Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, What is the essence of Jesus’ message? To be honest, most of my clergy friends and I would balk a bit at that question and respond with something like: Jesus’ message is meant to be more than a mere soundbite! The beautiful complexity of his birth, life, teachings, death, and […]
Jesus’ elevator pitch Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, In my letter here last week, I shared our denomination’s new vision statement: The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections. Let’s explore that a bit further. How did we
Arriving at boldly, joyfully, courageously Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, Last week in this space, I shared a glimpse into some of the work in which our church leaders are engaging. As our leadership team plots plans and paths for 2026, it is helpful to remember (or, um, announce? I don’t remember if we shared this previously) that as a
Boldly, joyfully, courageously Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,Wasn’t MUMC Eras Tour slide show so much fun!? Huge THANK YOU to Office Manager Melissa Candler for organizing all those photos throughout the year! If you don’t know to what I’m referring, I must encourage you to click here to watch the video of our worship experience wherein we shared
Faithful to the call Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, Nine days into 2026, how are those New Year’s resolutions going? Research suggests almost a quarter (23%) of those who set resolutions quit in the first week(!). So if yours is still going, great job! That same research shows 70% of all resolutions are health-related. Is that you? Whatever your
Resolution? Maybe. Loved? Absolutely. Read More »
Happy New Year, Found Family!Hey, I’ve got an idea: Let’s talk about Epiphany! This Sunday is Epiphany Sunday* and Epiphany is all about light: The star in the sky leads the magi to Jesus, who is the light of the world. As the Gospel According to John reminds us, “The light [of Christ] shines in
Epiphany lights up Read More »
Merry Christmas Found Family! No matter which version of the song you prefer (or do all you can to avoid), we are now in the midst of the 12 days of Christmas. All those birds, rings, dancers, drummers, and such help us mark the church season of Christmas—officially called Christmastide. I only just figured out
So happy Christmastide Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,It is well known that I am bad at math, but even I can count the days well enough to realize this is our last newsletter before Christmas. I’m sure many of you are, like my family, feeling the pressure of seemingly innumerable expectations this holiday season. So allow me just
Remember to breathe this Christmas Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,This Christmas and holiday season, as pressure and responsibilities ratchet up, it can be quite difficult to respond well to God’s incredible gift of self-revelation that is the Incarnation in Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. My hope for you this Christmas is that you will give yourself some gifts. Give yourself the gift
Give yourself some gifts Read More »
Advent (the churchy name for the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve) is the season of anticipation and longing as we await the incarnation of God in Jesus. Our theme for Advent this year is “What Do You Fear? Insisting on Hope this Advent.” This theme will permeate our Advent experiences in worship, Sunday
Advent reflections Read More »
Christmas Eve at Minooka UMC
Wednesday, Dec. 24
4:00PM featuring Pop-up Pageant
9:00PM featuring Communion
