 You would not be surprised that I took my bicycle to Annual Conference in Tifton, GA. My accommodations were a lovely bed and breakfast called Shalom House, run by Christian people 9 miles in the country a few miles north of Ty Ty, GA. Every morning I rode my bicycle down quiet country roads surrounded by fields and pastures filled with cattle.
One morning I pedaled down increasingly narrow county roads, finally arriving at the little brick and aluminum-siding Damascus United Methodist Church, a house of worship so remote that only one house could be seen in any direction. Surrounded by fields as far as one could see, flanked by oak and pine and adjacent to a cemetery with tombstones dating to 1895, the well-maintained structure with a fellowship hall attached to the sanctuary and a swing set in the back yard indicated a church with life.
I said a prayer for this congregation and their pastor, remembering that for every United Methodist Church in South Georgia like Wesley Monumental there are twenty to thirty churches like Damascus. In terms of sheer numbers small United Methodist congregations far outnumber downtown congregations with stained glass, pipe organ and multiple staff.
The Conference Journal reports these statistics about the Damascus UMC for 2009:
54 church members
30 in worship (a very good ratio of worship to membership)
15 in Sunday School (4 children, 0 youth)
Annual expenditures (all causes) $12,300
The Damascus Church is served by The Reverend Dorise Yancey, a part time pastor who represents a growing group of utterly dedicated lay persons with no seminary training who serve as part or full time pastors with low pay and often no benefits. A church like Damascus cannot afford a seminary trained and ordained pastor with the accompanying requirement of health and pension benefits.
Reverend Yancey is the pastor of the Sumner Charge, which means she serves four United Methodist congregations in the same general area. (In Methodist lingo she serves a “four point charge”.) Damascus in the largest of the four. Shingler UMC, Sumner UMC and Ty Ty UMC are also her responsibility. The Ty Ty UMC reports an average weekly attendance of 9.
Congregations like Damascus are scattered across South Georgia with names such as Beulah, Goloid, Piney Grove, Spring Hill, Salem, Unity, Long Pond, Rocky Ford, Spring Hill, Arabi, Bethel Brick and Horse Stamp. There may be up to 250 of these churches linked together in at least two congregations served by one dedicated pastor.
My first appointment was as the pastor of a three point charge in Harris County, Georgia, (Waverly Hall, Ellerslie, Shiloh) and so I write these words out of a deep respect for and appreciation for the hardy, faithful Methodists, clergy and laity, who serve in some pretty far-flung places across South Georgia. Maybe some of you learned the faith in such a place, too. In your prayers ask God to bless these Methodist bands, some quite vital and others barely holding on.
Creede Hinshaw
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The South Georgia Annual Conference will convene this coming week in Tifton, Georgia, with a Sunday evening worship service and conclude with Bishop James King “fixing the appointments” on Thursday, June 9. (United Methodists have their own church language. Fixing the appointments is shorthand to describe Bishop King’s confirmation of which congregation each clergy person will serve for the next year.)
This annual conference is a combination revival, reunion, Sunday School picnic and business session including much back-slapping, hugging, singing and praying. Methodist clergy and laity from across the south half of Georgia will vote on a budget, hear many reports, rejoice over the ordination of new clergy, memorialize those clergy who have died over the past 12 months, address the state of the world and our own souls and return to our cities and congregations ready for another year of service.
The first Methodist Conference was convened by John Wesley in 1744 in London, England, when 6 clergy and 4 lay pastors met to answer 3 questions about Methodism:
1. What should we teach?
2. How should we teach?
3. What should we do?
In 1744 Methodists began sorting out their future, clarifying their theology and mapping their strategy of disciple making. From that day forward some sort o annual conference has continued across Methodism.
As an interesting sidelight, here are John Wesley’s 1747 Rules for Preaching:
1. Be sure to begin and end precisely at the time appointed.
2. Sing no hymns of your own composing.
3. Endeavor to be serious, weighty, and solemn in your whole deportment…
4. Choose the plainest texts you can.
5. Take care not to ramble from your text. Keep close to it.
6. Always suit your subject to your audience.
7. Beware of allegorizing or spiritualizing too much.
8. Avoid anything awkward or affected in gesture or pronunciation.
9. Tell each other, if you observe anything of this kind.
I’ll try to observe these rules this Sunday morning. As always, the stained glass window images of John and Charles will scan the congregation and peer at the preacher from the balcony.
Creede Hinshaw
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It's a good day when you can give a child a cookie.
You've done it! You baked 240 dozen delicious chocolate chip and sugar cookies, neatly packaged two per baggie, now ready to be given to almost 1,400 hungry school children on Calhoun Square this morning.
