Pastor's Corner October 2024
It began with a simple idea - collecting socks for the homeless. Its name? Socktoberfest
The next year Socktoberfest was followed by Octobrrrr and coats and hats and other winter wear were donated for those who did not have adequate protection from the cold.
And now…? OctoberFresh 2024
What’s that, you ask? OctoberFresh 2024 is our opportunity to support and care for those who have lived through natural disasters and need a hand cleaning up.
I don’t think it is a coincidence that when you search the internet for quotes about natural disasters like Fire, Floods, Tornadoes, and other severe weather events, that the majority of the quotes are from persons in the horror industry. For example, author Stephen King said, “There’s no harm in hoping for the best as long as you’re prepared for the worst.” Eli Roth, an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor most closely associated with the horror genre says:
Natural disasters are terrifying - that loss of control, this feeling that something is just going
to randomly end your life for absolutely no reason is terrifying. But, what scares me is the human reaction to it and how people behave when the rules of civility and society are obliterated.
I was particularly struck by the phrase “…the human reaction to it and how people behave…” Yes, how do we behave? When we were collecting socks for the homeless and winter clothing for those who didn’t have adequate ways to keep warm, we reacted with concern and were generous and invested. Well done!
This year, October’s focus is on projects that aren’t warm and fuzzy but instead feel more like something out of our worst nightmares or newest horror movie. More details will be made available as we go, but in the meantime, know that “getting fresh” is a good thing in this case. OctoberFresh 2024 is not about stopping the natural disasters, since that is impossible, and is instead about living into our calling to care for one another. Specifically, it is about providing cleaning buckets for Iowans who have experienced, or will experience, the devastation of a natural disaster. Each Sunday in October we will learn about a form of
natural disaster and the devastation it leaves behind. We will gather funds to purchase the items needed to fill “cleaning buckets” and at the end of the month these buckets will be taken to the Iowa United Methodist Conference Disaster Coordinator, Katie Newman, for distribution around the state.
Paul, in his letter to the church at Philippi (Philippians 2:1-4), says this:
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the
Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having
the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or
conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not
to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Ahh, that’s a reFreshing focus. Pastor Melissa
Pastor’s Corner April & May 2024
Cresco Chronicles
When I realized the number of activities and ideas and challenges that this newsletter needed to
cover, I was overwhelmed. So many topics needed to be thought through and mentioned. March
needed wrapping up as we have just celebrated Easter with a baptism, Holy Week services, and
Easter Sunday. April offers a Conference-wide Camp Sunday celebration, UWIF meetings for both
congregations, an open to the public online General Conference town hall meeting and UWIF
conversation (more details available online), a Blood Drive, and a funeral of a dear friend along
with our regular weekly activities…and then we have the second half of April! April into May
includes my time away at General Conference of the UMC in Charlotte, NC (4/22-5/4), the last
week of Sunday school and choir (4/28), and District Charge Conference (5/5). May is also always
focused on Mother’s Day, graduations, and finally, Memorial Day and the beginning of summer.
What could I possibly have to say that might join these thoughts/events/activities together?
Then I remembered part of Jesus’ message to the disciples in the upper room right before his trial,
crucifixion, and death:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater
love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. And you are my friends if you do
what I command you. I no longer speak of you as subordinates, because a subordinate
doesn’t know a superior’s business. Instead, I call you friends, because I have made
known to you everything I have learned from…God. It was not you who chose me; it was
I who chose you…This command I give you: that you love one another.” John 15:12-17
[the inclusive new testament. Words in bold highlighted]
Jesus redefined the relationship with his disciples as friends. No longer were they “just” his
followers, now they were chosen and trusted friends. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch for us
to see where “friends” fit in as a topic that bridges the many activities and plans listed above for
Holy Week through May; relationships in groups and across the denomination, friendships from
our youth through to friendships in our adulthood, giving of ourselves to help one another, and
those who served in the military and are remembered on Memorial Day are just a few examples.
How can we, as people of faith, live into Jesus’ command to love one another in the best way
possible in the midst of all that the world calls us to and to be?
