actually a community of people working on what are called “Contemplative Practices”. These “practices” can include meditation, silence, journaling, and prayer. Doing things that most people in our society find nearly impossible to have the time to do. But, for me, that is the key. Finding the time, and making the commitment to spend time away from “self” and focus on spiritual aspects. I realize after all this time spend looking into contemplative practices that I really would like to form a group, or small community dedicated to contemplative practices. I first thought of this kind of group consisting of people who might call themselves ‘Spiritual but not Religious.’ Someone suggested I focus on contemplative practices. These practices have changed things for me. They have enabled me to look at things differently, even things that I would normally have taken for granted. It has helped me understand perspectives that I thought I really disagreed with. It has also helped me to listen to people who do hold perspectives and beliefs with which I do disagree. Using contemplative practices helped me understand what happened last week at the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, about which I wrote last week. (You can check that out on our Facebook page or on our Web site, www.asburyineht.com) So, I am looking for others who might be interested in forming this kind of group. If you have any interest at all, contact me through my e-mail address ([email protected] ) and we can figure out how we might form such a group. It may take a while to form, but there is no rush. People should be able to join us anytime along the way. Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 5/22/19 Something amazing happened at the annual meeting of the New Jersey area of the United Methodist Church. Our church is mired in discussions about human sexuality. The United Methodist Church is a truly global church, and a church that traditionally has extended invitations to a broad spectrum of theological positions. Not so when it comes to human sexuality. The New Jersey section is more “progressive” than some other areas around the world that are more “conservative”. But, there are many people in our section of the United Methodist Church that are more conservative as well. But clearly not a majority. The majority was seeking to make a number of statements expressing solidarity with people on the more progressive side of the issue. Our presiding Bishop literally pulled up a chair in front of about 1,200 people in a very large hall, the Wildwood Convention Center, and had a chat with us. He focused on the need to stop fighting. He was pretty clear that as long as both sides seek to tell the other side just how wrong they really are, we will never get anywhere. He proposed that we stop fighting. And that meant that the proposed statements coming from the majority progressive movement were not introduced. No vote was taken on them. They will not be part of the permanent record of what was discussed at our gathering. Many progressives there were dismayed. But the Bishop had a point. No matter what the issue is, if we are unable to listen to people with whom we don’t agree, really listen. Understand their perspective, and even acknowledge them for their thoughtfulness in discussing their ideas and positions. Only then can we truly accept each other as different, but sharing many of the same basic beliefs. That is one of the main problems within the United Methodist Church, and, I believe, in our country in general. We don’t want to talk to people who don’t agree with us, and we tend to want to focus only on our “side” of whatever issue is being discussed. Today families are alienated from each other based on political positions. The saddest perspective, pointed out by the Bishop, is that the more we fight, the more intrenched each side becomes, and the more we refuse to actually listen. So, in an area of the United Methodist Church which is generally more progressive, a progressive stance on human sexuality was not heard, received, voted on, or approved. It is the first step coming out of the New Jersey section on a long road to reconciliation. I thanked our Bishop for forcing to us to take that step. I pray that we can continue on that path. And I also pray that we, as a country made up of a wide variety of opinions that we can begin to do the same thing. Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 5/15/19 Please forgive my tardiness. Today was a longer day than most! Sometimes I think people find it hard to “see” God, or any evidence of the presence of God. I learned a long time ago that there is no philosophical proof of God’s existence. Nor is there a philosophical proof that God doesn’t exist. Usually we make up our mind based on our own experiences and personal biases. But, for me, seeing small things in nature is one way to sense the presence of God. I know, just because a flower is beautiful doesn’t “prove” God is here. But for me, a beautiful flower, or especially the azaleas flowering on the front walk of our parsonage home get me closer to creation and to the one who created us. Spiritual people throughout the ages have used nature as a means to connect to a higher power. For me, any connection to that higher power involves a sense of joy. So I feel very joyful when I walk around the development in which I live and see all of the flowering