The lemonade is prepared and the cups and ice are on the tables ready to be poured and shared with 1,400 thirsty school children on Calhoun Square this morning. Volunteers from our church will serve cookies, lemonade and a generous portion of God's love to these public school children who come annually to Calhoun Square for Massie May Day.
I wish you could see these children filling Calhoun Square dressed in the costumes of various countries, sitting on blankets with their teachers, dancing around May poles - 1,400 lovely children, laughing, dancing, and behaving very well.
This congregation is involved in all kinds of service to others. In the last couple of weeks a faithful group of men worked over the course of 3-4 days to renovate a Savannah home in the sweltering heat. We participate every year in Rebuilding Together, both with generous financial support and with willing servants. We host families and children three times per year through Interfaith Hospitality Network, providing meals and beds for families trying to get back on their feet. We feed children every week through Backpack Buddies. I could go mention many other areas of service.
Serving cookies and serving lemonade to children is mission, too. It is the simplest way this church can show love to others, and I am proud of this cookie-baking congregation! To see the smiles on the faces of these children is a huge reward. To cooperate with our Calhoun Square neighboring Massie School is immensely satisfying. To cement the historic relationship of church and public school for the greater good is inspiring.
As I gaze from the window of my office the children are gathering. Soon we'll give away all cookies and lemonade and those children will climb back aboard their yellow school buses fortified with God's love. And maybe, just maybe, there will be one baggie left for the senior pastor.
Creede Hinshaw
P.S. Memorial Day marks the traditional start of summer, although the thermometer tells me it arrived early. At any rate, you won't want to miss worship this Sunday. The heat comes just in time as I warm up for a sermon on "The Harrowing of Hell." We'll also rejoice over a baptism and the confirmation of our newest class of church members.
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The end of the world is coming this Saturday, May 21, 2011, according to a conservative group of Christians who have spent a good deal of time and money publicizing this event. Somebody handed me an 8 page tract some months ago that announced:
THE END OF THE
WORLD IS ALMOST
HERE!
HOLY GOD
WILL BRING
JUDGMENT DAY ON
MAY 21, 2011
I have tried to maintain an even-tempered approach to this dire (or thrilling, depending on your faith) pronouncement. Each to his own, I’ve tried to say. If this is their theology, more power to them, I’ve wanted to conclude.
This I know: if Saturday really is the day of judgment we can face it with the assurance that God so loves the world and that those who love and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd have nothing to fear about the judging of the quick and the dead.
So I’m calm. If this is the end, so be it. I’m ready to jump right into the lap of God. But in the meantime I’m working on my sermon for Sunday, planning on getting a haircut, changing the oil in my car and balancing my checkbook. I have already made a dinner appointment for Sunday evening, May 22nd and next week’s calendar is full.
Paul counseled the church to be girded for action, but he also scolded those who – in anticipation of the return of Jesus – had quit their jobs and were mooching off others in the church to put groceries on their table.
This most recent prophecy is sponsored by Harold Camping’s Family Radio of Oakland, CA, a string of Christian radio stations. I visited Mr. Camping’s website which is full of somber, scary warnings, calls to repentance and certainty that May 21st is the Day.
On a whim I clicked on the “make a contribution” icon, wondering whether they would still be encouraging donations. Why would they need my money if we’re at T minus 1? I was not surprised to see they are still receiving echecks and credit card contributions, complete with asking the expiration date on my plastic.
I’ll see you Sunday.
Creede Hinshaw
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This Sunday will be an eventful day in the long and storied history of Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church!! We are opening our doors to the 21st century when we cut the ribbon on our completely renovated ground floor this Sunday.
We have been away from our ground floor for an entire year! That’s a long time to be without an entranceway, kitchen, dining room, and nursery!
Those who have recently joined our congregation never entered through the formerly cramped, claustrophobic Taylor Street entrance of our church. Our newest infants and toddlers never saw the overcrowded nursery with its child safety issues. Teenagers and adults new to this household of God never broke bread in our too-small fellowship hall with its low ceiling shearing off the tops of our grand windows and capitals. The old kitchen? Let’s call it cozy.
Our “old space” served this church well for many decades! It was lovingly, creatively designed for a then new generation of Christians, and Sunday we’ll gratefully remember those spiritual giants on whose shoulders we stand. But as times change mission and ministry changes; buildings must change, too. Thus what we proudly consecrate this Sunday will be pronounced inadequate by future disciples of Christ who will refashion this same space for another new day.
This congregation, led by the Holy Spirit, is experiencing a miraculous work in our midst. Consider this fact: Over the past two years we have completed a brand new office suite and a completely renovated ground floor at a combined cost of $3.7 million during the worst economic climate this nation has known in 80 years! God is at work in so many powerful ways through you!
