Almighty God

3^rd Sunday of Easter
Just these lines, my friends …

… to say the early followers of Jesus developed a church calendar so that Christians worldwide could join together in celebrating Christian seasons regardless of where they lived. The calendar follows a pattern: Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time. As you know, on Sunday, April 17 we celebrated Easter, and what a celebration it was! If you joined us, you know what a glorious day it was for God and the church. We held seven services with 1523 persons on our site, 654 joining us online on Sunday, and then another 879 joining us on our 7-day on-demand viewing through Saturday, April 23 which totals to 3,056 Easter worshippers.  I’m thrilled with our participation, especially in this post-pandemic world.

Some of these families had not been in church since the pandemic. It was, in many ways, a homecoming for our church. Everything about Easter Sunday was wonderful: the people, the worship, the butterflies, and being together as a community of faith. I am grateful to all who made the day and all our Sundays so special and memorable.

But here’s the thing … Easter has just begun. The season of Easter lasts 50 days. Did you hear that? 50 days! In the church it is called Eastertide: the time from Easter to Pentecost. It is a time of great jubilation and worship. The church throws off its Lenten cloths of purple and black and joyfully waves the white cloth of resurrection. “He is Risen, He is Risen, indeed,” is the message for Eastertide.

So, be sure and invite someone to Matthews United Methodist with you. You never know who might be wondering about this Jesus raised from the dead. You are, after all, one of those witnesses. Why not invite someone to church so that they too can witness the joy of resurrection?

Coming Together, Following Jesus, Changing Lives

Wednesday Devotional

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch my devotional for the week, titled “Almighty God.”

Pastoral Appointments for MUMC

In the last few days, we’ve received the following communication from our District Superintendent, Dan Pezet:

“The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church requires that every pastor be appointed for one year at a time.  On behalf of the Western North Carolina Cabinet, I am pleased to inform you that Jenny Savage, Corey Milliet, Roldan Flores, Paul Craig and Chuck Wilson will again be appointed pastors of Matthews (Matthews) United Methodist Church in the Metro District, effective July 1, 2022.   We believe this will continue to be a good appointment for … your church.

Thank you for the conscientious way you have cooperated with this process.  Your Bishop and Cabinet have tried to be faithful to our task and our responsibility for making missional appointments based on the uniqueness of our churches and the gifts of our clergy.”

Dale Webster, the Servant Leader for our Staff Parish Relations Committee writes, “The Staff Parish Relations Committee was pleased to learn that our five pastors have been re-appointed to our church for another year by the Western North Carolina District. We at MUMC are truly blessed to have Pastors Chuck, Paul, Corey, Roldan and Jenny continuing to lead us in our mission to reach, teach, praise and serve.”

On behalf of all our clergy, a very special thank you for the confidence you continue to express in us for leadership in this thriving transforming community. All of us are honored to be serving alongside each of you.

This Sunday in Worship

We invite you to join us this Sunday in person or online at 8:15 am (traditional – in person only), 9:30 am (contemporary), 11:00 am (traditional) or 12:30 (Spanish – in person only).

Our Spanish-speaking CCH community will gather for Easter worship (remember Easter is a season) with Pastor Roldan’s leadership. His sermon for Sunday is titled, Don’t Steal Credit from 2 Samuel 22:17-24.

Pastor Paul will be preaching (the Wilson family has a big wedding) from John 21:1-6 with the title, It’s Déjà vu … All Over Again! Pastor Paul says, “Through the resurrection of Jesus, Peter’s failures (and ours) are neither fatal nor final. Our past can be forgiven and our future restored. Let’s talk about it on Sunday.”

And now, as always, during these strange, uncertain, but hopeful days, remember … God does God’s best work in moments like this.

A blessed Eastertide to you and yours,
Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson II

Did you know that Audrey Biggers celebrated her 98^th birthday on Saturday, April 23? Happy Birthday, Audrey!  (Audrey is not the oldest living member of Matthews UMC.)

Did you know that children taking part in our recent Butterfly Project created an 12 foot caterpillar outside Pastor Corey’s office?  Caty the Caterpillar was a wonderful wall decoration and a reminder of how our lives are transformed in Christ!

Did you know that Matthews UMC was a sponsor for the The Great Easter Eggspedition with the Town of Matthews? Out of all the entries, two grand prize winners who solved the 12 clues, found the eggs and entered selfies won big bags of MUMC and Town of Matthews swag, lots of chocolate and an Easter bunny! 100 MUMC swag packs were retrieved from the bin by our “eggs” at the Genesis Garden and Playground!

Did you know that approximately 65 persons attended our All-Church Gathering on Monday evening? If you missed it, you may watch it here to learn about many great things happening in & through Matthews UMC.  Our next All-Church Gathering will be held on Monday, October 24.

Did you know that the Board of Trustees recently approved the purchase of a new refrigerator for the main kitchen?  Thank you to the Trustees for replacing this necessary piece of equipment for many ministries here at MUMC.