Pastor’s Reflections
Past, Present and Future
Some years back, 28 to be exact, the Tyner United Methodist Church had a dilemma. Their young pastor was leaving. He’d been there a few years, it was his first appointment, and they’d grown to love him, and the feeling was mutual. He was sad to go, and the congregation was sad to say goodbye, but it was time. Now the big issue was his replacement.
Eventually the word came from the district superintendent: “I’m bringing your new minister to a meeting of your leadership on Tuesday night. I trust you’ll enjoy meeting her.”
Oh really?
It was a surprise, and of course there were questions: “Can we relate to a woman?” “Will she fit in?” Men had these questions, but the women of the congregation felt them more deeply, especially when they found out she was a young woman who’d gone to an elite Ivy League school. “Will someone who has had opportunities for education and advancement appreciate our role in the church? Will she value our projects, and what we’ve made of our lives?” Tyner was a farming community, and many of the older women had little if any experience working outside the home and farm. Others had worked only part time. The church was the place where they’d been respected as local leaders. Was this the end of all that?
So the new pastor was on the hot seat before her first sermon. “Yes, we will accept this appointment, but we don’t have to be happy about it, certainly not at first. And she’d better be good. She better be worth it.” These sentiments went unspoken for the most part, but they were real.
Then Wanda spoke up. She was the unofficial church historian, known for putting the church’s history into long poems which she’d read at women’s meetings from time to time. The congregation found this a bit silly, but they put up with it. Wanda was Wanda. But today she had something to say.
“You know,” she said with authority, “this young woman will not be our first female pastor. We had a woman here for six months back during the war. Weren’t enough men I guess. Charlotte Henry was her name.”
“How’d she do?” someone asked.
“Can’t remember,” Wanda replied, “but the church didn’t fall apart.”
And that bit of historical data turned out to be good enough. We’d managed before, we’ll manage again. They gave the new pastor a chance. She was allowed to make her fair share of mistakes, and had a fruitful ministry. The church didn’t fall apart.
Friends, on June 16 we are celebrating Heritage Sunday. We will get to see some former pastors, greet some former members, look at a lot of old pictures and historical records and mementoes, and reminisce. We will honor our past, and have fun doing so.
It also seems to me we have a choice. A day like this can have a real downside if it tempts us to move beyond nostalgia into sadness and even anger that things are no longer the same for our church or our community. On the other hand, such a day can make history come alive to the point where those people in old pictures do not seem quite so different from us. It can motivate us to face up to the challenges in our time with the same spirit they did in theirs. The past won’t and can’t provide a blueprint for the future, but if those men and women in stiff collars and starched bonnets could handle the changes going on around them, perhaps so can we. And if they could speak to us, I believe they’d be asking us to honor them with more than nostalgia.
One last thing: I was the young pastor leaving Tyner United Methodist church 28 years ago, and I was replaced by a young woman who did pretty well. And Wanda Braner, God rest her soul, is now reciting her poetry to a whole new audience.
Peace,
John Wagner
Heritage Sunday on June 16!
FUMC Reunion Sunday
Celebrating our past, present & future together with friends!
Welcome back Special Guests:
Rev. Paul Tsuchido Shew
Rev. Joel Harbarger
Rev. Amy (Palmer) Haines
9:00am Special Sunday School
You are strongly encouraged to attend Sunday School for a time of fellowship, reminiscing, and the Service of Holy Communion
10:30am Worship/Lunch Following
View the Historical Committee display of pictures on the “First United Methodist Church Heritage Wall” along with other artifacts and items dating from the early 1800’s to the present.
New Info: Oct 3 –5 “Spiritual Life Retreat”
NEW DATE, NEW LOCATION, NEW PRICE!!
We are planning a church wide retreat for the fall focused on spiritual growth and renewal.
Everyone is welcome, so please mark your calendar and begin preparing.
It will be held at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, Ohio.
The current estimated cost is $125 per person/double room or $150 per person/single room.
Retreat will begin Thur. evening and go through lunchtime on Saturday. Contact the office to make your reservation and discuss payment options.
City Garden Tour to Feature New FUMC Biblical Garden
June 22-23, 11am-3pm Daily
Special thanks to Katie McNeil, Barb Balsmeyer, and Rose Morgan for getting things started on the Biblical Garden for the 2013 Garden Tour. We have our plant list and are ready to go!