So we’ll give ourselves and our building to God this Sunday, praising Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We’ll remember our spiritual ancestors, cut ribbon, tour a new building, shed tears of joy and resolve to offer Christ to a new generation. I can’t wait to experience this day with you.
Creede Hinshaw
P.S. Remember your special offering…we encourage one time gifts, two year pledges or the early completion of your pledges in order that we can complete our financial obligations and maximize our ministry opportunities.
P.P.S. It’s Senior Recognition Sunday, too. We’ll swell with pride as we pray over our graduating high school seniors.
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Mother’s Day brings is almost always accompanied by great worship attendance. At least on this one Sunday when Mom says she wants her family to come to church with her, they comply. Moms are influential…even when they don’t seem to recognize it. Here is a story about the influence of a mother:
Kurt Shaw, who works with street gangs in Latin America, observes that a common tattoo among gang members from New York City to Recife, Brazil is Amor so do mae (“Only a mother’s love.”) Shaw told the story of Jhonny, a killer and drug dealer in Medellin, Colombia, who had great affection for his mother, purchasing her expensive gifts. His mother refused a fabulous gold watch, explaining she didn’t want anything from him until he earned it with his own sweat. This was a wake-up call for Jhonny and within a week he left the gang. Shaw concluded that even hardened gang members have a heart for their mothers and are motivated to change their ways for the sake of this parent. (This story came from Christian Century, 12/11/07, citing the Harvard Divinity Bulletin.)
We parents often sell ourselves short, disbelieving that we exert any influence on our children. But of course we do! I regularly ask myself, “What would Dad have said? What would Mom have done?” And then there are the times when I’ve not even asked…I’ve just acted according to the positive example that they left me.
Every mother (and father) knows that being a parent is a challenge. We are only experts at raising children until we have our own. I heard about one child psychologist who had 7 great strategies for raising children and no children. But after marriage eventually the situation reversed itself. He now had 7 children and no strategies.
Here’s how single parent Anne Lamott (best-selling author of Tender Mercies and Bird by Bird, and Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith) put it: “I had converted to Christianity long before having a child, but of course, having a child is like graduate school in faith! And everything else is like high school and undergraduate work.”
Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms! I look forward to being with you this Sunday. Speaking of parenting, this will be the very last Sunday we will use the Wayne Street Nursery!! Next Sunday, May 15th, we will consecrate our newly renovated ground floor nursery and fellowship hall. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Creede Hinshaw
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Ernie Reda of San Jose, California, age 84, died a little over 3 years ago. I found his obituary on the internet today, curious about whether Mr. Reda was still alive. I had an article about him in my files dated 1998 proclaiming that the Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged his 8,439 crosses and crucifixes to be the largest collection in the world, a collection that had multiplied to 13,167 at Mr. Reda’s death.
The death of Jesus on the cross is probably the single most depicted work of art in the history of the world and the art forms in which the cross is displayed are endless.
My yellowing article described the collection: “There’s a crucifix from Mexico – Jesus nailed to a cross made of grapevines. There are black Jesuses of painted pine, a white Jesus of alabaster, a shiny copper-colored Jesus of papier-mâché.” The on-line obituary described them, too: “Plastic, gold, whalebone. Buttons, silver, matchsticks. Slender Latin crosses, squat cross pattees, delicate Malteses.”
I’m impressed with this plumber/electrician/handyman’s passion for his collection but wish the journalist had asked him three questions I couldn’t find in the article:
Mr. Reda, what has your collection taught you about Jesus?
Have these 13,000 crosses made any difference in your faith?
Has any particular cross inspired you to grasp the saving message of Jesus death?
Good Friday is not so much about the artwork; it is about Jesus Christ the Crucified. His death, so brutal and shocking, is the mysterious means by which God saves the world. Our Easter faith, on display for the entire world this Sunday, follows on the heels of the death of our Lord.
THREE NOTES ABOUT EASTER SUNDAY:
1. There will be NO Sunrise Service. The city of Savannah retracted their permission to use the Riverfront after discovering they had double booked the space.
2. Both services this Sunday are exactly the same in every single detail. Consider attending early church (8:45 a.m.) in order to alleviate the crowding at 11:00 a.m.
3. Remember we have a parking lot behind the Rose of Sharon Apartment Towers on the lane between Lincoln and Habersham Street and marked with a sign…just 3 blocks from the church.
I’ll see you Good Friday (at noon if you read this message early enough) and Sunday on Calhoun Square. We serve a risen savior!!
Creede Hinshaw |
On this April 15th let’s imagine you and I could eliminate our nation’s taxes. No sales tax, income tax, property tax, inheritance tax, tag and title fee, sewer and water fee, surcharge for airline tickets, gasoline tax, cigarette tax, etc., etc. What a wonderful world, right?
