Dear Grace United Methodist Church Family,
I will be away this week attending the wedding of Rev. Dr. Cynthia Weems. She is getting married in Kansas City this weekend. After attending her wedding, I fly to complete an elective course for my doctoral work through Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC (the elective worktakes place in Birmingham, AL). The doctoral program I am a part of is cohort based, meaning I participate in classes with a cohort of 12-18 people. We each write our dissertation separately at the end. My area of emphasis is Church leadership in the post pandemic culture. It has been fascinating to be a part of a group of clergy from all over the country learning how to follow the Holy Spirit in these days!
I am a part of two separate covenant groups and have a cadre of mentors, coaches, and beautiful humans that help me stay on track in my life. The group I am in with Cynthia is called Sweet Magnolias and the other member is my friend Audrey Warren in Miami. The three of us are on the phone with each other all the time. These ladies have stood with me in the highs, the lows, and the in-between times. We are committed to the journey of sharing life together and I can honestly say that I am a better human being because of these women and the others who surround me in my life! We are #strongertogether!
As we move towards the fall, I encourage you to be in prayer about where you might need to grow in your life of faith. Maybe you hope to deepen your prayer life. Maybe you recognize you need to be more present with others. If so, you might consider two or three others to meet with regularly. Maybe you could join a small group at the church or even start one! Maybe you recognize you need to be more intentional in your giving. Maybe you hope to serve in a new way. Maybe you hope to grow in your ability to share your story with others of where God has met you in your life, which is our way of giving witness. Reach out to either Beth or I if you need help discerning.
I am praying over a resource I hope for us to journey through together in the fall, to challenge us in our thinking. Look for more information on this to come! For now, I hope you will prepare yourselves for what I believe will be a beautiful sermon from our Executive Pastor Beth Burton this week! The scripture is Exodus 14:10-15, and the sermon title is “Wade in the Water.”
My questions for this week are:
1. What is a bit of history about Merritt Island that you think I might need to know?
2. What is something interesting about the church history you think I might find interesting?
I am so very grateful to be…
With you on the journey,
Pastor Michelle