trees and shrubs. Seeing all of that beauty gives me a sense of joy. And it is that sense of joy that continues to connect me to God. I realize that people are still hurting. I will try to help those that I know about. The beauty of nature, flowers, flowering trees and shrubs give me great joy. I wish I could sometimes share that joy with people who find it hard to experience joy in their lives. Some of us are struggling just to get by. Others struggle with self-doubt and the sense of inferiority. We all struggle in some way, some struggle more mightily than others. Yet, the beauty of creation is out there for all of us. We don’t need to have any deep insights to see it. We don’t need to read books or study hard to recognize the sheer intricacy of a flower. And there isn’t any charge. It doesn’t cost anything to take a couple of minutes to appreciate the glorious beauty in creation that is there every single day. Creation. A gift from God. Let us find joy in that amazing gift. Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 5/8/19 I am spending my last week at a quarterly retreat that has been going on for nearly two years called the Academy for Spiritual Formation. That title might sound daunting, almost like a College course. In fact, three people attending are actually using it as part of their Doctorate of Ministry degree. For me, it isn’t an academic exercise as much as it is something that has personally stretched me. There is a community here. A community to which I belong, although it has only existed for one week every 4 years and will not actually exist beyond this Friday. But it is a community that will continue to influence me and probably all of those who have attended it during the past two years. One thing it has shown me is the importance of community, specifically a community of faith or a Spiritual Community. We can grow in community. We can expand our horizons in community. We can learn about God in community through the witnesses of others within our community, and we can come to understand that we may have actually experienced the presence of God without actually realizing it. Community involves doing things together. In a little more than a week Asbury UMC will participate in the Egg Harbor Township Community Pride Day, where will participate in a township-wide clean up. This is something the Community of Asbury UMC will join together to accomplish something meaningful for our township, and in doing so, will likely become closer to each other. That is the purpose of community. And that is the purpose of a church. But there is one more aspect that we might often forget. Invitation. We should be inviting others, people who are not part of our community, to participate with us. To get to know us, help to do a clean-up of a small portion of the roads in the township and to spend time with each other doing good in the world. Churches are most valuable when they are invitational and active in the larger communities in which they exist. Doing good. Helping. All of it happening outside of the walls of the building we call the “church”. But the actual church isn’t the building at all. It is the people. When the people go outside of the building, then the rest of the larger community can see who we are and what we do. Let’s get involved in doing. Doing for others, outside of our church building Then we can be a true light to the world. Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 5/1/19 If you have been following my “travails” you are aware of the computer problems I encountered moving from an old MAC with some pretty serious problems to a new MAC with, as of now, no serious problems. Just as I was working on recovering all of my browser bookmarks my wife sent me an e-mail warning that my primary e-mail had shown up on the “Black Web”, implying that soon there would be all kinds of problems with any account that was linked to that password. I thought, OK! I really needed to review all the sites that I access, and the warning strongly suggested that I change passwords on all these sites and apps. So, why not. It ended up that I never noted some passwords to sites I have been using for years. I also found some passwords in my password file that used an e-mail address that I haven’t used in 10 years. I guess I really don’t need my account access to Land’s End. If they try to send me an e-mail, I will never get it! With all that going on, I nearly forgot a brief devotion I gave this morning. I read a bit from John chapter 15 where Jesus talks about His joy, and how it can become our joy. I focused on the need to find joy both in others and in ourselves, and to consciously focus on the joys that we may miss if we aren’t paying attention. And here I am, dealing with passwords and the possibility of one or more of my accounts being hacked. So, where is the joy in all that?? One place – it is pretty much done, and I now have clean passwords, and easy access to nearly all of these sites. The joy will come later when I can easily log in without having to look up the variety of passwords. But I also need to remember that joy can be found in the simplest of things. Once I get outside, I can see some of the blooming trees and bushes, and admire the sheer beauty of God’s creation. Then there are the trees, just beginning to “leaf-out”. Joy It comes in so many ways if we only take a little time to see it. Blessings! Pastor Peter