Greg has the fountain working and it should be the beginning of a very interesting and educational addition to our gardens. A brochure will be available listing all plants, scripture, and a short narrative of the plant’s purpose in the scripture. Honorariums/memorials will be listed in that brochure as well.
Dedicate a plant to a loved one! Forms are still available in the church office or the usher stands. For more information, contact Mary Ellen.
UMCOR Disaster Relief for Oklahoma Tordadoes
Our hearts and prayers are with the people involved in the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma. Mary Ellen Clinard is from Oklahoma and has many relatives scattered throughout the state. Right now, we can help by donating funds to the UMCOR Advance Disaster Relief Fund. You may write your check to FUMC (with notation please) and put in the offering plate or go to the website www.UMCOR.org and donate directly online.
We are fortunate to know that when we donate to UMCOR, 100% of the monies go directly to the fund designated. Please continue to pray for those who have suffered loss in this recent disaster.
Youth Work Hard!
Youth & Adults from FUMC and questCHURCH
On Saturday, May 11th, four of our FUMC Youth (Celestine Bakich, Sam Bakich, Jeff Clinard and Mark Mills), Rev. Wagner, Mary Ellen Clinard and Shelley McDaniel joined questCHURCH in Middletown to serve our community and complete home repairs and yardwork through an event sponsored by People Working Cooperatively called “Repair Affair.” We met up with Jaime Albaugh (crew leader) and other questCHURCH volunteers early in the AM and were dispatched to a very appreciative and hospitable elderly couple’s home in Middletown to mow grass, weed , clean gutters and paint the garage door.
Upon arrival, the homeowner asked for assistance with converting backyard gardening beds into container pots (approx. 30) for his wife of 60+ years to enjoy. The next door neighbor’s yard was mowed as well. The group spent 3+ hours on this project. Everyone had a great time serving our neighbors and working together. Afterwards, we had an excellent lunch prepared by the questCHURCH lunch ladies and enjoyed fellowshipping.
FUMC was blessed to have four energetic teenagers spend their Saturday morning on a community service project when they could’ve slept in!!!
NOW is the Time
By David Hilton
Our series on What the Dying Have Taught Me About Living continues with thoughts about the importance of the present moment. I am convinced that we need not wait until we die to experience the presence of God. In this NOW moment God is present.
The question is: Are we present and attentive to God’s presence with us?
As a hospice chaplain I listened to Bill’s life story. He told of his family, pointing to framed photos … his alcoholism … his divorce … the life changing, healing influence of a friend. We prayed together and I started to leave. “There’s one more thing … since I’ve been dying, I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.” He was alive in God’s NOW time.
There are two ways to measure time. One measure is temporary and distracting. We speak of “how fast time flies.” We live by the clock. What time is it? Where did the time go? Will I be on time? This is time measured by the clock and calendar. This is chronos time.
Kairos is another measure of time that may be understood as God’s time or grace time. Chronos and kairos are Greek words for time found in the Bible. We have described the first as chronology. Kairos is God’s time … the supreme moment … the reality of God’s presence in each moment. This is the time that Bill discovered as he was dying.
The word kairos appears 85 times in the New Testament. Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near.” Romans 13:11: “… you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from your sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.”
Bill discovered God’s NOW time. Have we? Next month we consider how death can be a gift. These are life-giving topics. Let’s keep exploring them together.
“Back & With Company” In Nepal
Update from Dr. Les & Debbie Dornon, missionaries to Nepal working in the Tansen Hospital
Road out of KTM airport
Trees along the road in Tansen
Hannah and I arrived safely back in Tansen on May 14 – travel included a 13.5 hour flight from Chicago to Doha, Qatar, a 6 hour wait in there, and another 4.5 hour flight into Kathmandu. We spent a day in the “big smoke” and then had a car drive us to Tansen the next day – 9 hour trip. Due to recent rains, the hills were beautiful with new green growth, and the flowering trees were lovely. Thanks to all of you for your welcome to me (Debbie) during April and May – it was wonderful to be back in Middletown and to get to see you and join you in worship. (Being part of the beautiful music again was a bonus!) It has been great to get back with Les and to start to catch up on work here – and to have Hannah with us! She hasn’t been back to Tansen for 9 years, so it has been fun to see Tansen through her eyes this time.
