St. Matthew Congregational Business and Ministry meeting
Sunday, April 26th, immediately following services.

Good Wednesday, St. Matthew and friends,

I pray for love and peacefulness to fill your hearts and lives continuously through the power of the resurrected Christ.

I am recovering well from my knee surgery last week. Thank you for your prayers and support. This one has been a bit easier than the first, as I remember it, and the pain has been well controlled with over-the-counter medications. I am grateful to God for the excellent care I received during the surgery and since returning home.

We will have a guest preacher this weekend, Hannah Newcomer Sliva (pronounced “sleeva”), Associate Director of the TCU Wesley Foundation. The Wesley Foundation is a ministry of the United Methodist Church serving college campuses across the United States. Hannah has had a variety of experiences on her way to being called by God into full-time ministry, including serving as a youth minister, a 4th and 5th-grade teacher, a 6th-grade choir director, and a foster care specialist.

Hannah is currently in the Master of Divinity program at TCU’s Brite Divinity School. She believes God called her to the Deacon track because “the church has to leave its walls.” She also shares, “God is always there through prevenient grace, making ready whatever is next for my life.” Hannah is involved in a program through Princeton University called the Polaris Program, where she is writing a theology of aging. You can learn more about her work here:
A Theology of Aging with Hanna Newcomer Sliva – part 1. She believes God created us to experience life “in its full capacity, anticipating joy always.”

Please join me in making Hannah very welcome at St. Matthew. She will preach for us this week and possibly again in the future. I am so thankful for this support at this time in my ministry. God has put us all here together at the perfect time to be the love of God in our world, and I am excited to be in this ministry with you.

Blessings,

Mary