"Who are we TODAY?"
Williams Memorial is now 124 years old. We have a history. God has touched MANY peoples’ lives through the worship, service, and fellowship of this church. 10 men from WMPC have been called into ministry. Countless people have been baptized, confirmed, taught, given opportunities to serve the Lord and have been served in this place. We were the church who sent out buses for VBS every summer. We were the church with the popular and delicious BBQ. We WERE the LARGE, VITAL COUNTRY church with the beautiful campus, the rock wall and a cemetery. We were the church with the minister who was there for 40 yrs., Rev. Marcus Prince. And over the years those identity markers began to change. With each new pastor and with the demographic changes in our community and in our congregation our profile and our identity in our own minds and in the community have changed. Change has come and gone and continues to come. Who are we today?
Who are we today? We ARE a SMALL church with the beautiful campus, the rock wall and the cemetery sitting on the edge of a big city between the city and a growing suburbia. We are a VITAL congregation with faithful, committed members. We are a caring church in which every single person is known and valued; a giving church; a serving church; a studying church. We are Christians who love fellowship and eating together! We are a congregation struggling to recreate ourselves; a congregation in need of strong leaders; a congregation beginning to accept a new vision and mission. We are the church that welcomes and serves our ringing and singing neighbors from the Nevins Center at Christmas. We are the church with a now well-known Clothes Closet and a Food Pantry; the church that, 2 or 3 times a year, feeds our homeless neighbors who go to Urban Ministries for services. We are the church that packs and sends boxes to Samaritan’s Purse for OCC; and the church that sends sometimes 2 teams of volunteers to the OCC Warehouse to inspect boxes before they are sent to children around the world. We are the church that supports missionaries in South Korea. We are the church that supports a Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Foundation walking team every year. We are the church that hosted this year our largest group of kids ever at our annual Kidshine Performing Arts Camp! We are the church starting a new Young Adult Fellowship.
We are all these things plus more that I haven’t mentioned…Let’s celebrate who we are today. Let us thank God for all that we have been given. Let us ask God to give us more opportunities to use what we have for ministry and mission. Let’s ask God to continue to open up doors to relationships with people and other churches in our neighborhood. Let us ask God to open up opportunities for us to share Good News. Let us acknowledge that we are blessed and to the glory of God and in the name of Jesus Christ let us take every opportunity to be a blessing. AMEN.
On July 19 Williams Memorial celebrated Small Church Ministry Sunday. It was a good day in the life of this church and many thanks to all who helped with breakfast. Billie McConnell and John Kan, guest pianist from South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church, provided beautiful music for worship! Laura Ann Stroupe and Jane McBride both offered an inspiring and challenging witness of faith in God who is present and working in the LARGE and in the SMALL.
Peace, Carol
Frozen Chosen?
Presbyterians endearingly refer to themselves as "the Frozen Chosen." This comes from our reformed heritage. All things done "decently and in order". Those words come from Paul in Corinthians. And also a high, reverent understanding of the importance of the Word, Proclamation, and the Sacraments in worship. Early Presbyterian congregations had nothing but the Bible, the pulpit, the communion table and the font in them. Of course, people too! Some did not even sing during worship. Interestingly, singing that was done was singing from the Psalms. Now read this psalm...
Psalm 47
[1] Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
[2] For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
[3] He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
[4] He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
Selah
[5] God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
[6] Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
[7] For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
[8] God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
[9] The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted.
Makes you want to get up and shout "Hallelujah." At least, it does that for me. Sometimes in worship I feel like I'm going to burst with joy. Last Sunday we sang Holy, Holy, Holy and I could barely restrain myself from a physical reaction...raising hands and having an urge to say out loud, "Praise God!" Sometimes I just don't know what to do with the joy. Sometimes it comes in tears. I hope that the good news of Jesus Christ brings great joy to you. And I hope that you worship God with joy in your hearts and outwardly in your daily lives. Not jumping for joy on the streets or at your desk or with your friends...but by being a good person, a good Christian wherever you find yourself and with whomever you find yourself. So that your life reflects the joy of belonging to God. JOY< JOY<JOY, to all of you, God's Beloved Frozen Chosen!
Peace, Rev. Carol Hassell
posted June 15, 2009
Abide (live) in me and I in you.
Yesterday in worship we heard Jesus say, "I am the true vine." He told us that we are branches growing out of him. Growing out of him we produce fruit--the character and virtues of a life Christian. He also said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." He lives in us. We live in him. And the world knows that we are his disciples. I was reminded of the prayer of St. Francis this past week. It is a prayer that speaks of the intimate relationship we have with Jesus Christ and the fruit of the relationship: the ways in which Jesus Christ changes us by living in us.
