July 2021 Pastor’s Letter

From the Desk of Pastor Melissa

Dear Friends,

Recently, I sat in a doctor’s office trying to explain my work and the state of the Christian church today. The doctor was a local leader from another faith tradition. He looked at me, perplexed, and was full of questions-and I understood completely. To quote Tish Harrison Warren, “The church is a mess, but I am still hopeful.”

In an article from Christianity Today, Rev. Harrison Warren, an Episcopal priest, writes about how the church lately has been full of disappointing news. “In a recent survey from Lifeway, two-thirds of young adults reported they stopped attending church, citing religious or political disagreements with the church or hypocrisy among members.”

I imagine you are nodding your head right now. Maybe you have held back from returning to worship for similar reasons-after all decline of the church even disappearance of the church has happened in many places in this world. Maybe you are waiting to see what will happen next with disease or with leadership. Maybe you are exhausted from the hurt that the United Methodist church is causing all people of all viewpoints by the decades-long delay to make a decision on how the church will be structured and how we welcome God’s children.

Increasingly my hope, like Rev. Harrison Warren’s, rests in a line from the Nicene Creed:

We believe in the Holy Spirit.

The coming of God’s Holy Spirit made everything possible, everything endurable, everything new and renewed. We look to God’s Spirit in moments and times of abundance, answers and fruitfulness. “But ground zero for the Spirit’s work is often the very places where our resources fall short, where problems seem intractable and unsolvable.”

We often look to leaders or programs or church staff to dream up the strategy or programs to have the answers. I understand and I agree, we need better programming, more money, more volunteers, more people making a difference in our church and the world in the name of Jesus.

But, my friends, are we so busy being in dismay that we aren’t asking God’s Spirit to guide us as individuals and as Cornerstone UMC? 

Because in decline and in plenty, in times of transition, and in times of rest—our mission never changes. 

We are to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ in worship, prayer, and study.

We are to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

We are to love God and love each other.

Whatever comes, we must seek God’s Spirit and walk in the way of Jesus.

I know that I didn’t come to Christianity and stay an active Christian, eventually becoming a pastor, because of a piece of scripture I read from the Bible. I came and grew and stayed to serve—because I saw people of faith inviting, welcoming, nurturing, and serving not only me and my family, but others as well. I grew in my love for God’s word and God’s church because imperfect people of faith leaned on their Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer in worship and in study, doing their best to glorify God and walk in the way of Jesus Christ in good times and in times of challenge.

God is at work. Jesus is at work. The Holy Spirit is at work. We can trust in these truths. May we be at work, at worship, at prayer, and in loving each other.

We’ll talk again soon,

Pastor Melissa