Your Attitude is Your Paintbrush

13^th Sunday after Pentecost 
Just these lines, my friends …

… to say that it is sure good to be back at church this week. My days away provided rest, relaxation, peace and so much more. Thank you for being a church that is so generous with your staff and community and our need to rest and re-create.

Have you had a chance to hear Pastor Corey’s inspiring sermon from Sunday? I hope you’ll watch it here. In addition, our Sanctuary Choir was unable to go on their planned retreat to the beach, so they conducted a stay-at-home retreat for the weekend and then sang on Sunday morning. Click here and listen to their beautiful anthem, O God Beyond All Praising.

I hope you’ve already made plans to drop by at some point on Saturday, August 21, between 4 pm and 8 pm at the Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church for our 6^th Annual Hug-A-Cop Event. There is no cost for your meal, but donations will be accepted. What a great way for MUMC and our other area churches to say it is not about choosing sides; it is all about both/and – for racial justice and our profound appreciation of law enforcement.

The new school year is upon us and with that comes both excitement and anxiety. This year the tension feels particularly high as we are still in the throes of a global pandemic. This reminds me that we need each other – we need our community to rally behind those going back to school and we need our community to help care for those who are sick.

We (through Laurie Little, Executive Director of Rainbow Ministries) heard from our friends at Wings of Hope in Haiti (care facility for persons with special needs) early this week. They’ve been one of our Global Impact mission partners for years. A 7.2 scaled earthquake has brought, once again, devastating loss to this tortured island nation. Laurie writes, “I heard last night that the residents and staff at Wings are safe. The facility is also okay. Thank God!  Now will be increased problems with getting food and water- it was already a very dangerous situation because of the political climate. They are anticipating many upcoming challenges. Also, they are expecting a tropical storm in the next few days. Devastating situation. Please continue to pray for perseverance and God’s protection and provision.”  

Wednesday Devotional

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch my “Your Attitude is Your Paintbrush” devotional for today.  Please click here to watch.

Covid-19 Update

We continue to monitor closely the rise in COVID statistics in our area and our congregation. We offer the following, in the spirit of loving God and loving all, and John Wesley’s principle of doing no harm:

• When indoors on campus, we continue to require masks for unvaccinated persons. For vaccinated persons, we request and strongly encourage the wearing of masks when indoors. We also request you to wear a mask anywhere on campus within six feet of a child or someone you know is unable to be vaccinated.
• In addition, we encourage you to consult with your doctor about getting vaccinated, if you haven’t already. This will help mitigate the spread and mutation of the virus. (MUMC will host a vaccination clinic this Sunday. Click here for info!)
• Finally, we remind everyone that online worship continues to be a viable and safe way to join us in worship.

We will continue to monitor the conditions in our community, including our hospitals, schools, and public spaces, and make adjustments to our protocols as needed. Our actions to prevent the spread of the virus are in keeping with our command to love. (John 15, 1 Corinthians 13)

Meet the Pastors and Explore Membership

This Sunday, August 22 at 3 pm in the Sanctuary Reception Area near the Welcome Center, we’ll begin our first exploration class into membership in a while. If you know of someone who is interested in “kicking the tires” and exploring the ministry of MUMC, please send them along for a time to Meet the Pastors. We’d love to have the opportunity to introduce you or someone you know to a Disciple’s Path and exploring the next steps in this lifelong journey of faith. Please RSVP today to Jenny at 704-815-1917.

Important Dates for Your Calendar

• August 20 – United Kids Parking Lot Kick-Off Party
• August 21 – Our 6^th Annual Hug-A-Cop Event at the Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. Drop in 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm for wonderful food and around the table conversations with friends from Mt. Moriah, First Baptist Matthews, Cross and Crown Lutheran and Matthews Presbyterian.
• August 22 – Back to school/church celebration, including Blessing of the Backpacks (celebration of educators, students & faculty), Introduction of New Members, Promotion Sunday for Kids & Youth, Covid Vaccination Clinic 8:30-12:30, United Youth Kick-Off in the afternoon.
• August 29 – 5^th Sunday Fellowship with our friends from Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist. Register here by August 21.
• September 12 – Our 8:15 am worship service will return.

This Sunday in Worship

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

In our Spanish-speaking CCH community, Pastor Roldan’s sermon is The Attitude that Always Helps from Philippians 4:10-13.

At 9:30 am and 11:00 am, we’ll begin a new three-week worship series called People Matter to God. The emphasis comes from a sign I saw in the yard of a Nashville church. It said, “We are a church/community where Everyone’s Welcome because one of the things we’ve learned is Nobody’s Perfect, and with Jesus, we believe Anything’s Possible.” Let’s begin to explore those three underlined statements this Sunday.

In our 11:00 am service, the Sanctuary Choir will premiere a new hymn from Darlene Prestbo. Darlene and her husband John have been a part of MUMC for several years now. Darlene is a poet, writer, artist, wellness coordinator, hymn writer and so much more. Her composition, The Welcome Gate is a perfect as we kick off our new worship series. I hope you’ll be in your seat early to listen … and worship.

This is also a great Sunday to invite someone to join you either in-person or virtually for worship. It is a chance to remember together that we are filled with love from our Divine Creator to offer love to a hurting world. While the new school year brings many challenges, we know that it also brings us many opportunities to show up for one another in love!

And now, as we are excitedly making our way slowly and carefully out of a global pandemic, may we never forget to remember … God does God’s best work in moments like this.

We are in this … together,
Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson II

Did you know that Skye Cooley and Jeremy Humphries were recently engaged to be married? Skye & Jeremy are planning a 2022 wedding.  Congratulations to this special couple!

Did you know that you can view the 12^th Community Forum from August 17 featuring candidates running for Matthews Town Council online? Visit www.mtmoriahmatthews.org and look for the video.

Did you know  the Servants Heart Circle filled backpacks at the Matthews Help Center on August 7^th?  On September 21 at 6:30 pm, they will have a speaker from Turning Point come to share volunteer opportunities in Room 97/99. For more info, contact Kim Layton at 704-815-1913.