Just These Lines Pastor Blog

3rd Sunday after Pentecost Just these lines, my friends … … to say it is always special to see new people joining our transforming community. On Sunday a wonderful group of folks joined us in our calling to make God’s love real to all. Join me in welcoming Richard/Terri McCoy, Brittain/ David Storey (Eliza & Liam), Laurence/Patricia Bivens, Fred/Montez Ashford,...

2st Sunday after Pentecost Just these lines, my friends … … it was a wonderful day celebrating our graduates and having Pastor Corey put the Word in words for us. If you missed it, you could watch it here. In addition, Rev. Amy Coles (Special Assistant to our bishop, Ken Carter) gave an outstanding presentation in The Commons of clarity...

Pentecost Just these lines, my friends … … to say thank you for your presence in worship this past Sunday. We experienced beautiful music, pastoral prayers, baptism and a sermon from Philippians 2, The Most Difficult Instrument to Play. If you missed, you can watch by clicking here. In addition, let me say thank you to the nearly 50 of...

7th Sunday of Easter | Memorial Day Weekend Just these lines, my friends … … that in 2019 I made a trip to Texas to honor a dear deceased pastor friend of mine. I had lunch in Uvalde. It is a lovely community sitting right on the edge of the Texas Hill Country and I had been there before during...

6th Sunday of Easter | Mental Health Sunday Just these lines, my friends … … to say that my heart is deeply saddened again. This past Saturday, a young man entered a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York and opened fire. By the time he surrendered, he had shot a total of 13 people, most...

5th Sunday of Easter | Confirmation Sunday Just these lines, my friends … … to say that it was a glorious Mother’s Day at Matthews United Methodist (MUMC). A special thank you for all our volunteers who make every Sunday morning happen. Thank you! Thank you! You can view our Mother’s Day worship and sermon, The People in Your Balcony,...

4th Sunday of Easter | Mother’s Day Just these lines, my friends … … to say that it is still appropriate for me to say, “Happy Easter” because Easter is a season in the church and not simply a day. In fact, every Sunday is a little Easter according to the liturgical calendar. Alister McGrath refers to the resurrection of...

3rd 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...

2nd Sunday of Easter Just these lines, my friends … … to say what a Holy Week 2022: crowds of people gathering for worship for the first time in three years (since 2019); people (Home2Home) helping families with no furniture; a beautiful butterfly release featuring the beautiful banner made by Wendy Barall (photos below); one of the best Maundy Thursday...