Happy Wednesday to all of you in the name of Jesus Christ. As we make plans for our community meals, concerts, and personal holiday preparations, I don’t want us to lose sight of the blessing it is to be the beloved children of God. Our small but mighty church has its hands and heart involved in many ministries.

Just last week, eight women from our women’s group put together 100 feminine hygiene bags for women living on the street without access to adequate shelter or the basic necessities of life. This is being the hands and feet of Jesus. And the week before last, Connie Michael delivered 10 to 15 new coats to the elementary school for children without warm winter clothing. This is being the hands and feet of Jesus. This past Sunday, I enjoyed a homemade biscuit with gravy and sausage, prepared with love and expertise by Mark and Winston in the kitchen. This, too, is being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.

At the same time, we have many in our congregation who will experience their first holiday without someone they love. Others may be struggling to make ends meet during this season, and some are only able to join us through an online venue. While the holidays are meant to be a joyful time, many of us will live in the bittersweet—in that space between joy and heartbreak, where tears run freely and without warning.

Be patient with each other, please. As humans under high stress, we tend to get snappy with one another. Make space in your life to allow people to express themselves. Make space in your heart and mind for others’ frustrations. Measure your words carefully, being respectful and kind. The harvest is great, but the workers are few. That does not mean we are allowed to turn on one another. Be gentle, please. We are all in need of grace and mercy.

Finally, over the next six to eight weeks, we will have many visitors among us. Between meals, special services, and one more concert before the year’s end, everything we do will require all hands on deck. Even if all you can do is help prepare a meal, put a tablecloth on the table, or fill cups with ice, your efforts matter.

Our upcoming Thanksgiving meal this Sunday after church is a prime example of the need for everyone to pitch in. Turkey for the event will be provided, but Mark and Ronnie are handling preparations. Cleanup will require everyone’s help.

As I close, I ask you to reflect on the various ways you already volunteer at the church and to prayerfully consider whether you want to continue in your current capacity. While we always need volunteers, I also encourage you to pray for God to lead you to a ministry that speaks to your heart at Saint Matthew.

The next few years may bring much suffering. Now is not the time to throw our hands up and say, “It’s just too much.” Take care of yourselves first, and then, with hearts full of gladness, look around to help others.

My love to you all,

Mary

Blessings to you in the name of Jesus, who heals and comforts us,

In the coming weeks, we will begin to put some structure around our 2025 and future ministries. I want to ensure that the important things to you are included in the five strategic priorities of the Horizon Texas Conference. As a reminder, the five strategic priorities are:

1. Multiplying Jesus followers
2. Championing children and youth
3. Maximizing congregational care and healing
4. Pursuing and embracing diversity
5. Telling our story.

We have discussed these in the past, and our congregation’s choices at that time were to focus on championing children and youth, maximizing congregational care and healing, and pursuing and embracing diversity. It is my opinion that if we focus on these three, multiplying Jesus’ followers and telling our story will be the outcomes of these efforts. So, while we are not focused on all five if we do those three well, we will satisfy all five.

The Bishop intends to enlist the support of the laity of the Horizon Texas Conference. Recent data indicates that for every clergy person in the conference, there are 100 laity. The Bishop requested, and I am asking today, for a layperson to be a strategic priority champion. A Horizon Texas Conference Strategic Priority Champion is a trained laity member of the HTC, focused on taking the priorities of The United Methodist Church into the community to help folks find a faith home in the HTC. Training will occur in January, and there will be a laity covenant day specifically for this ministry in the conference.

A strategic priority champion does not focus on bringing more people to church. It is bigger than that. It is working within the conference and working with the clergy at the local church to determine ways to have an impact in our neighborhood. This can include invitations to church, of course, but it is primarily focused on meeting people where they are and addressing the needs they have where they are. Please pray about this before you volunteer. This is a structured commitment to the work of the entire conference, not just Saint Matthew. This is a commitment of time, energy, and prayer. I will also be in prayer for the one whom God chooses to fill this role at Saint Matthew.

I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am for your response to the sermon on Sunday. I am so very blessed to be part of a church that knows what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There is much work to do, and I am grateful that you are willing to help with the efforts. Right this minute, just say a quick prayer for the work that we will do, pray for the people that God will send to us for help, and pray most of all for our nation and its place in the world. These will be difficult times. I do not intend to scare you; however, it is my job to prepare you for what we are about to face. We will meet after church very soon to discuss what all of this means. Invitations to these discussions will be forthcoming. I am encouraged that we are not alone. I have found multiple groups who are also determined to stand in the gap for people experiencing injustice. We will discuss it soon, privately!

Blessings to you all! Your sweet spirit and loving-kindness bring me hope and joy,
Mary

Blessings to you in the name of the risen Christ. What a joy it was on Sunday to be covered by the rains from heaven. In many parts of the Metroplex, the rainfall total for October was zero. We made up for that on Sunday and Monday, and I’m grateful to God for the life-giving rain. I think about the time between rainfall events in our neighborhood—one day stretching into the next, living with a heat that is not normal for October, accompanied by the beautiful sunshine we all need. It brings to mind those dry places in my spirit when I cannot feel, smell, or hear God. It makes me think about the moments when I struggle with my own faith and my understanding of who I am as a follower of Jesus Christ. And then, the rainfall reminds me of what a glorious thing it is when God “rains” into our souls. The sound of God’s love rushing back into my heart, like a mighty clap of thunder, so loud I am driven to my knees. The smell of the earth, God’s creation, soaked in water, created in Spirit. The feeling of being God’s beloved that floods my heart, overflowing the curbs of my soul. I am thankful for this week’s rain and blessed beyond measure to be a child of the Creator.

