September 2016 Jottings

Jottings...

The Quasquicentennial celebration is behind us. That is, the 125th anniversary of Cole as a church was celebrated on August 28 with great success. Lots of people put in lots of time to take care of invitations, decorations, gathering of memorabilia, designing and ordering the shirts and mugs and all the other details that went into making the day so wonderful. The worship service was vibrant with solid singing and worship and it gave such a different feel to be so full. Same for the dinner in the gym.

Having a fair number of new folks and lots of folks with long time connections was amazing. The Christian faith by its very nature links the past to the present to the future. We are called to remember and celebrate. (Think of the Passover celebration and communion and the call to raise stone monuments called ebenezers.) We as a church are celebrating an ancient faith in a modern way.

The danger moving forward from such a wonderful celebration is that we focus on the past – that we yearn for the glory days. Yes it is our role as a church to help disconnected folks from Cole to reconnect but that is not the medium or long term future of Cole Memorial United Methodist Church. As I have said many times, Cole’s health and growth will be rediscovering what it means to be a neighborhood church to the Derita community again. But that community has and is changing.

I can’t predict exactly what that will mean for us as a church. I have some ideas. It is hard moving forward into the unknown but that is the very definition of faith. Just as God has blessed us for 125 years and allowed us to make a difference in the lives of people who called Derita home, so also He can help us be a blessing to those who call Derita home now.

I am so happy to be a part of a solid church with a solid heritage. Now it is 125 + 1 and we get to consider the ways God can bless us moving forward.

- Pastor Brian