First United Methodist Church Bristol, Tennessee Your Weekly e-Newsletter and Events Schedule January 2 –…
Category: Pastor’s Letters
I am thankful for: a warm coat on a cool morning, buses and drivers to…
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus crossed the ocean blue
It’s one of few mnemonic devices that has stuck with me. I’ve been thinking about it this week, as we’re approaching Columbus Day, and I wondered why I’d never learned any more of the poem from which the couplet is extracted.
I had a change of perspective last week. It might not be life-changing or foundation-shaking, but it was a shift, at least for a little while.
I have routines I like to follow. They make me comfortable. It disturbs and aggravates me when they are upset.
There is a squirrel who comes to the church and sits on our overhead brick structures to crack open nuts and have a meal. I watched him after a Sunday service once, and he didn’t seem at all perturbed about having an audience.
The last Sunday of July, several of us from First UMC celebrated the installation of…
Last Sunday morning, we awoke to the news of a second mass shooting in Ohio compounding the fear and helplessness we felt following a Saturday attack in Texas. A few years ago, those twin events would have sent us into a tailspin of horror and active calls for legislative response, but community-shattering acts of terror like them have become normal…
A colleague asked, via social media the other day, what United Methodists’ experience was using King’s Hawaiian Bread for Holy Communion…
I caught myself this week, following a sneezing fit, lamenting that what was left of Spring was a plethora of allergens with none of the color and bloom that ought to accompany them. That was a grumpy thought, though. What I enjoy most about Spring isn’t actually the color. It’s the sound.
Our vision: Building a community where anyone can become a deeply committed Christian. I’ve been dwelling on what a future looks like for FUMC in the past few months. I have some ideas, some possibilities, maybe some concerns and even fears.
