Encouragement (Page 7)

God loves you no matter what

God loves you… no matter what!

October 19, 2022 Dear Friends, No big letter today, just a reminder that YOU MATTER. You matter to God, and you matter to us! With love to you, from your church staff
Fall encouragement tea warm sweater

Letting Go

October 12, 2022A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, I’ve always been fond of the season of fall. The cooler, crisp temperatures. The changing colors of the leaves. The start of my Fantasy Football League (and all the delightful trash talking that comes with it). The pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. (Whoever brought the pumpkin spice donuts to church last week… you are very appreciated!) And all the amazing Halloween decorations, costumes, and fabulous candy. (It’s not too late to join us…
sunset aging letter of encouragement

Growing Older & Loving Every Minute of It

October 5, 2022A Note from Marilyn Hoeflinger Dear Friends, In November I will celebrate 70 years on this earth. I’m not sure what 70 feels like, honestly. In my mind I am 20, wait, 35, no, most likely 42. I’m not sure why I settle on that number, but when I think of what I want to do and how to do it, it is the body I had when I was 42. When I could sit crisscross applesauce in…
beginner's mind encouragement Pastor April Blaine

Beginner’s Mind

September 28, 2022A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, When it rolled around two weeks ago, I didn’t expect this birthday to be as hard as it was. I’m halfway through my 40s… halfway to 90. It wasn’t so much that I was feeling old… (After all, 45 is the new 35 or something?) Instead, I was pondering the reality that there’s a good chance I’ve already lived more than half of my life. In one of my favorite Richard…
squirrels throwing acorns ongoing small group letter encouragement

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…
Wednesday community supper carry out in person free hot meal outreach

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…
retreat altar FI

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…
Israel Pilgrimage Southern Steps Pastor Jon

Pastor Jon’s Pilgrimage to Israel

July 27, 2022A Note from Pastor Jon Dear Friends, 50 Days of Embodiment We are deep into our 50 Days of Embodiment here at HUMC in this season of Pentecost. This has been a time when we have been encouraged to live into our faith as Christians in a full body experience. Speak the prayers, meditate, walk, even lay ourselves prostrate, falling flat on our face before God as an act of humility and reverence. I hope and pray you…
encouragement

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…