Pastor’s Reflections
Who It’s All About
A few Sundays ago I was officially welcomed back to our church for a fourth year as a pastor. Time flies when you are having fun, and I am indeed having some fun here! One thing I truly take pleasure in is the fact that so many of you have a sense of humor. You can make a joke and, significantly, take a joke … and help me to be able to do the same.
When our Staff-Parish Relations chair Sally Jo Inwood made her gracious speech that morning, she first talked up my wife JoAnn and how she had made a great but sometimes unnoticed contribution to the church. This was so nice to hear. Then she turned to me and said, “And now to Pastor John, because, as we all know, it’s all about you.” Much laughter.
“All about you.” Sally Jo has been teasing me this way for some time now. I can’t quite recall how she caught on to the fact that I have an ego, but once she did she never let me forget it. I’ll mention something I’m doing or complain about some small thing, and we’ll deal with it, and then she’ll conclude by saying, “Well, I’m glad we took care of it, Rev. John, because of course it’s all about you, isn’t it?” We both laugh when she says this, just as I, too, laughed that Sunday when she brought our private joke out for everybody to hear. And that kind of surprised me — having my vanity punctured in public, and actually enjoying it.
I must be growing up.
I’ve been using a small devotional book lately, some of you may know it: “A Diary of Private Prayer,” by John Baillie, an early 20th century Scottish theologian. Here is what I read this morning:
I confess to God —
that often I let my mind wander down unclean and forbidden ways:
that often I deceive myself as to where my plain duty lies:
that often, by concealing my real motives, I pretend to be better than I am:
that often my honesty is only a matter of policy, not sincerity:
that often my affection for my friends is only a refined form of caring for myself:
that often my sparing of my enemy is due to nothing more than cowardice:
that often I do good deeds only that they may be seen of men, and shun evil ones only because I fear they may be found out.
I caught myself chuckling as I read this. Even though the style is a bit antiquated, he nails me like an expert standup comedian. This is who so many of us really are! We deceive ourselves! We move through this world trying to impress everyone with our motives, our courage, our authenticity. We like to think we are really just a little bit better than people give us credit for. But then we get exposed; it’s as inevitable as death and taxes.
Friends, it doesn’t have to be so grim. In fact, I think we can take a kind of delight in it. The pressure is off! We are not perfect! Never have been! We don’t have to pretend any longer, because God sees through us! Always has!
A great preacher I’d heard many years ago, William Sloane Coffin, a man possessed of a mammoth ego himself, dealt with this phenomenon very cleverly and memorably. He referred to a best-seller at the time, a pop-psychology book with the catchy title “I’m OK, You’re OK.” It was all about how we need to feel OK about ourselves, not despise ourselves, and feel just as good about others, that kind of thing. He didn’t really have a quarrel with those ideas, but said they needed to be refined for Christians. “It’s not ‘I’m Ok, you’re OK.’ What we really should be saying is ‘I’m not OK, and you’re not OK, and that’s OK!’”
Let me be clear. Self-hatred is a profound sin — we are to love one another as we love ourselves, and we dare not forget that. But pride is also something we can stumble over, like a wrinkle in a rug. When we do, let’s consider laughing at ourselves, and allowing others to laugh with us. It’s freeing and holy.
After all, it truly isn’t all about me, or even us; it’s about Someone else. And in remembering that Someone we are always liberated.
Peace,
John Wagner
Local Response to Charleston Shooting
On June 17, 2015, as most of you know, a gunman killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The Journal-News wrote a thoughtful article about the local response, and included the fact that Rev. Wagner had been urged by a First Church parishioner to reach out to Bethel AME by sending flowers and a card. The card said “In solidarity in the tragic loss of brothers and sisters in Charleston, South Carolina.” Rev. Christopher Ferguson, Bethel’s pastor, referred to the card and flowers in his Sunday sermon, and was quoted as saying, “To me that was an excellent response by a white church here in town … (they) said ‘we want you to know that we are praying not only for the church down in South Carolina, but we’re praying for you here in Bethel.’ During Dr. King’s time, many of those churches would not stand up and say what was wrong happening down in the South and happening in the United States. The church wouldn’t respond properly, but this church responded.”