I like to think that this is the perfect time to share one of my favorite quotes: “Normalize telling your
friends you love them. Tell them a lot. Make it weird.” As we live out our lives as faithful disciples,
may we do so in the way suggested above. May we normalize telling (and showing) the love of
Christ in all we do. May we tell and show that love continually. May we even be willing to be a bit
counter-cultural and even weird in our lives of love.
I love you, my friends. I love you, I love you, I love you. -Melissa
I may have mentioned it before, but if not, it bears repeating…I don’t like surprises. I want time to
process what is happening in my world and I want to at least imagine that I have some semblance of
control. Over the years many people have mentioned situations where a small element of surprise
enhances the moment, but I prefer to head into things eyes wide open and as prepared as possible.
Needless to say, the beginning of a whole new year is very intimidating to me. The symbolism of
another 12 month period of surprises and twists and turns leaves me feeling a lot like the pig in the
cartoon. All the animals are so proud to speak about their future gifts to the Christ child. Everyone, it
seems, knows what to expect in their future and it is good…except for pig. Would he have been better
off not knowing how things turn out for him? Probably. Will his “gift” be useful and important even
though it was not pleasant? Definitely.
I think a bit of reframing is necessary for both the pig’s story and my own. Although I can say with
strong certainty that my experience of 2024 will not, most likely, involve demon possession and cliff
diving with no water, it will include difficult moments, twists that no one saw coming, and situations
for which I could never prepare. In other words, surprises. (Eek!) But, even so, my plan is to blunder
boldly into the new year and face what comes with three things; the gifts that God has given me, an
attitude of humility, and a lot of reminding from the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (who, by the way is
the patron saint of ecology and animals):
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where
there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is
darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that
we are born to eternal life. Amen.
And to quote a beloved children’s movie “Babe” from 1995:
Narrator: And though every single human in the stands or in the commentary boxes was
at a complete loss for words, the man who in his life had uttered fewer words than any
of them knew exactly what to say.
Farmer Hoggett: That'll do, pig. That'll do.
February is usually greeted with mixed emotions. Winter is still fully upon us. Spring seems an
impossible distance away. The calendar shows a short 28 days, but the days themselves often drag on.
We have to search really hard to find something to kindle our hearts, minds, and spirits into
enthusiasm. In my family, our excitement in February comes from the fact that there are several
birthdays, a wedding anniversary, and even the anniversary of a baptism. It’s this anniversary of a
baptism that I am thinking about as we enter February 2023.
I was blessed to be allowed to baptize my niece, Ashley, on a February 21st many years ago. She was
young and does not remember this event, but I certainly do. In that ritual and in that water the newest of
the next generation of our family was brought into the family of faith and a life with God. This February,
we will be given the opportunity to start our faith journeys again in a very comparable way. February 22,
2023 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. This Lent we will embark on a journey of seeking. Our
theme is “seeking: honest questions for deeper faith.” As we prepare ourselves, I wanted to start our
journey with the following blessing from Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed. I hope you will join us on this journey.
A Blessing for the Seekers
Blessed are you who turn your face up to the sky, who open your arms to feel the wind,
who notice all the things that we should notice. Blessed are you who are fluent in wonder
and familiar with awe.
Blessed are you who, even now, dream dreams, who have not lost hope,
who swear the glass is still half-full.
Blessed are you who plant trees
and sing the harmony,
who tell the children how this world can be magic. Blessed are you who
walk and seek
and turn over every stone,
pointing out all the corners and colors
that God lives in.
Blessed are you.
Amen.
Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed
Lent 2023
“This Lenten season, we will read many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: a new
beginning, a different life, a deeper faith. In these interactions, an unveiling often occurs – assumptions
are disrupted, a new perspective is revealed, mystery grows.
Like the characters in our Lenten scriptures, we are also seeking many things: clarity connection,
wonder, justice, balance. We are seeking our calling, the sacred, and how to live as a disciple.”
