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Archived 09/04: A Message From the Pastor
Rev. Alice Ann Bonham
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From the Pastor's Desk --
"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak,
for the patch
pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved." (Matthew 9:16-17 NRSV) Jesus says these words to John the Baptist's disciples and to the Pharisees to help explain why he does things differently, things like eating with sinners and tax collectors and not fasting. Jesus continually did things different from what was expected of him. He's trying to tell them that for new things to happen there has to be new space in which it can happen. If new things are put into old patterns everything gets lost. Over the course of my time here at RPUMC I've come to realize that in many ways we're stuck in "old wine skins" and with "old cloaks." We're not quite willing to let go of the things we've grown comfortable with in order to experience new wine. I'm very convinced that God has wonderful new wine and new cloaks for us. We've had several new members join the congregation since I've come and on Pentecost Sunday we'll have several more. Prayer Partners has been in full swing for over a year. We've had three very successful Retreats. These and other things clearly tell me that God has so much in store for us. The difficulty that I see is that our hands tend to be full of things of the past. We want to sing our old favorite hymns. We want kids and families to have the work habits and priorities of 10-20 years ago. We look to the past and remember the "glory days" and we want things to be the way they were. Another difficulty that I see is that we still don't really know how to deal with conflict and so we fall back on patterns of the past. With our hands so full of stuff from the past we can't begin to open our hands for the new blessings that God has for us. We have to find some way to let go of the stuff from the past so that we can move forward. Some things are already in the works - Eric has started a new Bible study; I have a new Bible study; the Project 6:15 Team has made some changes for us (removing the old pew Bibles from the sanctuary) and working on other strategies for change. In case you're wondering why the pew Bibles were removed, it was done in hopes of motivating everyone to bring and use their own Bibles on a regular basis. To that end, the Project 6:15 team is working out the details to provide Bibles for anyone who wants one, but cannot afford to buy one. There will be difficulties as we learn to make these changes. We'll have to mourn some of the changes that will be made. We'll all have to make sacrifices of one kind or another. We'll all have to let go of things that are precious to us. Some will take on tasks that even a few weeks ago were unthinkable. The goal of this is to empty our hands of the things that are holding us to our past so that we can finally have open, empty hands for the blessings God is holding for us. As we go through these changes, please remember that I am going through them too. I am committed to the life of this congregation and my door is always open. Please come to me with all of your concerns. Please pray for me and for this congregation. We will only be able to accomplish this if we surround it all in prayer. Surely the new wine that God has for us will be sweet in deed. Blessing to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, In Christ's love, Pastor Alice Ann |
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