What We Need to Know: Sunday School & More

 Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.
~ Psalm 106:3
Dearly Beloved Friends,

As we conclude our worship series on the psalms, I encourage you to continue pondering this verse and how God is calling you to “observe justice” from a heart that worships him. Next week I’ll share more about our next worship series. For now, here are some important updates and reminders from the church’s COVID-19 task force and staff as we safely regather.

· In-person Worship Gathering: While we no longer require reservations for the Sunday morning service, we surely appreciate your doing so when you can in case we need to contact trace. Also, we continue to require masks for the entirety of the service—the best way to love our neighbor right now!

· Sunday School: We will resume Sunday school this upcoming Sunday, October 18, at 10AM , and classes will conclude at 10:45AM. Please check with other members of your class to see who is ready to meet in person and plan to do so in your usual space (except for the Good Shepherd class, which will meet in the fellowship hall). We cannot share in food or drinks yet, and masks are required.

· Trunk or Treat: Check out page two of this newsletter for all the details of our Trunk or Treat on October 25.

· Charge Conference: Administrative Council will meet with the district superintendent via ZOOM call on Sunday, October 25, at 3:30PM. All members of the Administrative Council will receive login info for the call closer to time.

Thank you for your patience and prayers as we safely resume and remaster some of our beloved ways of gathering!

all good things to each of you,
Dr. D.

Learning What a “Real Song” Is

When my niece was not quite three years old, she schooled me on the definition of a “real song.” We’d been singing her favorites, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” when she asked me to sing a song. I’m not sure why the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” popped in my head, but I started to sing it. She stared at me as if I’d lost my mind and said, “Auntie Rev, that’s not a real song.” I asked her what a ‘real song’ was, and she dramatically began singing the ABC song.

When I recounted the story to a friend a few days later, he said, “Well, I guess you can’t really learn any other song until you know the ABC song.”

As I’ve said in our current worship series, the psalms are our “ABC song” of Scripture. We find in their poetry the basic building blocks of unlocking secrets of God’s Word. Learning the themes and truths of the psalms’ open, honest prayers help us to read other parts of Scripture. They are the “real song” that guide us in singing other songs of Jesus and his love.

With all of the changes we’ve experienced in the world this year, changes to which churches have not been immune, we have also had the opportunity to remember Who does not change. In worship this past Sunday, Psalm 19 invited us back into basic practices that we must not neglect, which include worship, study of the Word, and prayers of self examination. I encourage you to read this psalm throughout the week and seek the Lord about how this “real song” might help us grow our faith in & focus on the One who doesn’t change. By tending to these basic needs of our souls, we will improve our lives —and learn to sing even more songs that God has placed in our hearts.

all good things to each of you,
Dr. D.

Reading, Watching, and Listening In September

Every month, I’m setting aside one week to share in this space about movies, books, and music that have especially spoken to my heart recently. These are not advertisements for you to go out and buy the items. They are not suitable for everyone, but I hope this will invite us to consider what we’re reading, watching, and hearing. God speaks to us in all kinds of ways, and great conversation can arise among us from where we’re hearing God speak.

1. Rivers In The Wasteland by Needtobreathe (music): I talked about this band in the last sermon of our UNITY series. I had ignored them for years because of the label, “Christian rock,” associated with them. It turns out they are far better than any label. This album is about five years old but does not disappoint. My personal favorite track is, “The Heart.”

2. 42 (movie): Yes, I referenced this movie in a sermon, too. The late Chadwick Boseman marvelously portrays baseball legend, Jackie Robinson, and it sheds light on an important moment in history that still affects us today. Plus, there is a fabulous joke about Methodists in an early scene. I’m slowly making my way through all of Boseman’s movies and am amazed by his gifts that are gone from this world too soon.

3. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land (audiobook): I love listening to memoirs, especially when read by the author. Stephanie Land provides a firsthand look at poverty in North America from the perspective of a single mother trying to make ends meet. Her voice continues to ring in my head when I read Scriptures about how we as communities of faith are called to care for the poor.

Through which books, movies, shows, and podcasts is God speaking to you these days?

all good things to each of you,
Dr. D.

There’s a Microphone In My Nose

This past Sunday we welcomed an adorable little boy into our church family with the baptismal covenant. Baptisms, like everything, look a little different right now. One of the new preparations I faced on Sunday was how to make my wireless, over-the-ear microphone work with my mask. Thankfully I was able to fit the microphone comfortably under my mask, and everyone in the room could still hear me.