[seeking: honest questions for deeper faith – A Sanctified Art]
This Lent, we will engage in the spiritual practice of seeking – by asking questions, and by staying
curious, open, and nimble. It is hoped that we will soften our assumptions and expand our perspectives.
May these questions create a safe space to explore – to be drawn more deeply into the fullness of life,
into the heart of God.
An overview of our Lenten theme and weekly focus (beginning February 22nd):
Ash Wednesday (2/22/23) seeking: Is this the fast that I choose? Isaiah 58:1-12
Lent 1 (2/26/23) seeking: Who will you listen to? Matthew 4:1-11/Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Lent 2 (3/5/23) seeking: How do we begin again? John 3:1-17/Genesis 12:1-4a
Lent 3 (3/12/23) seeking: Will you give me a drink? John 4:5-42/Exodus 17:1-7
Lent 4 (3/19/23) seeking: Who sinned? John 9:8-41
Lent 5 (3/26/23) seeking: Can these bones live? John 11:1-45/Ezekiel 37:1-14
Lent 6 (4/2/23) (Palm/Passion Sunday) seeking: Where are you headed? Matthew 21:1-11
Maundy Thursday (4/6/23) seeking: Will you wash my feet? John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Good Friday (4/7/23) seeking: Why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:27-50
Easter (4/9/23) seeking: Who are you looking for? John 20:1-18
Easter (4/9/23) seeking: Who are you looking for? John 20:1-18
January 2023
Many of us have a desire to enter into the new year with some kind of intentionality. We like the
illusion that we have control over everything and that we can make anything happen. One post I have
been seeing a lot on a popular website is this: “Nobody claim 2023 as ‘your year’. We’re all going to
walk in real slow. Be good. Be quiet. Be cautious and respectful. Don’t touch anything.” Now, while
this is really good advice to follow if we are entering a museum, it doesn’t seem like such a practical
plan for life with its messiness of relationships and responsibilities.
Another conversation I read suggested a unique way to make decisions about the year:
“According to People magazine, this is going to be a year of all work and no play.”
“Oh yeah? People magazine? Sounds like a solid source to set your expectations for the future.”
“I think so. I did answer five questions to get that prophecy, so it’s pretty reliable. One wrong answer
and I could have been doomed for a year of adventure or soothing self discovery.”
Beautiful Mistake Vi Keeland
Yikes! Five whole questions? I often ask myself more questions than that just to convince myself to
get out of bed in the morning.
A humorous, but slightly more realistic idea I saw: “Before I agree to 2023 I want to read the terms
and conditions.” Ah, if only we could have the gift of foresight and know the “terms and conditions”
that the new year was going to require of us. Let’s be honest, most of us wouldn’t stop long enough to
actually read these, though, right?
My personal choice for a suggestion for the new year came from a classic, Miguel Cervantes’ Don
Quixote de la Mancha: “When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to
be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams – this may be madness. Too much sanity may be
madness – and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!” As Christians we are
invited to see the world as God wills it and to love that world into being.
From these various sources and suggestions I have compiled my own list for entering into 2023. I’ve
also included the place in the original “terms and conditions” where such advice can be found:
1) Enter boldly (Joshua 1:9),
2) Do good (1 Thess. 5:13-15),
3) Speak up (Ephesians 5:11),
4) Always be respectful (1 Timothy 5:12),
5) Touch every life you encounter (Matthew 25:35-40),
6) Ask many questions (https://guideposts.org/prayer/prayers-for-stronger-faith/5-best-questions-to-ask-god-in-prayer/),
7) Follow the terms and conditions (Micah 6:8), and
8) See life as it should be (Matthew 6:10).
