Building Community (Page 2)
Becoming the Church the World Needs
November 9, 2022A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, I remember the moment like it was yesterday. I was 10 years old, and my family and I were on our way out of First United Methodist Church for the day. Rev. Brooks, the retired minister who attended our church, stopped me in the hallway. “Mark my word, April… I think one day you are going to be a minister.” I don’t remember exactly what I said to him in that…
It felt safe, it felt like family, it felt like love…
September 21, 2022A Note from Lindsay Robinson Dear Friends, What do you want to be for Halloween? This is a question that I don’t think I’ve ever had to actually ask my own children. Other kids? Absolutely. My children, on the other hand, have been telling me what they wanted their costumes to be since before last Christmas. Sometimes the costume requests are simple and thankfully easy to accomplish. Others leave me trying to figure out if it’s even possible…
Squirrels Throwing Acorns
September 14, 2022A Note from Beth Palmer Dear Friends, I have a deep need to be seen for who I am and to belong. We all do. We want to know that we matter to others, and that we can show up as we really are and be accepted and embraced as our authentic, messy selves. I have always felt lucky that I get those needs met through my college and seminary friends, my volunteering friends and church friends, and…
Seeds of Faith
September 7, 2022A Note from Nikki Buskirk Dear Friends, By now many of you know that I have this dream of being a homesteader, of having acres upon acres of land where I can grow things. Even though that’s a distant dream of mine, I do have a substantial garden plot in my backyard where Tyler, the boys, and I grow food every year, which we harvest and then process to be used until the next growing season. This year…
Watch the Ripples
August 25, 2022A Note from Amanda Nofzinger Dear Friends, The Dalai Lama once said, “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” This quote has really resonated with me as I have been reflecting on my three years as the manager of the Hilliard Farm Market. I would never have guessed just how many “ripples” there would be. These are just a few of the ripples that…
Opportunities to serve!
Looking for a way to help change the world, or even just your little corner of it? Serving others is so good for our souls! It boosts our joy and confidence. It builds others up and helps us connect with others in friendship and love. It fills our lives with meaning and purpose, and it helps change the world! And it opens us up to being influenced and shaped by God and others, which is life-giving. Click or tap the…
Wednesday Community Supper Resumes INSIDE!
August 10, 2022A Note from Beth Latella Dear Friends, Feed My Lambs — join the Wednesday Supper Team! What do cooking and quilting have in common? They are two of my favorite activities, but more than that, for me, they are two methods of offering warmth and comfort. They are also two important ministries of Hilliard United Methodist Church. Both were changed, but not stopped, by the pandemic. Quilters quilted at home, which suited my view of sewing as individual…
Full Circle
August 3, 2022A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, “When life brings you full circle,pay attention.There’s a lesson there.”~Mandy Hale I was eight years old the first time I remember attending Catholic Mass with my grandmother. While some of the rituals felt different from the Methodist church I was used to (why did people keep touching their foreheads and shoulders?), others seemed familiar. I knew you were supposed to stand up when the songs started, and most of the words…
Feed My Sheep
July 20, 2022A Note from Pastor Jon Dear Friends, A short while after Jesus first appears to the disciples following his resurrection, the disciples had left Jerusalem and had seemingly returned to their prior jobs, as we discover in the Gospel according to John. Seven of the disciples, including Peter, had returned north to The Galilee and had resumed fishing. John’s Gospel (chapter 21) says that early one morning Jesus was standing on the shore while the seven were in…
Deeper Waters: Highly Recommended!
July 13, 2022A Note from Emily Clark Dear Friends, Last August, two of my closest friends, Jon Esala and Meredith Osborn, told me of a group that was starting at their church — one that they thought I might be interested in. I had never even attended HUMC, but Jon and Meredith gave me the information, mentioned my name to Beth Palmer, and I decided to apply. The group was Deeper Waters, and I was pretty jazzed when I read…
Everyone is entitled to God’s amazing love & grace
July 6, 2022A Note from Shiloh Abner Dear Friends, I believe with every generation, it gets more complicated to raise a child. More and more families are getting away from the church and consequently God because of bad theology and out-of-context scripture. What a refreshing time it was to move to Ohio and find a church that believed that everyone is entitled to God’s amazing love and grace. Coming from previous churches that held on to “traditional” stances on social…
Raising Children in a Church Known for its Love
June 29, 2022A Note from Anthony Coy-Gonzalez Dear Friends, In the midst of such volatile times where up and down, past and present, new beginnings and déjà vu all seem intertwined, I reflect on the comforting words of Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” On good days and bad, I settle on these words to…