Pastor’s Ponderings
Pastors Pondering
Give the Gift of Life on Wednesday, May 10th. Calvary UMC is hosting our annual Spring Blood Drive for the American Red Cross on Wednesday, May 10th from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the church's Fellowship Hall. Just a little over 15 years ago, Eric Anderson took over...
Pastor Pondering
We are now in Holy Week, that period of seven days that begins with Palm/Passion Sunday and ends with the break of day on Easter Sunday. This is a time in which we recall the last days of Jesus life and we are incorporated once again into the central mystery of...
Pastors Pondering
Last fall, I asked members of the Church Council to participate in a very unscientific survey. I provided a long list of values. Then I asked these people which values on the list best describe how they experience this congregation and which do not. I received eleven...
Pastors Pondering
For many years, Calvary Church has sent groups to various places on mission and service projects. Groups have gone to do repair work after hurricanes and floods and done work to build or repair homes, schools, and retreat centers. Some of these projects have been here...
Pastors Pondering
I heard an interview on a podcast this morning. Tom Long was being asked about a book he wrote about Christian funerals. It got me thinking about what makes a good funeral. Here are a few of my thoughts. A good funeral needs to lift the life of the person who...
Pastor Pondering
One of the practices that Calvary Church followed for many years was a time for blessing those who had a birthday. At the end of the closing hymn on the final Sunday of the month, those who had a birthday sometime that month were invited to come forward to the front...
Pastor Pondering
Calvary United Methodist Church offers a Bible Study for all ages on five Wednesday evenings during the Lenten season starting March 1. This will be an excellent time for sharing and fellowship. We start at 6:00 pm with a meal and finish by 7:30 pm. Each Wednesday, we...
Pastor Pondering
Tomorrow, we begin the season of Lent. Lent begins with the reminder that we are fragile and our time here on earth is limited. At the other end of the season of Lent, we encounter the news of the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Along...
Pastors Pondering
The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with the International Blue Crescent to provide tents, heaters, blankets, warm clothes, ready-to-eat meals, and first aid kits to those displaced by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, which killed more than 32,000...
Pastors Pondering
We are all missionaries. Yeah, I know that word doesn’t seem right, but it’s true! All of us are called to be his hands and feet, to share his heart and his hope with others. We are called to love our neighbor and to offer service to each other in Jesus’ name. We can...