Whatever you choose, Blessings and God be with you in 2023, Pastor Melissa
December 2022
When I was seeking an Advent Series that we could immerse ourselves in for 2022, I discovered this
resource from A Sanctified Art (a digital resource that integrates art, music, poetry, and prose). When I read
the following description from Rev. Sarah Speed, Founding Creative Partner, I knew this is how I wanted us
to worship and be together this season:
“I can vividly remember a conversation between my 13-year-old adolescent self and my mother on the way to
church one wintry morning. I asked her, “Mom, what if I don’t want to be a Christian?” (a protest undoubtedly
influenced by my teenage desire to sleep in). My mother didn’t take the bait. Instead, she told me how this
story of God has changed her life. She told me how she couldn’t imagine her world without the church. She
told me how she so deeply believed in a better day, and how she felt called to help be a part of that. From the
back seat of the car, I could tell that she was serious. Her joy, her hope, her conviction—they were so pure
and so authentic that they left a lasting impression on me. It was a generation to generation moment. The
Christmas story, of a love that came here, that walked among us, that was born in a humble manger to
uncertain parents with shepherds nearby, is a story that we pass from generation to generation, because
without fail, it continues to change us. It reframes the way we hope. It centers the way we love. It shapes the
way we live. So this Advent, may we tell this story that has spread like wildfire
from generation to generation. Let us remember the generations from Abraham to Jacob who waited for that
promised day. And let our generation be so influenced in joy and love that future generations can’t help but
pay attention. This Advent, let us tell the story of good news—from generation to generation.”
Rev. Sarah Speed, Founding Creative Partner
From Generation to Generation... reminds us of the ways our lives, histories, actions, and stories
are interconnected and woven together. In the midst of narratives, policies, and rhetoric designed to
divide us, what does it look like to practice belonging to one another? The work of God is always
unfolding— in and through us. This Advent season, how will we carry it forth?
*In addition to weekly worship and special worship, there is also a daily devotional for our Advent theme.
Printed copies will be available at the Bible studies on Wednesdays and Thursdays and in the sanctuary on
Sunday morning. (Copies are in the back window of the sanctuary.) There is also a digital format available.
In order to receive the digital format, please email Pastor Melissa Warren melissa.warren@iaumc.org
*The devotionals from the series will also be used for Bible Studies: Wednesdays 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. and
Thursdays from 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. in the East Room of 1st UMC.
*There also is an interactive Advent Calendar. It is a great resource for anyone (families or individuals) who
want a more specific focus as they prepare for Christmas. Some examples of suggested activities include:
1. Matthew 1 lists 46 relatives of Jesus! How many family member can you name? 2. Ask an older relative
to share a memory from when they were your age. 3. Volunteer with your family, or make a donation to
those in need. 4. Create or set up a stable for your nativity scene.
November 2022
Greetings and blessings in this oncoming month of November!
6The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the
one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each of you must give as
you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance so that by always having enough of everything, you may share
abundantly in every good work…11You will be enriched in every way for your
great generosity. which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12for the
rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also
overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, 11-12
A couple of years ago I attended a training event where the speaker talked about how to
present your message and gain people's attention most effectively. One of the main points I
remember her emphasizing was "Avoid the block quote. People won't read them. They will see
a block quote in print and skip right over it to the next thing you have to say.
She was right, wasn't she? Everyone who is reading this article skipped straight over the
scripture passage above to get to the “meat" of the message and to figure out what this article
was really going to say. Don't worry, we all do it most of the time.
I think the same is true of the month of November and the way we live our lives in the latter part
of the year. We know that we are headed for winter. We know that we are headed for shorter
days and longer nights. We know that despite ourselves we will soon scurry away to our homes
and start dreaming about the holidays and sort of “skip over” the regular days, the "block
quote of the month.”
I want to invite us to not skip over the "block quote" that is the month of November, or even
December for that matter. Let’s wade through the thick and heavy together and maybe
discover something really great about what we have to offer to the world and what God has to
offer to us.
OK, go back and read the block quote. I know you were feeling a bit guilty about skipping it in
the first place. It’s ok, I’ll wait…
Yes, the quote calls us to be generous. It calls us to give and share. It calls us to be thankful.
Not just on Thanksgiving, not just on Christmas, but every day. After all, what are holidays?
They are days we set aside as "holy" and every day the “holy” can be seen.
In that spirit, I invite you to begin your Thanksgiving in earnest right now. Start preparing for
how you will spend the months of November and December living into the "every day is a
holiday" spirit. Start living without skipping the block quote.