In the middle of the baby’s blessing, something you didn’t see happened: the tiny filter that covered the end of my microphone slipped off the mic—and straight into my nose! I kept on reading the words before me with my lips, but my mind was saying, “How am I going to gracefully get this microphone out of my nose?” Then, as the filter began tickling my nose, my mind said, “It’s going to be really awkward if you sneeze in the middle of this.” So, with all the energy I could muster combined with the resistance to laugh, I tried to ignore the microphone and focus on the baby and words before me. With God’s help, it worked, and I was able to extract the filter between baptism and prayers without any of you noticing (I hope?).

This incident reminds me of something that is integral to following Jesus: recognizing that we have no idea the unseen struggles people are going through. So often we judge each other based on behavior we can see with no idea of the hard times people are quietly experiencing. The microphone in my nose was far more comedy than it was a struggle, but it’s raised my awareness of silent, serious battles people face.

This week, let us be alert to each other’s feelings. Check on one another. Pay attention to the signals that someone may be hurting. Reach out with a phone call or a card. And let us pray that God will help us to see what we need to see, so that we might respond in love. After all, you might help get a microphone out of someone’s nose.

all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian

An Update on In-Person Worship Gatherings
Let the inner movement of your heart always be to love one another. ~Romans 12:9 (The Passion Translation)

Dearly Beloved Friends,

On behalf of the church’s COVID-19 task force, I want to thank you for your patience and prayers as we navigate uncharted waters. The task force has met and communicated regularly about our in-person worship gatherings with an ongoing “inner movement of the heart” to love each other. We wanted to provide you with an update and the reasoning behind some of our more recent decisions that will hopefully answer any questions you might have.

1. Event Brite Reservation System: Reservations will no longer be required for Sunday morning worship, but we would appreciate it if you would still make a reservation since it is a helpful tool for us in two key areas. First, should an attendee test positive for COVID-19, Event Brite allows us to easily access who else was present that Sunday and let them know. Secondly, the reservations help us to exercise good stewardship. If we know how many people plan to come, for example, we will know how many bulletins to print, how many ushers to have, and how many Communion sets we’ll need, so that we can be good stewards of those resources.

2. Mask Requirement: Masks will continue to be required for the whole service. Some of our members may be more at risk for COVID-19 than others, and we want for everyone to be safe if they choose to attend in person. For right now, given the Mississippi Department of Health recommendations, we feel the mask requirement needs to continue. However, know that the task force continually reassess this requirement and will make a change when we feel it’s safe to do so.

3. Communication: The task force wants everyone to know that we are listening to you and appreciate how much you love and care for this congregation. As a reminder, if you need to get in touch with any of us, the members of the task force are: Jim Helveston (Security Chair), Robin McCormick (Finance Member /Past SPRC Chair), Bill Maclean (Lay Member of AC), Melanie Sanders (Lay Leader), Marc Stewart (Admin Council Chair), and Jessi Sugg (CDC Chair).

May our Lord continue to richly bless each of us with an “inner movement of love” in a heart that beats for him alone!

all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian

Living Like the Moss

This past Sunday I closed the sermon with an illustration from the radio program, On Being with Krista Tippett. In an interview from February of 2016, Tippett spoke with bryologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, an expert in moss. Some of her observations had me saying out loud, “This is what the church should be!” I am printing below what I shared on Sunday as an invitation to live more like the moss. I also encourage you to check out the whole interview at the link provided below to experience the wonder of God’s creation.

Mosses are not good competitors at all, and yet they are the oldest plants on the planet. They have persisted here for 350 million years. They ought to be doing something right here. And one of those somethings is their ability to cooperate with one another, to share the limited resources that they have, to really give more than they take. Mosses build soil, they purify water, they are like the coral reefs of the forest, they make homes for this myriad of all these very cool little invertebrates who live in there. They are just engines of biodiversity. They do all of these things, and yet, they’re only a centimeter tall.*

Let’s ask ourselves the following questions
1. How might I cooperate with other people?
2. How am I sharing my resources?
3. How will I give more than I take in the kingdom of God?

all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian

* https://onbeing.org/programs/robin-wall-kimmerer-the-intelligence-of-plants/

Reading, Watching, and Listening in August

Every month I’m setting aside one week to share in this space about movies, books, and music that have especially spoken to my heart recently. These are not advertisements for you to go out and buy these items. They are not suitable for everyone, but I hope this will invite us to consider what we’re reading, watching, and listening to. God speaks to us in all kinds of ways, and great conversation can arise among us from where we’re hearing God speak.

