Beyond the Pulpit 9.27.26

It’s been another full and meaningful week of ministry at CUMC, and a good reminder that ministry happens in all kinds of places!

At our monthly Church Council meeting, we celebrated some very good news: through August, we are only $44 over budget! That’s especially encouraging when we remember the tremendous generosity you showed our youth as they prepared for their mission trip this summer. Thank you! We also began looking ahead to our 2027 budget needs.

This is also a season of discernment as we consider leadership for the coming year. I’m grateful for our dedicated Committee on Nominations and Lay Leadership, with whom I met again this past week as we prayerfully discern gifts, passions, and opportunities for service.

On Wednesday, I led Chapel for Crozet Avenue Christian Preschool, where our theme this year is COMMUNITY. We talked about the four friends who lowered a paralyzed man through the roof so Jesus could heal him (Luke 5:17-26). The children practiced working together to help someone who can’t do something on their own; a beautiful reminder that community means helping, carrying, and making room for one another.

I also met with Rev. Devon Earle, UVA Campus Minister, as we prepare for next week’s Board of Directors meeting, and her maternity leave in December!

Also last week, I took a few days away for a worship planning retreat. With Advent just around the corner (how is that possible?!), I spent time looking at the big picture of worship at CUMC and mapping out our upcoming series through mid-2027. Big-picture planning helps me think about where we’re going while leaving room for the Spirit, and the needs of our congregation, to shape the details along the way.

And finally…it’s toga time! I’m looking forward to gathering with our kiddos in Rome tonight for Last Sunday Live. I’m pretty sure “wear a toga to work” isn’t in most pastors’ job descriptions, but I’m happy to make an exception.

From budgets and leadership discernment to preschool chapel, campus ministry, worship planning, and toga-wearing, I’m grateful for the many ways we Love, Grow, and Go together!