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument/channel of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Abide in me. Live, dwell, make your home, take up residence in Jesus Christ. Let him live in and through you. Bring love, pardon, faith, hope, light and joy to the world. Peace, Carol
Monday, May 11, 2009
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Notes from your Pastor
Disciplines of True Fasting (based on Isaiah 58:6-7)
Got this from a bulletin at Cook's Memorial on Ash Wednesday. Food for Lenten reflection.
True fasting can be a means of feasting. Fasting can be a time when you could:
Fast from judging others; Feast on Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from apparent darkness; Feast on the reality of light in them.
Fast from emphasis of differences; Feast on the unity of life.
Fast from pessimism; Feast on optimism.
Fast from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; Feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from anger; Feast on patience.
Fast from discontent and jealousy; Feast on gratitude.
Fast from negative thoughts and speech; Feast on the love God has for us.
Fast from worry; Feast on Divine Providence.
Fast from unrelenting pressure; Feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from negatives; Feast on positives.
Fast from complaining; Feast on appreciation.
Fast from hostility; Feast on obedience.
Fast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from anxiety; Feast on hope.
Fast from yourself; Feast on a silent heart.
Jesus said, "Deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me."
True words of life and blessing. Peace, carol
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Preparing the way: A Vision
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009 Read Luke 3:7-18
John the Baptist was such a compelling preacher that the people wondered about him. They wondered if he was the Messiah. But John was not bringing salvation, he was not the Chosen One. Luke says that John “proclaimed good news to the people.” He proclaimed truth, compelling truth; and hope, transforming hope; and change, the one who is coming is bringing change, this world in which we live will be transformed. John’s call was, Get ready, people, be ready for the Chosen One. John was preparing the way that the way be clear. Sound familiar?
You’ve heard those words spoken from this pulpit before. Prepare the way that the way be clear. During the entire Advent season you heard from me what it means to the prepare the way for God. My note on the front page of January’s newsletter took up the charge “Prepare the way for the way to be clear.” February’s newsletter which you will receive this coming week is a revised version of the sermon I preached two weeks ago, a sermon that spoke of a vision for our church.
In that sermon I shared what I feel to be God’s call to us today, that it is time for us to recreate ourselves as a mission, as a place where people can meet God and know Jesus Christ: a place where people can find relief from the ills of society, relief from the pressures of life, a place where folks can find help when in need, a place where people living diminished lives can hear the good news of the abundant life that God offers in Jesus Christ...That we move beyond existing for ourselves and into a future of living for Jesus Christ and for others.
I told the Session on Sunday about a short conversation I had with someone the week before. I was catching up with an old friend and he asked where Williams was located. I told him on Beatties Ford Road near the intersection with Sunset Road. I began to describe our church, big, red brick, older church, with a stone wall in front along the road. “OH yeah!” he said, “that really old red brick church with the 50s style red brick house beside it.” Well, I don’t think he meant insult, but I have to say, my feathers got a bit ruffled and I puffed up a little and responded, “Hey, we may be old looking on the outside, but God is doing a new thing inside!” I know this to be true. God is doing something new here.
Prepare the way that the way be clear. John the Baptist answered the eager crowds, who asked him, “What shall we do?” His answer to them speaks directly to us. Some of the community outreach folks and I were talking at the last clothes closet opening. We were talking about setting some policies for the closet; the possibility of using some space upstairs in this building for storing out of season items; and the need to set up a larger, more organized space for the food pantry. We talked about the need for signs at the closet and maybe on the property directing folks back to the closet. And we talked about a mission statement for the clothes closet. It was a good conversation; it was even humorous at times when we were brainstorming for a passage of scripture to use in our outreach mission statement. Nothing was set down during that time on that morning, but we all said we would take the conversation away with us and do some reflecting.
I think it was that afternoon, or maybe the next day, but not long after that morning, Jane McBride called me and said, “Carol, I’ve found a passage that we might use for our mission statement for the clothes closet and food pantry ministries.” She had come across our passage for today, particularly, verses 10-11. “And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”
John preached the good news that challenged God’s people to wake up see that God was about to do something new. John preached the good news that brought a sense of urgency to the lives of God’s people. He urged them to turn their hearts back to God so that they would be ready for Jesus’ coming.
John preached to a people in need of a divine intervention. The times were bad for God’s people. The time was ripe for God to act.
John’s preaching and the baptism with water was a sign of the renewal of the people’s commitment to God; an sign of the renewal of spiritual fervor to serve God and serve others.
John warned the people that God, in fact, expected their lives to bear fruit—generosity, compassion, honesty, contentment, and a heart for others.
