'encouragement' Tagged Posts
Authentic Relationships Matter
January 22, 2025A Note from Michael Haney Dear Friends, Matthew 18:20 — “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Way back in 1988, Lisa and I were looking for a church. We were engaged, and as neither of us was regularly attending church at the time, we were looking for a church in which to get married and then attend. One Sunday we visited Plainfield (IN) United Methodist Church. We were greeted…
The Whole Story
January 8, 2025A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, Those of you who spend a lot of time around young children know that there are two words that get repeated over and over again. The first is NO. Children at this age are figuring out how to exert their power and will in the world, and they soon discover the power they have to refuse whatever is in front of them. And the second is WHY. Children are trying to…
New Year’s Resolutions
January 3, 2025A Note from Deb Mitchell Dear Friends, Happy New Year! What comes to mind when you hear those words? For an awful lot of folks, it’s the notion of New Year’s resolutions. What comes to mind for me are a LOT of memories tied to various resolutions across the years, typically made at the start of January and unrealized or broken by February at the latest. Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Research shows that about 40% of…
A Christmas Blessing
December 25, 2024Christmas DayA Note from Pastor April and Jan Richardson Dearly Beloved, A warm and blessed Christmas to each of you today. What a year it has been! I hope to see some of you this Sunday in worship on our final week of the Great Story series. We’ll create a special service of reflection, looking back at these last three years. We invite you to bring a journal if you have one, since there will be space to…
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…
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…
Liminal Space
September 4, 2024A Note from Pastor April Dear Friends, I’ve always been fascinated by the moments in time when things begin to shift. A word spoken at just the right time, a diagnosis that no one saw coming, an unexpected opportunity, a chance encounter, and sometimes just an idea or inspiration that leads us somewhere we hadn’t foreseen. Most of the time, we see these moments only in hindsight, reflecting on the spark, energy, or awakening that jolted us from…
The Flow of Grace, Revisited
August 21, 2024A Note from Jon Esala Greatest Hists: Revisiting some previous Letters of Encouragement, in celebration of all God has done during these last four years! Dear Friends, A lot has changed in my own life since I first wrote this letter in February 2022. The biggest change of course is my son Emmett was born in January 2023. Now that he’s a year and a half, it’s hard to believe that there was ever a time he wasn’t…
Getting into the Particulars, Revisited
July 31, 2024A Note from Pastor AprilGreatest Hists: Revisiting some previous Letters of Encouragement, in celebration of all God has done during these last four years! Dear Friends, As I re-read the letter I wrote to you over two years ago, I couldn’t help but see the incredible connections to the week I just shared with ten of our young people and five other adult volunteers up at Lakeside Institute (youth camp). As the chaplain for the week, I had…
Holy Land Pilgrimage, Revisited
July 17, 2024A Note from Pastor JonGreatest Hists: Revisiting some previous Letters of Encouragement, in celebration of all God has done during these last four years! Dear Friends, It’s been just over 2 years since I returned from my pilgrimage to the Holy Land. My heart aches for the land in conflict and war and for the people and victims of war. The current climate in Israel/Palestine still does not in any way diminish my memory or experiences on the…
Inauguration, Revisited
July 10, 2024A Note from Pastor AprilGreatest Hists: Revisiting some previous Letters of Encouragement, in celebration of all God has done during these last four years! Dear Friends, This week our amazing VBS kids are experiencing our new curriculum, “Just Like Me.” One of the key lessons they are learning this week is how important it is for each of us to find and use our voices to advocate for others in our community. Like the garden that is in…
Shared Moments, Revisited
June 26, 2024A Note from Pastor JonGreatest Hits Dear Friends, I wrote this letter to you upon the conclusion of my journey through my Masters of Practical Theology. I wonder, do we still appreciate the Shared Moment? // Originally sent January 13, 2021: The journey has finally come to its completion. I mean, I’m still waiting for Methodist Theological School in Ohio to officially award my degree sometime in February, but for all intents and purposes, I have met the…
- 1
- 2