Beyond the Pulpit 9.29.24
This past week, my encounters beyond the pulpit were mostly administrative. These are not always my favorite parts of ministry, but in fact as an ordained elder in the UMC, I am called to “order the life of the church” (United Methodist Book of Disciple para. 340.1). Now that I’ve settled into somewhat of a regular routine, I meet individually with each of our 3 full-time staff persons, and our Church Council Chair, on a weekly basis. This gives us an opportunity to process any challenges and work toward goals that move us closer to our CUMC ministry priorities. In fact, we’re already beginning to look toward 2025!
Also this week, with all the rain, the church offices and conference room were found wet on most days. So I’ve worked with CUMC’s dedicated leaders on our Church Council, who have been tag-teaming efforts to determine the exact cause for this and how to address it.
Once again this past Tuesday at 7pm, I hosted Bedtime Stories and Prayers on Zoom (https://zoom.us/my/chturner). I love getting to engage these little ones and hear their joys and challenges. Please share the link with children & grandchildren and invite them to join. Another one of the highlights of this past week was hanging out last Sunday evening at Youth Group! I learned new games and got to connect with some young people on a more personal level. If you have middle and/or high school kiddos in your life, encourage them to participate! It’s a great group of kids and leaders!
Finally, we’re only $1500 away from our goal of $8000 for Rise Against Hunger! We are so close! If you’ve been waiting to make a contribution to this effort to help combat world hunger, now’s the time! Making this goal is a generous gift to people around the world who face hunger everyday. Mark our calendars for the packing event on Saturday Oct. 19 at 10am. Everyone can help. I can’t wait to be a part of my very first Rise Against Hunger packaging event! I hope you’ll join me!
– Pastor Christy Haga Turner