Beyond the Pulpit 6.28.26
This week included several planning meetings with our staff as we prepared for upcoming summer vacations while also keeping our eyes on an exciting season ahead. Between Monday Movie Nights, our youth mission trip, and Vacation Bible School, there is a great deal happening this summer! I met with our Director of Children & Youth and our Director of Music & Arts, and let me just say…the VBS plans for “True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World” are coming together beautifully. It may just be our best VBS yet! If you’ve been thinking about volunteering, there’s still room for you. Reach out to Bart. We have a place for everyone to serve.
I also spent time with IMPACT Associate Coordinator Will Christians brainstorming ways Crozet UMC can continue to expand our justice ministry network. We have welcomed many new visitors and members in recent months who are eager to become involved, and the IMPACT justice ministry offers one meaningful avenue for faithful engagement. If you’re looking for a place to plug in and use your gifts, I’d love to help you find that place. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Later in the week, I joined IMPACT clergy and laity from across Charlottesville and Albemarle County, along with leaders from the Direct Action & Research Training (DART) Center, including Executive Director John Aeschbury, for our annual assessment and goal-setting retreat. Together, we reflected on the past year and laid plans for strengthening justice ministry throughout our community in the year ahead.
Closer to home, I partnered with our Grace Grocery Manager to provide benevolence assistance for one of our Grace Grocery neighbors who is moving into a more stable living situation. I also had the privilege of visiting one of our homebound members and, as I do each month, met with my spiritual director for prayerful reflection and accountability, an important part of staying grounded and healthy in ministry.
I also met with Rev. Devon Maust, Director of the UVA Wesley Foundation, and Board Chair Rev. David Vaughan to discuss future plans for supporting students through Wesley at UVA. It is exciting to dream together about how we can continue investing in the faith formation of nearby college students.
Yesterday, I traveled to Richmond to support a friend and colleague by attending her father’s memorial service and officiating at his committal service. It was a sacred reminder of the privilege pastors have to walk alongside people through life’s deepest moments of grief and hope.
Finally, I spent time reaching out to many of our recent visitors and inviting them to today’s Crozet 101, which will be held following the 11:00 a.m. worship service in the Fellowship Hall. If you’re new, or simply want to learn more about who we are, what we believe, how we’re organized, and how you can become involved, I hope you’ll join us. Lunch and childcare are provided, and I – and church leaders – would love the opportunity to get to know you better.
Thank you for allowing me the privilege of serving alongside you. It is a joy to witness all the ways God is at work through the people of Crozet United Methodist Church, both inside and beyond the pulpit.