Bid adieu to protection from crime and fire. Mark the closure of public schools and all public school teachers. Take one last look at Fort Pulaski, Forsyth Park with its fountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite and our national park system.
Completely open our already porous borders. Release contagion and disease with the disappearance of public health and emergency room care. Watch the infant death rate rise. Play taps for the armed forces: goodbye to the Coast Guard, Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Air Base, the National Guard, all our men and women in uniform.
Forget about transportation when interstates crumble and city streets return to sand. Assemble your own library; defend your property and rights without recourse to a court system. Become your own private legislature, executive and judicial system.
Most of us suspect that (a) we’re the only honest taxpayer in this nation and (b) our neighbors are paying far too little or nothing at all. So taxes and spending are always an issue.
I salute the fact that both political parties seem to be slowly arriving at some budget reality. There’s still tons of work to be done, hot air expended on ugly insults and ink spilled on creative accounting. Both parties will fight to occupy the high ground while portraying the other side as buffoons or worse.
Meanwhile I heard a Georgia Congressman observe that both parties have been profligate and that there’s more than enough blame to go around. Such a confession of humility is not only good for the soul; it’s the proper starting point for a new reality. To be called a taxpayer is not a bad thing; it’s the figuring out how to share both the burden of taxation and the joy of governance that is a challenge.
Okay, that’s enough about the pecuniary “green.” We’ve already seen green jackets in Augusta and the wearing of the green in Savannah. Now it’s time to wave green palms and sing hosannas on Palm Sunday. We’ll begin early church in Calhoun Square and hear our children sing at 11 a.m. We will also give each child and youth in worship a beautiful palm cross and have the same gift for each household. Hosanna, loud hosanna! I can’t wait to see you Sunday.
Creede Hinshaw
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Have I told you about the time I flew a hang glider over the Grand Canyon? My family and I were vacationing on the North Rim when we met a man selling tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Included in the ticket price was a 30-minute training session, a fail-safe parachute and a helicopter ride from the South Rim back to the North Rim. The fine print on the ticket warned that those who used the parachute would be responsible for returning to the top of the canyon on their own.
I couldn’t resist the offer; pastors are always looking for sermon illustrations and this seemed to offer an opportunity for a first person sermon on faith or trust or even sheer idiocy. So I bought my ticket over the protest of my family, took my training and…April Fools Day.
Yep, you fell for a whopper, didn’t you? Sorry, but I couldn’t resist. April Fools Day is on no liturgical calendar and has no assigned color, though if chagrin or being taken for a sucker has a particular color, that would be it. There are no lectionary texts assigned for April Fools Day, although I suspect somebody could scare up something from Proverbs.
If you’re looking for some serious conclusions to today’s post, forget it. We’re about half way through the somber season of Lent and a brief respite is a good thing.
So if you have 3 minutes to spare, here’s a humorous (in a British kind of way) 1957 April Fools video produced by our friends across the pond. Makes me want to plant some spaghetti bushes in the back yard of the parsonage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ugSKW4-QQ
I’ll see you Sunday. Keep on smiling!
Creede Hinshaw
P.S. About that apostrophe…you can find April Fools Day spelled with the apostrophe either before or after the “s” and quite often w/no apostrophe at all. The joke’s on all of us.
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I skimmed an article this afternoon from the April 2011 issue of The Atlantic (page 72) entitled “The Fortunate Ones.” In it Graeme Wood reveals the results of an ambitious study by Boston College of our country’s super-rich, people with more than $25 million in wealth. These well-heeled families spoke quite candidly to the researchers about their wealth and how it affected them.
The first thing that caught my attention was a single adjective contained in the synopsis of the article. Here it is: “The result of the study is a surprising litany of anxieties: ...isolation…worries…fears…”
The article was fascinating, but it was NOT surprising. What could possibly have been surprising to learn that wealthy persons have as many fears and anxieties as the rest of the citizenry? Wealth is no insulator from fear, no protector from anxiety. If anything, it can produce anxieties and fears that rarely visit those who are much poorer.
“Give me that opportunity,” you say. “Let me have $25 million and I’ll show you a person who could live a relaxed, stress-free life.” Sure, maybe so, but I daresay you’d be the exception to the rule.
This is not to advocate for poverty, nor is it to take a swipe at those who have great means. The cliché that the poor are happier and more content than the rich is both overdrawn and often untrue, just as is the cliché of the miserable rich person.
What these thoughts Friday afternoon boil down is my adverse reaction to that descriptive word “surprising.” I don’t care who the person is or where the person lives or how much or little is in his purse...all of us face fears. The only thing surprising is that some dreamily believe that amassing enough money could protect them from worry.
Whether you come by bike or stretch limo, I’ll see you Sunday at the place where God welcomes persons of every economic station in life!
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