It has been over three months now since I joined the Susquehanna Annual Conference staff as the new director of connecting ministries. Even though the COVID-19 safety protocols have prevented me from getting around the conference and meeting you, the wonder of online meeting platforms have helped me get to know a few of you.
In a way, coming to Pennsylvania has been like a homecoming. I have not actually lived here before. I grew up in Chicago and was not raised United Methodist; I joined the church as a young adult. Some time after that, my mother gave me an old, small book; a Methodist hymnal published in 1849. You can see from the photo that the book was inscribed in 1876 to Elmer E. E. Carr of Pittsburgh. He was my great-grandfather.
The United Methodist Church has been my spiritual home for a number of years now. I am an ordained deacon, and I have had the opportunity to serve the church in a number of roles: director of communication for the Minnesota Conference, an editor for the United Methodist Publishing House, and director of deacon ministry development for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. I’ve attended six General Conferences. All these have given me connections that I look forward to putting to work for the United Methodists in Susquehanna Conference.
One of the ministries of the deacon is to help people discern the ways God calls them in ministry—be that lay or clergy. As part of that, we help people find the resources, training, and guides who can help all of us use our gifts the best we can to help transform the world into the realm of God. It is a joy to have the opportunity to do that.
This year has been a particularly difficult time for the church to be the church, as you well know. The pandemic and the necessary health protocols have required us to find new ways to provide corporate worship, Bible study, pastoral care, and ministry to our neighbors. We’ve been flying the plane while we build it.
The world is changing in other ways. Attending church is not the social habit it once was. People still wonder whether there is a God. They want to make a difference in the world. Some people are not looking for that in a Sunday-morning church service. Yet that is what we are accustomed to doing.
The United Methodist Church has been struggling with significant differences among its people. Conflicts in the nation sometimes spill into our congregations. It’s a hard time to be the church!
It is also a great time to be the church. All this upheaval means that we can try new things. We can reexamine why we are the church, and imagine new ways to invite people into Christian discipleship.
Easier said than done, I know. That is why Kevin Witt, Gary Shockley, and I work as a team to help you find what you, lay and clergy, need to lead your churches to reflect the love of God in your neighborhoods. And we also offer our listening ears. We are available to hear what is on your minds and hearts as you seek to be faithful, even while not knowing what the future will bring.
And we see many reasons for hope! I am hopeful, and grateful to be among you as we show a hurting world the healing and new life that comes from the light and love of Christ.
