Beyond the Pulpit 7.13.25

Hello Crozet Family,

I’m so grateful to be kicking off my second year as your pastor. This weekend, I think I can finally say that our family is “settled” in Crozet. We’ve unpacked all the boxes that we intend to unpack, we’ve hung pictures, organized the garage, and are generally operating as close to “normal” as we can for this season of life. Our next big transition will happen next month when we launch our youngest child and move him in at Randolph-Macon College to continue a family tradition that began when my great uncle started there in 1923! Go Jackets!

This past week, one of my favorite events to highlight beyond the pulpit was our Movie Night that happened Wednesday evening in the Fellowship Hall. In preparation for launching our upcoming worship series, Summer at the Movies, we held a free viewing of Disney’s Moana, which will be the focus movie for worship this coming Sunday. As we move forward from a more structured teaching series on the United Methodist Social Principles, this summer series highlights movies loved by all ages and the scriptural themes that might be found therein. Today, wear your tropical attire and join us as we take a look at how Moana reminds us not to delay following God’s call. When we go with perseverance, joy awaits! Our next Movie Night will be Wednesday, July 23, when we will see Finding Nemo! Doors open at 5:45pm, and the movie starts at 6pm. Feel free to bring a picnic dinner, blankets, pillows, and comfy chairs. Tables and chairs will also be set up for your convenience. Free popcorn will be available to all! Invite your friends and neighbors!

In the news you might’ve seen that on July 7th, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a legal filing that contradicts decades of an understanding about the 1944 Johnson Amendment. The Johnson Amendment stated that churches can lose their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit status for endorsing a political candidate during a worship service. I want to be clear that this latest legal filing from the IRS will not change what is preached from the pulpit here at Crozet. I have not endorsed, nor do I intend to publicly endorse, candidates for political positions. As I stated in last week’s sermon on The Political Community in our United Methodist Social Principles, the gospel is political, but it is not partisan. I am called to preach the good news of the gospel in its historical context and its application in our combined, lived reality. While the gospel truth does sometimes bump against political ideologies, its relevance remains in our full commitment to live as followers of Jesus Christ at all times. As United Methodists we vow to “renounce spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world; and to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” (United Methodist Hymnal, Baptismal Covenant, 34). As for me, I will continue to preach and live with God’s love, grace and mercy. I appreciate the words of Jemar Tisby this week, “When the church aligns itself with political power – endorsing candidates, seeking influence, anointing political ‘kings’ – it abandons the self-sacrificial, justice-seeking, truth-telling witness molded by Jesus. A church that crowns a candidate cannot carry a cross.”