Click here to read the full article.
Thank You
Dear Church Friends,
We want to thank all of you for the very nice sentiments and lovely gift in honor of our three years here. It’s been wonderful to get to know and work with you.
Your Friends,
JoAnn and John Wagner
Community Movie Night at Governor’s Square
Bring the whole family out to Governor’s Square for a free movie on July 24 at 8:30 p.m. Enjoy a family-friendly movie and free popcorn. Please bring your own lawn chairs or other outdoor seating. First Church is partnering with other local churches to put on this fun event. Hope to see you there!
Church Work Day Cancelled
The summer work day that was scheduled for July 11 has been cancelled. Due to the hard work of volunteers and staff, we have already accomplished many of the tasks we hoped to tackle that day!
Many thanks to those who signed up. We may host a work day sometime in the fall, when the weather is cooler. In the meantime, keep an eye out for other opportunities to volunteer at the church! Your gifts of time and service are always appreciated.
Note from the Finance Secretary
To all my Friends at First Church—
I am overwhelmed at the love and greetings I received during my recent illness. I’ve known for years that First Church is a generous and loving congregation, and I have seen your actions as you have cared for one another. These past weeks my family and I have been the recipients of food, flowers and gifts, visitors and, best of all, get-well wishes and love through a mountain of cards! For several weeks I was getting three to four cards a day!
Being away from all of you has been difficult. A special thank you to Rev. Wagner, Greg, Mary Ellen, Rachel and Sarah for filling in where needed. They spent time at the hospital with me and kept up my duties at church while I was away. I know others filled in as well, and I am humbled by your thoughtfulness. I look forward to returning to work by the time you read this. Thank you again for your love and support. — Debbie Taylor
Giving Statements
You can expect to receive your next giving statement, which will reflect contributions for the first six months of 2015, by the end of July. Thank you for your patience while Debbie has been out of the office.
Junior Church News
Junior Church meets upstairs during our regular Sunday morning service. During this time, children ages 5 to 13 take part in age-appropriate lessons and activities. The children are continuing the “Grow, Proclaim, Serve” curriculum this summer. The theme for July is “Never Too Young.” We ask that parents would please sign-in their child(ren) every Sunday for Junior Church on the sign-in sheet located in the foyer.
Junior Church is currently in need of teaching assistants. If you enjoy working with children, please consider joining our group of volunteers. No experience required. If interested, please see Belinda Hausman, Lynda Goecke, Debbie Ellis, or Carol Byrd for more details.
West Ohio Conference Raises $3.5 million for Imagine No Malaria
Two years ago the West Ohio Conference set a fundraising goal of $3.5 million for Imagine No Malaria, a ministry of The UMC that provides preventative and treatment measures to eradicate malaria in Africa. A special offering taken during Annual Conference raised $403,735. When a final accounting of the commitments and offering is recorded, leaders are expecting that the West Ohio Conference will have exceeded its goal for the battle against malaria.
In the last year, First Church raised $408.25 for Imagine No Malaria.
Transitions to Nepal
Update from Dr. Les & Debbie Dornon, missionaries to Nepal working inthe Tansen Hospital
During West Ohio Annual Conference at Lakeside, Ohio, Les and Debbie (Harsh) Dornon visit Harsh Road — named for some long-forgotten relative of Debbie’s, perhaps?
It will soon be time to return to Nepal. We have so enjoyed our months here in the U.S. — but they have gone very quickly, as we knew they would. And the world has changed during these past weeks and months! We are looking forward to returning to give encouragement to our Nepali colleagues and friends, and to help give a rest to our missionary friends who have been working so hard during our absence. But — we are not looking forward to saying goodbye again to our family and to our friends. Even with all the practice we have had, making the transition is the hardest part of this life. Our hearts are pulled between different places and people — and even when we are with one, we are missing the other.