The Sanctuary is empty! We had to clean it out in preparation for painters who will come in and give it a "face-lift". These pictures are the "before"! While the Sanctuary is being worked on, we will be worshiping next Sunday in the Social Hall with "Breakfast Church". Come and join us. The meal is free!

THE WEDNESDAY POST 4/24/19 Last week I wrote about my computer problems. I got a brand new MacBook Pro, but when I tried to migrate the data and applications, I ended up importing the same problem I had with my old MAC. So, off to Best Buy to see if they couldn’t help. A couple of days later, and about 15 hours of my time spent on it, nothing has changed. I think God is letting me get very frustrated and challenging my patience. I do admit to having lost my patience on more than one occasion. Of course, my concern is that I really don’t want to lose some of my important “data”, which consists mostly of pictures from the past 12 years and a whole lot of music that I transferred from CDs to the laptop. Most of the other data I can actually transfer manually, using a larger flash drive. But the pictures and music are much too big to transfer using a simple flash drive. So here is my problem. The new computer is “infected” as the old one is. And the only way to “dis-infect” it is to go back to the “factory settings” and then try reinstalling all of the data again. I think the guys at Best Buy Geek Squad are really tired of seeing me walk into the store! And I am equally tired of having to walk back into the store once again. [Anybody know someone who is really up on MAC/Apple computers???] So, my patience is being tested. I know my Redeemer lives! I know Jesus is alive. I just wish my new MAC could be “alive and functioning” as it is supposed to be!! So I need to continue to be patient and fully expect that at some point in time this situation will be resolved. We (the Geek guys and I) have tried a number of things, to no avail. Fortunately, I really don’t have to worry about my “data”. It is stored on my old MAC, on my new MAC, and on an external hard drive, so I actually have three copies of all of it. So, in the end, “No worries!!” I just want to get the silly MAC working without any problems. Praying for a resolution to a computer problem seems a bit of a stretch, but I would certainly appreciate any prayers you might want to send my way just to keep my composure, my anxiety and my patience in check!! This is where being connected with others who can lend any kind of support is so very important!!! Blessings and Thanks!! Pastor Peter

Thoughts on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from Richard Rohr: Jesus agreed to carry the mystery of universal suffering. He allowed it to change him (“resurrection”) and, it is to be hoped, us, so that we would be freed from the endless cycle of projecting our pain elsewhere or remaining trapped inside of it. This is the fully resurrected life, the only way to be happy, free, loving, and therefore “saved.” In effect, Jesus was saying, “If I can trust it, you can too.” We are indeed saved by the cross—more than we realize. The people who hold the contradictions and resolve them in themselves are the saviors of the world. They are the only real agents of transformation, reconciliation, and newness.

THE WEDNESDAY POST 4/17/19 Today was supposed to be an “easy” day. I had to stay put waiting for a new computer to arrive. My old one is having some serious problems, not unusual in a MAC that is about 9 years old. So I thought I could get a lot done. The new computer showed up before lunch. And, of course, I began to try to get data onto it from my old one, and set up things the way they were on my old MAC. Some things worked out very well. Some others, not so much. Trying to get the Microsoft software loaded turned out to be a 3-hour project unto itself, but all is right with the world because I am typing this on my new MAC, using Microsoft Word! Praise God! I do have to admit at the same time, there is still a very large “folder” downloading from a flash drive. “Might as well kill two birds with one stone”, as they say. But I really don’t want to kill any birds. It actually bothers me when I see a dead bird anywhere. Monday evening we drove over to Ocean City to rehearse with the Cape Shore Chorale. Remember Monday, those incredibly strong winds? I wondered what it would be like just to drive over the 9th Street Bridge. It turned out that by 6:45 is wasn’t too bad. But it had been bad for some birds. There were a couple on the roadway. Not sure what got to them, but I know they struggle just to be able to control themselves in high winds. There was a time I remember when the wind was so strong I saw a bird who seemed to be flying backwards. The bird was headed into the wind, but because the gusts were so strong, it was able to stay aloft, but couldn’t make headway against the gust. So it was flying, but going backwards at the same time! Sometimes that is how our lives might seem. We feel like we are moving forward, but something seems to blow us off course and we may end up not getting very far ahead at all. When that happens to me, l like to remember that God doesn’t really care if I accomplish all that I think I need accomplish in any given day. The expectation of finishing “all the work” is mostly in my head. We all need to take time, slow down a little, take a break, and “smell the roses”. (Here I am truly “preaching” to myself!) My wife realized what was going on and took a moment to just give me a hug. Ahhh. That slowed me down. That simple idea is still something that I need to learn over and over. Lord help me! Blessings! Pastor Peter

Fun at Dinner Church Last night we had a surprise, and a lot of fun!!