1. Selma (movie): I am embarrassed to say that I’ve waited so long to watch this movie, but I am so glad I did. Director Ava Duvernay does a superb job of recreating the voting-rights marches from Selma to Montgomery. I was especially moved by David Oyelowo’s portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which really captured his pastor’s heart. Rep. John Lewis, who is a key part of this story, passed away only two weeks after I watched the film.

2. Walk Through Fire by Yola (music): While streaming and shuffling individual songs are the norm, I still prefer listening to whole albums from beginning to end. I love every song on this album, although Dog-stor Isaac is partial to “Ride Out In the Country.” Yola’s voice is rich and deep and beautiful, and she describes her music as “country soul.” It is so good for the soul, too.
3. The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi (book) and The Lazy Genius (podcast): I started listening to Kendra Adachi’s weekly podcast during quarantine, and it may be my favorite find of the year. Her motto is “to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t.” Her recently released book has principles to help you fulfill that motto.

Through which books, movies, shows, music, and podcasts is God speaking to you these days?

all good things to each of you,
Dr. D.

UNITY: Being of One Peaceful Mind

Next Sunday we will embark on a 5-part worship series around the word, UNITY. While division easily turns us away from each other, unity calls us to turn towards one another even when we disagree. This series builds on the two worship series that preceded it, the first being on PEACE, and the second being on the mind. My hope is that what we explore in the weeks ahead will move us as God’s people towards being of one, peaceful mind.

A beloved hymn that declares the unity of a peaceful mind in the Church is “The Church’s One Foundation.” I especially love this verse:

Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth
her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.

Samuel Stone wrote “The Church’s One Foundation” in 1866 when he was 27 years old and serving as a priest in England. We could easily gaze back across history and think of his words coming from a land far away and a time long ago. The reality is that the Holy Spirit gave him the powerful poem in the midst of great conflict and unrest in the Church, and its message is vital for us now.

The peace of our one Lord, Jesus Christ, and the mind of that same Lord are all we need to move towards unity. Let us press on to the one hope in him as we listen to his Word together.

all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian

Blessing The People Without the Crowd

On Sunday we heard Matthew’s account of Jesus’ healing and feeding many people. It is a “miracle story” familiar to many of us. There is the miracle of healing. There is the miracle of five loaves and two fish feeding over five thousand people. There is also the miracle that somehow twelve disciples managed to organize the people and distribute food with no planning!

None of us planned to be living through a pandemic this year any more than the disciples had planned to manage a pop-up restaurant in a deserted place. Sometimes when our human planning halts, God’s divine planning surprises us with miracles. It’s true that we cannot gather in a crowd of “5000 men, in addition to many women and children” (the Bible has some odd ways of measuring attendance, doesn’t it?). But we can still bless each other with our love and feed each other with encouragement.

What if we each found ways to reach out to five people this week with a word of love and encouragement? Here is an example:

1. Using our Back-to-School Prayer Challenge as a guide, contact one teacher to let him/her know you are praying for them.
2. Send a handwritten note to a fellow church member to say you miss seeing them.
3. When you talk to a family member, whether in person or on the phone, speak a word of encouragement.
4. On social media, go one step further than the “like” button. Leave a comment on someone’s photo or post about how valuable they are.
5. Send a text or call someone simply to say how much you appreciate them.

If each of us could bless five people this week, what a crowd of encouraged, beloved folks we would all know by this time next week!

all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian

Following Up & Following Through

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (Romans 8:26-28, The Message)

Don’t you love reading unfamiliar translations of familiar Scriptures? Different translations can shed new light and offer fresh revelation. These are the same verses on which we reflected this past Sunday, a passage that calls us to seek “the mind of the Spirit” through prayer.

What comfort there is in knowing that the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don’t know how to pray. At the same time, the Spirit wants to offer us language to speak in prayer, too. We must try to pray even when we struggle with the words. We learn that language by immersing ourselves in a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

This week let us endeavor to follow up and follow through on our part in prayer. Set aside at least five minutes per day, preferably more, to spend with the Holy Spirit in prayer. Perhaps you will write your prayers down. Perhaps you’ll simply pray, “Come Holy Spirit,” and spend the rest of the time in silence. Perhaps you’ll sing a hymn and meditate on the words. Whatever form those prayers take, we must get in the habit of hallowing, or setting aside as holy, time everyday to learn from the mind of the Holy Spirit.

Let us move forward in deep hope that all is well, and all shall be well, for God is with us!

all good things to each of you,
Dr. D.