Big Boys Do Cry

3^rd Sunday in Lent
Just these lines, my friends …

… to say the second oldest living member of Matthews United Methodist (MUMC) died this past week, Melba Westphal.  I had the incredible privilege of celebrating her remarkable life on Saturday. She was 101. If you missed worship on Sunday, you can watch & hear me talking about Melba here.

We had our first Wednesday Evening Lenten Gathering in The Commons this past week and it was rich, rich, rich. It was wonderful to see the generations gathered, enjoying a meal (5:45 – 6:30) and preparing to deepen our learning around The Lord’s Prayer (6:30 – 7:30). You can make your reservation for our meal (menu changes weekly) each week by Wednesday mornings at 9AM by contacting Pastor Corey at 704-815-1941.

Speaking of the Wednesday Evening Lenten Gathering, my friend, Hank Donaghy, wrote me a note and said, “Chuck, last night (he is referring to our Wednesday Lenten study) was one of the best church meetings I have ever been to. Sandi and I enjoyed ourselves so much and we learned so much. We made some new friends … We are looking forward to the remainder of the meetings and learning the things that were meant to be learned by our family. Thanks again …” By the way, Hank has written a wonderful book of stories titled Make it a Great Day. You can purchase it from Amazon here.

Other things from the week:

• Debbie Fitts, our Director of Operations and Finance, sharing her story with our United Methodist Men (UMM) on Saturday morning. Thank you, Debbie, for being the gift you are to us.
• Scott Lyons beautiful devotional for the UMM.
• Room-in-the-Inn (RITI) on Thursday evening.
• Pickleball is going nuts on Mondays and Wednesdays in the gym from Noon to 3 pm. Come and join the fun…more info here.
• 15^th Community Forum on Racial Bridge Building at Matthews Presbyterian on Tuesday, February 28 featuring Katherine B. Martin. What a powerful evening! If you missed it, you can watch here.

There are so many other things as well involving the people of MUMC being the hands and feet of Jesus. You simply blow me away!

I want to make sure you noticed the paragraph I added to our “Welcome” on the back of our bulletin for each week. It reads: After the service, please stick around, introduce yourself to one of our pastors or someone at our Welcome Center. We have lots of programs and community groups to feed your soul and expand your spirit. Try one out. You never know – you just might be home!

I feel home every week when I gather with the people called Matthews United Methodist.

Wednesday Devotional

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch my devotional for the week titled: Big Boys Do Cry. These are a few of my reflections on the Monday night football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills back in early January.

Update on Postponement of The United Methodist Church General Conference and Protocol

Our MUMC General Conference Team continues to keep up with current information concerning the next UMC General Conference (April 2024, Charlotte, NC) and questions people are having during this time. Over the past year The UMC has compiled and regularly updated a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) concerning these issues.  The most current update (Is the United Methodist Church REALLY…?), MUMC FAQs and other important information concerning these issues can be found on our MUMC website by clicking here.

Sanctuary Repairs from December Cold Weather Damage

Debbie Fitts, our Director of Operations & Finance, reports, “We have had a second meeting with the insurance estimator who is in complete agreement that some items were missed on the initial assessment.  His report is now being reviewed and we are hopeful that an additional disbursement will be coming our way very soon.  On Wednesday, March 8, we are meeting with the contractor to discuss when we can start work on the restrooms in the hopes that we can get those operational prior to Easter.”

So grateful for these efforts.

This Sunday in Worship

We invite you to join this Sunday at 8:15 am (traditional; in person only), 9:30 am (contemporary; in person or online here), 9:30 Family Worship in the Gym (2nd Sunday of each month), 11:00 am (traditional; in person or online here) or 12:30 (Spanish; in person or on demand here). Remember that Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday, so spring your clocks forward this Saturday evening!

In our Spanish-speaking CCH community, Pastor Roldan continues the study on The Lord’s Prayer: Let’s Follow the Pattern. He will be preaching from Matthew 6:9, and his sermon title: An Undeserved Privilege and a Necessary Request.

Our Family Worship will feature special guest music artist, Sara Kelly! Snacks & Coffee available Family Worship Sundays, 10: 30-11 am. We ask children & teens be accompanied by an adult. More info here!

In our morning Sanctuary services, we are into week three on The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:7-13). The phrase of the prayer we are exploring is, “Give us this day our daily bread …”

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Remember to invite someone to church or reach out to someone you have not seen in a while. There is power in an invitation, and you never know who might want to take a walk with Jesus this Lent. It will be good to be together.

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

Lenten mercies,
Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson II

Did you know that leaders at four of our Global Impact Partners were included in the “Leading by example, 50 Influential African Americans in the Community” article featured in last week’s Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly?  Congratulations to the leaders at Blessed Assurance Adult Day Care, COSKids, Greater Matthews Habitat for Humanity and Matthews Free Medical Clinic for their service that provides hope for the future. Read the article here.

Did you know that Global Impact is sending $4000 (from the Disaster Relief Fund) to Foot Soldiers Park in Selma, Alabama for the victims of the tornado that hit Selma on January 12?  The Micah Connection is sponsoring a Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Selma and Montgomery, AL on March 16-19 and 40 participants from 5 churches will be delivering the check.

Did you know that a team from MUMC participated in the Hunger Walk for Common Heart, a new Global Impact partner, on Sunday? Common Heart serves 1610 families in Union County each month, over 10% of people in Union County face food insecurity. Check out this partner at commonheart.org.

Did you know that our United Youth Ministry Basketball League brought 683 NEW users to our website? Weekly stats were updated, schedules were posted, and the tournament champion teams are featured here. Thank you to Rob Hunter from our Age-Level team for organizing and supporting 276 young people and their families from our greater community!