THE WEDNESDAY POST 4/10/19 I was out jogging today. Something I haven’t done outdoors very often since I had a stress test last Winter. The Cardiologist said my heart was fine, but she was disappointed that I didn’t go longer until I hit whatever milestone they track to see if there are any irregularities with the heart. She asked me if I was doing any cardio exercises. Mostly what I do is walk. So, I thought, OK, I will start out slow, and maybe build up, maybe not. I have been running in place, so when the weather improves, I go out for a short jog. My neighbors were surprised to see me. At Asbury UMC we are reading a book by Pastor Mike Slaughter called “Made for a Miracle”. One chapter is titled “Activate Health and Healing”. He tells the story about when he was in his late 40s he wasn’t doing any exercise at all. Then he had what he called a “Heart Scare”. That changed everything for him. He began going to the gym, changed his diet, and his health did improve. That “Heart Scare” was transformational for him. But he is quick to point out that staying in good health takes work. One of his points in the book is that even trying to be more spiritual takes work. We can’t get to where we want to go, or maybe need to go, if we can’t or won’t put some “sweat equity” into the process. So that it the focus for me. I recognize that at my age, 70, I can’t make assumptions about my body. I know that I need to exercise, not to build up any muscle mass, but to simply keep whatever muscle mass I now have. But I also realized that while walking is one of the best exercises for any and all of us to do, it doesn’t get my heart rate up very much. And the cardiologist felt I needed to do that more often. So I went to work. Living a full life does take work. We can’t simply assume that everything will stay the same. It won’t. Whatever we want to accomplish, or simply maintain, requires work, effort, and commitment. It won’t just happen. What is it that you want to maintain or accomplish? What can you do to make sure you succeed? Blessings! Pastor Peter

THE WEDNESDAY POST 4/3/19 There are a number of issues going on within my denomination of the church, I am a United Methodist Pastor. Some of the issues are not so hard to deal with, others have become extremely difficult. One issue was in the news. I don’t want to talk about the pros and cons of that issue. Rather I want to talk about how people seem to be dealing with it. The denomination, in the eyes of some of us, has been focused on excluding a small group of people, people others believe are just as much the children of God as anyone else. The people who recognize this desire to exclude feel very strongly. They see the other group as “opponents”. When I push a little bit, what I hear is that they don’t think that other group belongs in the church and they really don’t see much possibility of being able to reconcile the deep divisions that seem to exist in their respective theologies and their practices. But to me, from my position, it seems that now both groups want to exclude. Not all. And not all from either side, but there are at least some who want to say to people with whom they don’t agree, “join us or get out!” I don’t see that working for the church, or any other group for that matter. Other groups can splinter a bit more easily. We can rally around a spokesperson or someone who manages to get air time on television, but that still continues to splinter, and divide. And I see that happening far too often in our society and in our culture. If we can’t accept people’s positions or perspectives or ideas, even if they seem to us to be hurtful to others, then we will be a fragmented and dis-unified society. I had a friend with whom I really did not agree at all politically, and even theologically we had our differences. But we cared for each other. We met every week, and talked until those boundaries began to emerge and we both knew that we needed to back off just a bit. I learned a great deal. I understood where he was coming from. I appreciated his ideas and his perspectives, even though I didn’t agree with them. It is when any group insists or demands that everyone think alike that we are really in trouble. Our country and my denomination have existed for so long because of the diversity of opinion and ideas. Without that diversity, I don’t believe we can continue to be an inspiration to the rest of the world. As far as the Christian denominations are concerned, if we can’t learn to love one another, then we have failed in our mission to carry out THE primary understanding of our religion. We are to love each other. Can we try to do that? Let’s try! Blessings! Pastor Peter

Good morning! This is how our Youth Group woke up this morning. Learning to be world changers.

This morning our choir paid a lovely tribute to all branches of the service, and thanked those in our congregation who served.