Ministers Musings
It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! Romans 1:16, The Message
I just started taking a class on United Methodist Polity and Doctrine. The class is offered by Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and I attend on Zoom, as does half of the class of about sixteen people. We introduced ourselves Tuesday morning, and just meeting all the students did my heart a world of good. There are students preparing for the United Methodist ministry who come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, there are three students from the DRC, three more from Nigeria, and three from South Korea. And another from China. Three cheers for Google maps; each student was able to show us where they lived, in their neighborhood, with the help of Google maps. All the students are part of the United Methodist Church, and a few of them are hoping to eventually be ordained and serve in the New York Annual Conference. The three hours I drive to see my dad and brother in the home I grew up in doesn’t seem all that far away after all. And it’s so exciting to be reminded that there are healthy churches all over the world who are proclaiming and living the love and grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Churches that have been open enough to the work of the Holy Spirit that young people there have heard a call to ministry. Which tells me that the rest of the people in these churches live out Christ’s love in their own work and life, just as people here in Delhi, and across our conference, do. It’s a powerful thing, this gospel we proclaim. Jesus’ call to claim the peace and the joy, the justice and the power of the Spirit to transform the world is compelling.
I can’t invite you to join this class; it’s already pretty full. But I will ask you to remember the church of Jesus Christ all over the world, thinking about the joy of worship and the friendships and love that our siblings in Christ experience and share. Pray for the ongoing work of the Spirit here in Delhi, and in Nigeria and China and Australia, too. Pray for African-American churches here in the U.S. whom we learn new things from, especially in Black History Month. And pray for the gift of love, that The United Ministry, and every other church that bears the name of Jesus, live out God’s love on Valentine’s Day, and every day. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Cathy
