Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, As I wrote last week, we recently received a letter from our Bishop Dan Schwerin (we meaning our Northern Illinois Conference). Bishop wrote “to challenge you to pay attention to and love your neighbor in three concrete ways.” I shared the first two of those ways last week: pray and […]
A Letter, Continued Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, Don’t take advantage of any stranger who lives in your land. You must treat the outsider as one of your native-born people—as a full citizen—and you are to love him in the same way you love yourself; for remember, you were once strangers living in Egypt. (Lev. 19:33-34) In everything, do
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, Despite what you may have been taught or lead to believe, the word ‘sin’ doesn’t appear in the bible until Genesis chapter 4. According to the text, the original human sin has nothing to do with Adam, Eve, a snake, an apple, or sex. No, the first use of ‘sin’
Over and over and over… Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, “Jesus demonstrates that the way of God in the world is one of non-violent resistance to violence and violent oppression.” I forget who said that, but they sound quite wise 😉 It seems to me that the last thing any of us needs right now is a rehash of the
Non-violent resistance: This is the Way Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, “These violent delights have violent ends.” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 6 ‘These violent delights have violent ends.’ That line keeps echoing in my head this week. Our hearts are broken once again by yet another school shooting. This time in Jefferson County, Colorado—the same county as the
Violent Delights Have Violent Ends Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, Nearly every week, I include in our prayer time some version of: We must pray and work to end our societal addiction to guns and our addiction to gun violence as a way to solve our problems. You might (reasonably) wonder: What should we do? One of the blessings of
Ending our addiction to gun violence Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, As the popular song by Shaboozey suggests, 2025 has us “Sittin’ here, sippin’ on cold truth; I need some good news.” With the heresy of Christian Nationalism, childhood hunger, and violence against the LGBTQ+ community all currently on the rise in our country (to name just a few cold truths),
Cold Truths Need Good News Read More »
This week Chris Vause and I are sharing our experiences from Annual Conference last month. Here are a few slides to set the context; how the UMC is organized. What is Annual Conference?— The annual conference is a regional body, an organizational unit, and a yearly meeting.— Confusing!— Ours is Northern Illinois Annual Conference United
Sermon slides for July 20: #YBUMC? Grace Read More »
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family, It is natural and normal for us to feel horrified and even helpless when we learn of natural disasters like the devastating flooding in central Texas on July 4. However, when it comes to feeling helpless, allow me to quote a lyric from my favorite band: “that is not our
A Prayer for Texas Read More »
UMC Book of Discipline, Paragraph 346.2 “Ordained Clergy From Other Denomination” Reasons to Reject the UMCOur History:— Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and Indigenous Boarding Schools— 2 Methodist Bishops signed the letter to MLK, Jr. attempting to discourage him and his work for justice for Black Americans— 50 years of targeting, harassing, and ostracizing LGBTQ+
Sermon slides July 6: #YBUMC Read More »
Christmas Eve at Minooka UMC
Wednesday, Dec. 24
4:00PM featuring Pop-up Pageant
9:00PM featuring Communion
