11/11/2020
Recently, I heard a pastor give a message about the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer. The message’s point was that a thermometer tells us the temperature and the thermostat allow us to change the temperature. The audience was encouraged to be a thermostat and not a thermometer. I’ve thought a lot about the pastors’ message. I now wonder if there was more to be said about the temperature gauging metaphors. The mornings are now cooler than they were a couple of ...
10/13/2020
Can I be honest with you about what it means to be a pastor? Pastoral ministry is a call from God. For the most part, it is a humbling and fantastic call, full of great joys and significant moments in people’s lives: officiating weddings, presiding over funerals, seeing life change for Christ first-hand. But it’s also full of tension: intense conflict, unrealistic expectations (we’re only human, and we can’t meet everyone’s expectations), relational strain, and, at times, soul-aching ...
9/30/2020
The MacGyver Way of Seeing Does the name Angus “Mac” MacGyver ring a bell? If you remember 80s television, you might recognize the MacGyver TV series. During the series, MacGyver saw the world around him as one full of possibilities and solutions. He’s assigned an impossible mission (not to be confused with the Tom Cruise franchise) in every episode. Unlike James Bond or James West from the Wild, Wild West, the popular 60s western science fiction action series, MacGyver didn’t have “cool ...
9/16/2020
Many churches have a mission statement and perhaps even a vision statement. But have you ever wondered why it’s such a challenge for some churches to realize its mission and vision? Often the reason this happens is that the “stuff” of the church (pardon my sophisticated language here), that is, characteristics by the things we see, is different from the “sayings” we speak and hear. On a few occasions, in the pre-COVID-19 world (not with the churches in the Central South District), Dionne ...
8/5/2020
We're living a strange world. I can't believe that the dog days of August are here! School is starting back this month--though some students will have virtual and or in-person opportunities through the district. Please pray for our students, teachers, staff and parents. Surprisingly, August also brings with it a virtual Annual Conference. Yes, that's right, the 2020 Annual Conference Sessions Annual Conference will take place “virtually” on Saturday, August 29. We will be providing detailed ...
7/22/2020
Finding a Life’s Calling This year marks 30 years since I graduated from college. I was the first person in my immediate family to go to college. I needed a guidance system to help me navigate through the unfamiliarity of college life. And like most concerned parents of a college student, my mother was only too happy to assist me in any way that she could. For her, this meant continually providing me with information that she believed would help me when I was out on my own. Following this...
7/8/2020
One of the most paralyzing questions that people ask during a transition is: What’s next? When something comes to an end, like a job, or career, marriage, death, or a particular way of life, we attempt to push past the “what’s next?” question, hoping that we can find something new very quickly. We’re very uncomfortable when we can’t chart a course forward. We find ways to compensate and go through the motions. I experienced this firsthand with a third-grader named Patrick, who I was mentoring...
6/24/2020
This month marks the 25th anniversary of my ordination in the United Methodist Church. Over the years, I’ve gathered several stories from my appointments to congregations and extension ministries beyond the local church. My ministry experience includes St. Paul Summit Street, Gainesville First United Methodist, Gainesville Urban Ministries, LaGrange College, LaGrange First, Warren Temple, Impact Church, Threshold Church (under New Church Development), Peachtree City, and now the District ...
6/10/2020
It’s hurricane season. As I write, Tropical Storm Cristobal is crawling across Mexico and about to make a run in the US. Over the past few weeks, many of us have experienced the swirling effects of gale-force hurricane winds. We’ve all witnessed several moving images that have taken our breaths away—to put it bluntly; it feels like things are a mess. I’m breathless, and I’ve been trying to mentally and emotionally process the hurricane-like experiences happening in our world today. It saddens ...
5/27/2020
During July and September, we will experience several transitions throughout the district. The shifts in July are clergy appointments. The developments in September will require a vote at Annual Conference to change the 12 district lines to 8 districts that follow county lines. The new area, District 4, South Central, will include DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton, and Henry Counties. Clergy Leaving ADOX (7/1/20) Theo Stanford to Cliftondale Joya Abrams to Bethany in Smyrna Dan Dixon to Greenville ...