How fitting is John’s preaching for us today. In this world that we are living in there is, without question, need and urgency. Times are bad. The world yearns for God to act; to pour out his favor and restore hope and peace in hearts and lives. We, just as the crowds that surrounded John, are called to renew to our commitment to God in these bad times…to draw closer to him and be blessed by grace; to draw close to him and receive his peace and bear the fruits of grace. By his grace we offer hope in these bad times.
peace, carol
Please See Williams Bell article for Feb. 2009 for more on the vision.
Prepare the way of the Lord...
Today my heart is filled with joy and gratitude. First, gratitude for the folks at Williams who "prepare the way" to host our neighbors from the Nevins Center, the Nevins Bell Choir and accompanying staff and volunteers. So many folks pitch in and worked very hard to open our church home to the joyful singing and ringing of Christmas carols by our neighbors and their dedicated volunteer director. They rang old favorites and two new carols that they learned just this season.
Next joy...once again we witnessed the joy of singing, the beauty of sign language as Ann and Lisa signed "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night." The fun of "Frosty the Snowman" during which Cecil dons his black shiny tophat and moves to the music when the choir sings "he began to dance around." We were all satisfied with a yummy hot dog lunch with dessert. Each year when the Nevins Choir arrives they enter with great enthusiasm. Enthused--filled with the divine.
The members from Williams Memorial who prepare the way for this time are members of our Fun and Fellowship group, which is made up of our older adults and one of our "younger" members. This is a day of hard work for our folks and I pray that the intensity of the day melted into peace and contentment for all who served.
The songs and chimes of the Nevins Choir Chimers prepare the way for the Lord to enter into our hearts even as we have prepared the way for a time of fellowship with them. Williams folks eagerly anticipate each year when Robbie recites "The Night Before Christmas" without one mistake, and especially, his perfect telling of the birth of Christ from the gospel of Luke. "I bring you glad tidings of great joy..." Truly.
Take a look at the pictures provided for us by Kay Switzer, mother of Adam, one of our Nevins neighbors.
Glad tidings of great joy to you this Christmas.
Written Dec. 12, 2008 Rev. Carol Hassell
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Stewardship
Christians are given faith and called into the community that is called church. The church is not a building, but a living, changing, responding, needing body of members. The life of a church congregation is grounded in worship-first and foremost we respond to God's initiative of gracious redemption with praise! We confess our sins that our hearts be prepared to hear God's Word proclaimed (in song, in prayer, in the sermon, in the Bible). Having received God's Word we respond: with offerings, prayers for others, ordination of elders, commisioning of mission workers. Worship is our response to God that in turn opens up to the work of God's Spirit as he nurtures our faith, nourishes our souls, calls us into service, reveals to us his will and his ways. Worship is the ground from which our response to God grows. The life of a congregation is rooted deeply in its worship. Out of worship grows our joyful response to God in Jesus Christ: stewardship.
Stewardship is the trunk of the church. Stewardship grows out of worship as a "Yes" response to Jesus Christ. "Yes!" to Jesus' call to ministry and to mission. Stewardship is the way in which we turn our desire to serve into real, tangible service. The hope that is proclaimed in worship becomes a ministry of compassion, a ministry of justice, a ministry of presence. The justice we proclaim in worship becomes a ministry of respect, a ministry of advocacy, a ministry of dignity. The grace that God gives so freely to us becomes a shared joy, a much needed act of love, a turning point in someone's life. To move from words of hope, justice, and grace to service requires hearts, hands, time, gifts, skills, space, resources, and money. Stewardship is using our hearts, hands, time, gifts, skills, space, resources and money willingly and generously to serve God and follow Jesus Christ. When a church is a strong in stewardship then the mission and ministries of Jesus Christ flourish.
Ministry is the many ways in which we proclaim the Good News within the church and among other Christians. Ministry is service and service requires people giving of their hearts, hands, time, gifts, skills, space, resources and money. Ministries are branches in the living, growing tree that is the church. To name a few of the ministry branches on the church tree: ministries of teaching, leadership, singing, pastoral care, fellowship, learning, playing, meals, companionship, administration, encouragement, prayer, maintenance and repair, and providing for basic needs.
Mission is the many ways in which we spread the Good News to those who haven't heard it yet. Mission looks beyond the church community to people all over the world and in our own backyards who are in need and/or who haven't heard the Good News. Mission is also service and service requires hearts, hands, time, gifts, skills, space, resources and money. Mission brings the love of Jesus Christ to life for someone in need. Mission brings light to dark places, hope to the desperate, power to the powerless, respect and dignity to the excluded. The possibilities for mission branches on the church tree are endless.
It is stewardship grounded in worship that makes for a strong tree and strong branches of mission and ministry.
The tree logo represents the life of the church: grounded in worship lived out through responsible and responsive stewardship growing into ministry and mission. At the center of the life of the church? The cross of Jesus Christ.
Thanks to Ryan Drye, member of WMPC, for the logo!
