Hello, Goodbye You say goodbye, I say hello. Hello, hello. I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello. The Beatles have a way of saying so much in few words, don’t they? I remember the first time I had to say, “goodbye,” to a congregation, and I came across a hilarious video of this classic song. Ringo, Paul, George, and John were wearing neon-colored, matching suits, as they sang and played. It was joyful, and there was deep meaning ..read more

                                     Message from Dr. Darian Dearly Beloved Friends, As the staff-parish committee shared with you last Thursday evening, the Lord has spoken clearly to me in recent weeks that the time has come for me to leave West Point First UMC. This was not an easy decision, especially considering all we have walked through over the past eight years. However, I have a deep peace about what He has in store for you as a church family. I have that same peace for my family and me, and ..read more

Renewing Our Covenant What a wonderful worship service we shared on Sunday as we confirmed John Marlin Stewart and welcomed him into the church’s professing membership. When I was planning the service with him, he said that he would like to read a Scripture passage in Hebrew from the pulpit! Ray Purnell helped him identify a verse in Deuteronomy, and he practiced a phonetic reading before delivering it from the pulpit. I bet very few of us would ever volunteer to read Hebrew in the worship service, but this young man was not afraid at all! One of the things I love about The United Methodist Ch ..read more

The Origin of “All Good Things” “Those who are taught the Word should share all good things with their teacher.” — Galatians 6:6 In August of 2011, I attended a weeklong workshop at the Collegeville Institute entitled, “Writing and the Pastoral Life.” Shortly after returning home, I couldn’t help but gush about my experiences. Have you ever traveled somewhere that had such beautiful sights and memorable experiences that you struggled to describe them to people who weren’t there? That’s how I felt when I tried to write about my time at the institute. Four years later, I still gush about that we ..read more

One More 2023 Pastoral Letter Dearly Beloved Friends (And Flock), This is our last newsletter of 2023, and as I reflect on the past year, I understand why the New Testament writers always began and ended their letters with words of thanksgiving. Paul, Peter, James, John, and any anonymous writers expressed how grateful they were for the letter’s recipients. Let me begin with the same blessing that I give thanks to God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ for the ways I see the Holy Spirit at work in you. I’ve had to write you a number of pastoral letters this year, and it felt appropriate ..read more

Epiphany Worship Series: A Grateful & Generous People During the Advent season, I shared with you that there were two words the Lord kept bringing to my mind for our life as a church in 2024. Those words are gratitude and generosity, and we are planting ourselves in them. Did you know that the verb, “to give,” appears over 1300 times in the Bible? In most of those instances, God is the subject, the one who does the giving. In the remainder, God is commanding us to give. Gratitude and generosity are two practices rooted in such giving. We are recipients of God’s generosity, and out of our g ..read more

Worship in Advent: Song, Word, and Spirit Sunday begins the wonderful season of Advent, where we prepare the homes of our heart and the our church’s home for the coming of Jesus our King. As is our tradition, we will share in the hanging of the greens this Sunday, December 3, which includes a wonderful “lessons and carols” rhythm. We share in some verses of Scripture, then sing, and repeat. This year, we are going to follow the pattern every Sunday of Advent. After all, we have a lot of favorite songs to sing, and we also need to be in the habit of speaking God’s Word as much as possible—as we ..read more

Stewarding the Season What a beautiful start we have had to the Advent season with Sunday’s worship service, fellowship meal, and outing for our youth to go ice skating! And we have even more joy in store next Sunday, December 10, with the Blessing of the Tree. Don’t forget to bring an unwrapped toy that you’ll bring forward in the worship service. We’ll look forward to sharing these alongside our blessing box this month. We are in a season when we are more aware than ever of God’s blessings. Normally by this time of the year we have shared with you three things: the budget for next year, a st ..read more

Isaac’s Insights & Leroy’s Lesson Since adopting Leroy the puppy (or perhaps I should say, being adopted by him), I can’t help but reflect on his similarities and differences to Isaac, my beloved dog who passed away last June. I’ve even called Leroy by Isaac’s name accidentally a few times, and he seems to know who I’m talking about! I can already tell they are very different dogs, but one thing they share in common is that they are naturally teachers. Isn’t that so true of our canines and felines? It’s no wonder that God teaches us through them. After all, He created all of the animals of ..read more

A Message from George Purnell, Our Stewardship Chairman Dear Friends: I bet you have been noticing how our church has entered a period of spiritual renewal. We are all so grateful to have our church family back together after a period of disruption last year. Maybe you are like me… I had almost forgotten that the Holy Spirit of Jesus was right there with us the whole time, but now I am in full realization that we were in His hands all along. What a great feeling it is to be a part of this church family, where all of us are committed to strengthening and growing our mission together to serve ou ..read more