Yesterday (Friday), Les got the pins removed from his left hand. He was so happy as one of them had “migrated” and was poking into his palm. The surgeon was sweating a bit trying to get that one out, but all seems fine this morning. Les is looking forward to having both hands back in action again. He thought his work load would go down when I returned (as he was helping cover my job) but another doctor (medical superintendent) has gone away for several weeks, so Les is still wearing several hats at the hospital! Thanks for your love and prayers.
In Him,
लेस (Les) and देबी (Debbie)
Music Notes by Mary Ellen Clinard
Few things reflect the passage of time like music styles in worship! When our church was first organized in Middletown, worshippers sang a cappella, perhaps with a song leader and no hymnals. If they had hymnals, only words were printed and the tune was selected by the song leader. Different song leaders had their own favorite tunes to fit the text.
As our church grew and a more permanent building was built, hymns such as “Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know” and “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks” were written and became popular. Our second building, located where the YMCA is now located, probably heard the strains of hymns from the revival era—newly minted hymns such as “To God Be the Glory” by Fanny Crosby and “It Is Well With My Soul” by Philip Bliss and Horatio Spafford became extremely popular. As we moved in to the newest sanctuary in 1890, we took our water-powered pipe organ with us and sang new hymns such as “Trust and Obey” and “Alas, And Did My Savior Bleed?”
We’ve stopped relocating and constructing buildings, and hymns and worship styles have come and gone, but the truth-telling hymns have stood the test of time. In the present age, new hymns continue to be composed and sung, old hymns are presented in fresh new ways. In the last few Sundays, we have praised God with music from France, Korea, Latin America, and Germany, just to name a few. The psalmist says “Sing to the Lord a new song…” (Psalm 96:1). We are blessed with a rich history of worship and song in this community of faith, and we continue to sing to God in ways that reflect the history of our faith as well as provide opportunity for new songs that inspire us and those who will after us.
First Friday Concert Series 2013
JUNE 7 THE CLARINET QUARTET
Well-known as a jazz player, Kwami Barnett brings friends together to serve up some of the best in woodwind repertoire.
JULY 5 ROD NIMTZ
One of SW Ohio’s most versatile pianists, Rod has created a concert full of Broadway and Movie Theme Favorites infused with his own creative flair. You’ll think you’ve been to the Oscars and you won’t even have to rent a tux or walk the red carpet!!
This concert series would not be possible without the support of the Middletown Community Foundation, the Barnitz Fund, the Miriam G. Knoll Charitable Foundation and the congregation of First United Methodist Church, Middletown. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for helping us make downtown Middletown a destination for the arts!
Community Ministries Corner
Vacation Bible School
July 15-19, 2013
Evening Sessions, Time TBA
We’ve got the Leaders…
We just need the Volunteers!
We are excited to announce that Henry & Dani Folgoso, volunteer leaders of our Hispanic Ministry Classes, have volunteered to lead a VBS program for all the children of FUMC, our Hispanic Ministry and the neighborhood!
More details are coming soon, but in order to make plans we need volunteers to make this ministry happen!
Please let us know which night(s) you can serve. Contact the office to get signed up and we’ll be in touch with you soon.
Let the VBS fun begin!
DON’T FORGET… Garage Sale Set for Fri & Sat, August 2 & 3
Donate your “stuff” so that we can provide someone else with a “treasure. ” Storage space is available at the church if you need to remove something from your home at this time.
Susan Jutte is chairing the sale and Scott and Teri Hines are assisting. Please contact them or the church office if you have questions.
June Birthdays
2… Braden Dickson
3… Mavene Atkinson, Andrea Jutte
6… Carolyn Callis
11… Harold Byrd
13… Johnny Beagle, Charles Morgan
14… Catherine Brown
17… Shirley Fultz, Katey Shepperd
19… Leah Hogg
21… Glendon Markle
23… Dot Wieneke
24… Mary Alice Foy, Carole Jackson, Anne Sander
26… Dede Day, Aleta Truesdell
27… Justin Frazer, Norm Harsh
28… Katie McNeil
29… Tom Hazelbaker, Wilberta Schaefer
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