We have a busy month ahead. We continue to collect feminine hygiene products for our sisters experiencing homelessness. Please bring what you can by Sunday, November 10. The women’s group will assemble the bags at their luncheon on Thursday, November 14. We are also collecting new and very gently used children’s coats for Bill J. Elliott Elementary School. We will collect these coats until November 17. Please see Connie Michael if you have questions. Donated coats are currently being stored in Miss Sue and Miss Vickey’s Sunday school class. Also, in November, we will have a Saturday night concert and a Sunday after-church Thanksgiving dinner. I refer you to the calendar in the church hallway for the dates of the concert and Thanksgiving dinner. I announced the wrong dates on Sunday and, as a result, have retired from announcing dates.

I want to say a special thanks to Scott and Kay Ryan for the beautiful rendering of our church’s namesake, St. Matthew. It is hanging proudly in the hallway between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall. Thank you, Scott and Kay, for the lovely gift to our congregation.

December 1, 2024, is the first Sunday of Advent. It may seem early to announce Advent before we have celebrated Thanksgiving, but I am asking for your prayers for this season at Saint Matthew. I am praying specifically for God to do something amazing. I am asking God to do something so incredible that we will stop in our tracks, look skyward, and shout glory to God’s name. I pray for each of you, that the baby Jesus shows up in a deeper, more spiritual way than ever before. I also know this will be a very difficult holiday season for many of you. I pray for those of us who have lost loved ones over the last few years, those who were vitally important in our lives. It is difficult to live in the bittersweet space between celebrating the arrival of the Christ child and living with the loneliness and heartbreak of losing someone we love. We will do some special things this year to honor both worlds. More to come on the plans for Advent 2024 at Saint Matthew UMC.

My love to you all,
Mary

Peace and love to you from a follower of Jesus Christ,

My prayers for you this week have been for comfort and peace. Anxiety, worry, and fear are palpable in the air as we approach this most contentious election next week. I understand those feelings and find myself frequently “belly breathing” and inviting the peace of Christ into my mind. I remind myself that “the Lord is my shepherd, walking with me through green pastures, still waters,” and whatever chaos the world is experiencing. I tell myself, “let not your heart be troubled.” I am a follower of Jesus, and I do feel the presence of the risen Christ in my life, even in the middle of a society at war with itself. I remember that God is eternal and all-knowing. God has already seen what happens in the future, including the election next week. I know we all have an outcome in mind that either brings us joy or fear. I encourage all of you to choose to trust in God. The best we can do is to vote in the way our conscience leads us. The next best thing we can do is to continue to love our neighbors and to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our neighborhood. Neither of those two things depends on who sits in the White House. All politics aside, it is imperative that an open, affirming, accepting, and loving voice of the church is heard above the noise of people at war with each other over political ideals. Saint Matthew is such a church, and we have that voice.

Don’t forget our picnic this weekend, which looks like it will be held indoors. We had very few folks sign up on Sunday for the event. Please let Vita know what you plan to bring if you did not sign up on Sunday. This will be a very informal event; we will have no decorations, but we will need a cleanup crew. I encourage you to bring everything that you and your family will need that you would bring for a picnic, and then bring a little more to share with others.

We have two important events coming up. On November 5th, Saint Matthew will host a voting location. After our picnic on Sunday, we will work together to make sure the bathrooms and the fellowship hall are clean and ready to receive guests. Our second important event is a wedding that has been booked at the church for December 7th. This is our first time hosting a wedding as a paid venue. We will work together on Thursday evening, December 5th, and Friday, December 6th, to make certain that the church is clean and ready to receive guests.

Finally, my beloved siblings, keep your thoughts on things that are good, things that are right, things that are just, things that are loving. When we think on these things, the world is a better place.

Mary

Greetings, beloved Church and Church friends,

I wish you peace and love in the name of the risen Christ. I was blessed this week to spend time at a grief summit. Several clergy members and I gathered together on Monday with a grief coach at Keller United Methodist Church. We spent three hours talking about grief. The discussions included the impact of losing church members, the impact of disaffiliations, and the difficulty of allowing space for our own grief while acknowledging the grief of the rest of the world. It was an amazing and uplifting encounter with God on Monday. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been there.

I want to say thanks to everyone who brought Halloween candy for the Trunk or Treat at the elementary school. We got lots of good candy, and hopefully, those kiddos will have a great time next week at their event.

I also want to say a special thank you to Brian McCosky for two reasons. First of all, Brian has pretty much single-handedly managed the issues we are having with our HVAC equipment. This has taken a lot of his time, including his entire birthday back in September. Secondly, I want to thank Brian for bringing brats and hotdogs back from Wisconsin. In the midst of juggling my responsibilities, I failed to set a date with Brian for a church picnic. Thankfully, Brian is part of a veterans’ organization and will be able to use the imported meats for an event with local veterans. I apologize to you all that we will miss out on the high-quality products that Brian brings back from Wisconsin. That said, we still need a church picnic. Apparently, the weather is going to cooperate until at least the middle of November. We will be having a church picnic on November 3, 2024, immediately following the service. The temperature that day is forecasted to be 75° with a minimal chance of rain. I will have a sign-up sheet this Sunday for those who wish to bring food for the picnic. We will invite the neighborhood via our sign out in front of the building and through this newsletter article. Please join us on November 3 for breakfast at 10:30, church at 11, and a picnic on the grounds beginning at 12:30.

Thank you for your continued love and patience with me as I pursue ordination in the United Methodist Church. I have been away from school for a while now, and I’m not sure I remember everything I need to. I have to study extra to remind myself of all the things I’ve forgotten.

My love to you all,
Mary