We really enjoyed our time at the West Ohio Annual Conference last week — it was interesting to see the “inner” workings of the church. We were pleased at the generosity of the church — more than 3.5 million dollars to go to “Imagine No Malaria”! Of course, we have been recipients of your generosity so many times over the years, we weren’t surprised about this.
We were also thankful to learn that all of the hospital staff who were able (in Tansen) each donated at least a day’s salary to help with earthquake relief. It is so good to see Nepali people involved in helping and serving their own people.
Thank you again for your warm welcome and love for us during these past months. Please keep in touch — and thanks for your continued prayers for Nepal!
In Him,
लेस (Les) and देबी (Debbie)
P.S. To see more photos and stories, please check our blog: Hope for the Hills.
Music Notes by Mary Ellen Clinard
This summer, I am using my “time off” from school to sort through stacks of music samples that have been collected over the years. It is interesting to me how so many pieces of music and composers are marketed as “the next big thing,” yet, after several years few of those composers and musical pieces have met the expectations of either the publishing house or the church.
As the church continues to evolve, we struggle to retain a sense of foundation and history in our music, yet speak with relevance to the current congregation. It’s a constant balancing of old and new. It’s comforting to know, however, that this evolution has been going on for hundreds of years.
In the beginnings of corporate worship, congregations didn’t participate in singing at all. Then they sang only the Psalms. With the advent of the Protestant Reformation begun by Martin Luther, congregational singing broke forth. Congregations learned the text by rote, and the accompanying tune varied from parish to parish. Eventually, small “hymnals” became popular, but had words only. Tunes were rarely written at the same time as the text, and familiar local tunes were adapted to fit the words. Only in the last 200 years have hymnals with both text and musical notation been printed, yet differences remained. Even now, if you travel outside the United States, you will find unfamiliar tunes to familiar words and vice versa.
On your travels, if you attend another church, think about bringing back a bulletin from the service and putting it in my mailbox. I enjoy seeing the journeys other churches are taking in planning worship that is both relevant and meaningful to their congregations.
First Friday Concert Series 2015
JULY 3 | TOM WHITE
Tom returns with his lush piano stylings of Broadway tunes, love songs, and sacred melodies. And if that’s not enough, he’s planning a special tribute to our country with patriotic favorites and a salute to our military. Wear some red, white, and blue and celebrate the USA’s birthday party in style!
AUGUST 7 | THE SINGING AUCTIONEER
A little bit Elvis, a little bit country, a little bit gospel and a WHOLE LOT of comedy. Dane Bailey continues to charm with his homespun wit and humor. Who else can sing about dentures, hair loss, and auctioneering and still make it funny? The Singing Auctioneer, that’s who!
This concert series wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Middletown Community Foundation, The Barnitz Fund and the congregation of First United Methodist Church, Middletown. Thank you for helping us make downtown Middletown a destination for the arts!
Community Ministries Corner
Pantry Volunteers Needed
If you like to learn new things and can spare a day or two a month (more if you want), then please consider joining the Pantry Team. We have several faithful volunteers already, but we also need new recruits who are willing to help keep this valuable ministry going strong.
If you know nothing about the Pantry, feel free to come down one Tuesday afternoon between 2 and 3:30 to observe. Please pray about it and see if this is what God has in mind for you at this time in your life. Thanks!
Contact person: Patty McGraw
(937-746-9487)
Emergency Food Ministry
Catherine Brown and Jean Stamper continue to keep our Emergency Food bags filled and ready to be distributed to those in need. Don’t forget to leave your Emergency Food donations in the blue barrels on Sunday mornings. Share your blessings!
July Birthdays
1 Mike Snyder
2 Debbie Dornon
3 Don Burley, Scott Hines
4 Gene Goecke,
Dani Ortega-Folgoso
6 Dan Hausman
8 Debbie Ellis
13 Virginia Barber
15 Jeff Caldwell
16 Barb Balsmeyer
19 Esther Williams
20 Kyle Wilson
22 Frank Richmond
23 Gene Schaefer
26 Chris Buchert
27 Sheila Crowe
29 Betty Moles
30 Fred Parrella