Encouragement
Blue Christmas
December 18, 2024A Note from Beth Palmer Hello Friends, Christmas is so fun! There’s so much magic in the air, and family celebrations can be moments of true joy, and kids are so excited, and there’s those amazing soft ginger cookies we always make, and the music! “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and “O Holy Night”! And the pretty candy cane Christmas lights on those trees on Dublin Rd! My family laughed so hard one year while failing…
Building a Community Where Everyone Thrives
December 11, 2024A Note from Erin WestExecutive Director, Hilliard Food Pantry Plus Dear HUMC, As we enter this season of giving and gratitude, I’m thrilled to share exciting updates about the work happening at Hilliard Food Pantry Plus (HFP+) and how your generous support is making an impact in our community. This year, your partnership is helping us expand our services and provide essential resources to neighbors in need. Opening the Share Closet We are delighted to announce the opening…
The Gift of Music
December 4, 2024A Note from Tony Hagood Hello HUMC Friends, As the holidays quickly approach, I find myself both excited and, honestly, a little stressed! The holiday season is busy for many of us, and for musicians, it’s often the busiest time of the year. I wanted to give you a glimpse into the life of a working musician during this season — perhaps some of these experiences will resonate with you. The life of a working musician The past…
Thanksgiving
November 27, 2024A Note from Pastor Jon Dear Friends, As we lean in to a day of giving thanks, we offer to you these words of the poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It’s not just in the big things, but may we be thankful to God for it all… Thanksgiving Ella Wheeler Wilcox1850–1919This poem is in the public domain. We walk on starry fields of white And do not see the daisies;For blessings common in our sight We rarely offer praises.We…
Deepening our Spiritual Journey
November 20, 2024A Note from Marilyn Hoeflinger Dear Friends, I love our church, my church. I love and respect our pastors, our staff, those that are in leadership, and the entire community that aligns itself with the core values and principles of our faith community. Being encouraged to continue to learn about what God through Christ is asking of me in these tumultuous times, I humbly remain optimistic that I still have much to learn and offer as we navigate…
Thanksgiving
November 13, 2024A Note from Pastor Jon Dear Friends, November, in my humble opinion, is the best month of the year. It’s not just because we get the privilege of voting, or because it’s No-Shave November, or even the fact that it happens to be my birth month (though that does make it a bit more momentous). For me, November is special because it’s the one month when we intentionally pause to celebrate and give thanks for the abundance and…
A Prayer for Election Day
November 5, 2024A Note from Pastor April Dearest Ones, As we embark on this historic day in an election year like no another, know that your pastors are holding you in our hearts today. The Letters of Encouragement usually go out on Wednesdays, but this week we thought you could use a little encouragement and prayer today. I offer you this prayer written by Kaeley McEvoy, a young leader in Washington, DC, working with the Christian organization Sojourners. Her words…
Democracy & the Renewing of Our Minds
October 30, 2024A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, Successful democracies require that people learn to understand their own beliefs and actions, to reflect nondefensively on these in the presence of others having different beliefs and experiences, and to use these experiences to develop new understandings in the pursuit of the common good. ~ Jon Wergin, Deep Learning in a Disorienting World These words leapt off the page as I was engaging my grad school reading for the week. Wergin…
Wesleyan Quadrilateral
October 23, 2024A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, A few weeks ago, I shared one of our core United Methodist frameworks, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. This framework provides a helpful tool for how we understand and come to know God I like this second image because it also helps us to see how they interact, and particularly how we read and understand scripture. Scripture provides a place to start from and to stand. It is the primary way the story…
For Equilibrium
October 9, 2024A Note from Pastor Jon Dear Friends, I was reading an article about human emotion and came across this phrase “paleomammalian cortex.” I thought theological terminology was difficult enough, but as I read I learned that this is how engineering types talk about the emotional centers of our brain. The emotional center of our brain For me, finding this emotional center can mean reading scripture or looking at an image and entering into the scene. It means moving…
Finding Wonder in the Mess
October 2, 2024A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, Adorable. I love all things adorable. Adorable small towns. Adorable cobblestone streets and squares. Adorable bookstores and coffee shops in said small towns and squares, preferably with adorable gardens and patios where I can sit and savor it all. It took me a while to understand how much the aesthetic around me impacts the way my body feels and the energy I have for my work. There is an intense amount…
Playing with Fire
September 25, 2024A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, You’re playing with fire. ~Parental words of wisdom to our teenagers The symbol of the United Methodist Church for the last 56 years has been the cross and flame. Behind the familiar Christian symbol of the cross, we see a red flame, a symbol of the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, seemingly floating in the air and providing a vivid red backdrop. The church could have chosen another image of…