Letters

This past week I preached on Isaiah 62 and the promise that Israel would be transformed by God. Israel needed hope that their destruction wasn’t permanent. They needed hope that they wouldn’t just be known as desolate and rejected. Instead, God saved them! Their salvation would be seen by the nations of the world and God would give them a new name. God is still lifting people up and bringing hope that sins and hurts won’t hold us back.

Here are some of the ways we are starting this new year to be lifted up by Jesus:

• Help with worship! Edd Powers is chairing our worship committee now and is looking for liturgists, communion servers, musicians, ushers, southbooth help, etc. He says, “Many hands make light work!” and you can reach him at …

• This Sunday! New Bible study on Sundays at 9am called “Manna and Mercy” - learning how to read the Bible so that it brings the life and love of God into our world. Come join us! We will even have coffee.

• January 30th - We will have worship and a meal at Bright Bridge! You can call the church office to see how to participate. We will partner with St. Mark as we have in the past.

• February 6th - Care kit packing after church. Meeting people’s immediate needs is one way of loving like Jesus. We will pack kits after worship that we can hand out as needed in our community.

Also, the office would like to remind you that you can give online through our website: gadsdenstreetmethodist.com by going to the bottom of the page where it says, “Give here” - it’s a convenient way to be a part of the mission of our church - sharing hope so our neighbors know God’s love!

In one of my favorite passages in the Book of Isaiah, he encourages Israel by reminding them to look for something new. Isaiah 43:19 says, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

As we start a new year together I find incredible hope in the future of Gadsden Street United Methodist Church. God is making paths through the unknowns of this next year and we will get to be a part of it! Here are a few places where God will show up:

• The pandemic is still a thing. COVID infection numbers are up and it appears that we will continue to have opportunities to take care of ourselves and our neighbors in untested waters. Some are sick, some are struggling with jobs or money. I firmly believe that God can show up even in the worst places. But as St. Paul tells the Roman church, just because God can does not mean we should make things worse. Your prayers matter. Your precautions matter. Jesus would say amen to us loving well in these days. The church is going to do our part and keep us connected, even as the pandemic tries to keep us isolated.

• The new year will bring new opportunities in discipleship. On January 16th at 9am we will begin a class about reading the Bible well, called “Manna and Mercy” in addition to “Morning Makers” that is meeting again at 9am. You’ve got options and there will be more!

• January 30th from 4 to 6pm we will be facilitating worship and a meal at Bright Bridge in partnership with St. Mark UMC. Give the church a call if you’d like to help provide a meal or want to spend some time with the great people at Bright Bridge.

• We need delegates! Specifically our District is looking for voting delegates to Annual Conference. If you’d like to help lead the church through serving in this way, let me know.

• We are all aware of the number of homeless people in Pensacola. February 6th after worship we will pack care kits for our neighbors and it will give us one way to address the needs around us.

I look forward to being a part of all these things with you as God does a new thing in our midst!

In addition to the wonderful things starting up with the new year, there are still more things to bring to your attention.

• The sermon from this past Sunday can be found here.

• Dr. Doug Newton, the venerable United Methodist Pastor who served many years here at Gadsden Street both as an Associate Pastor and as the Senior Pastor, has passed away. You can read his obituary here.

• Gadsden Street has always had capable and willing servant leaders in the committees of our church. With the new calendar year we need to say thank you to those who are completing their time. Join me in thanking: Ron Baughman, Pat Dodge, Betty Roberds, Patti Thompson, and Warren Thompson for their service.

• We are adding some new leaders in 2022. Join me in welcoming: Mary Jane McClellan (Lay leader), Cheryl Hinnen (Discipleship), Edd Powers (Worship), Mary Yearty-Meek (Trustees), Donna Quinn and Liz Caternang (SPRC), Tom Rarrick and Edd Powers (Lay Leadership Ministry), and Alice McKinney and Donna Pruett (Permanent Endowment). You can find the full Lay Leadership Team for 2022 here, but I want to personally welcome these folks as they step into their new roles.

• Our Christmas Eve service included a “White Christmas” offering to Embrace Florida Kids. I’m happy to report that Gadsden Street United Methodist Church raised over $1,000.00 to support the work of this important ministry. I’m grateful for your generosity!

• Unfortunately COVID infections are on the rise. Our church council is meeting soon and will discuss what we can do as a church to love like Jesus in light of the ongoing pandemic. We encourage you to wear a mask when at church or elsewhere, get vaccinated and boosted if able, and get tested at the first sign of symptoms. As always, prayers are appreciated for those who care for the sick and for the health and wholeness of those who suffer.

I’m glad I get to do this with you and I look forward to what God is doing in our midst in 2022!

Happy New Year! January 6th is Epiphany and with it we join the magi in honoring the Christ child. This new year will bring many opportunities for us to share hope so our neighbors know God’s love. YOU give me hope, and I hope you’ll know Christ’s love as well. Here are some of those new opportunities right now:

• Ensley First Baptist Church runs a cold weather shelter for women and children. If you’d like to volunteer or tell someone about it, their number is 850-476-2221.

• January 5th at 10am we will “un-green” the church. Join us as we lovingly store our Christmas decorations so they’ll be good to go next year!

• January 16th at 9am we will begin a class called “Manna and Mercy” before worship. I’m teaching and it’s about how we read the Bible and discover the life-giving power of Jesus in the scripture. I hope you’ll join us and bring a friend. There will be other opportunities as well in the near future for Discipleship, so don’t sweat it if this isn’t your thing!

• January 30th from 4 to 6 we will be worshiping and serving a meal at Bright Bridge with St. Mark UMC. Mark your calendars and we will have more info soon.

• February 6th at 11am we will pack “homeless kits” after worship. Many hands make light work and it’s always fun to pack and fellowship together at the same time.

Phew! Lots going on. I hope you’ll start this year off right with us as we are encouraged in our faith.

(Sent July 9th 2021)

Greetings in the name of Christ!

It has been a great first week as the pastor at Gadsden Street United Methodist Church. Every day I’ve met people who love Jesus and our church. I look forward to changing the world with Gadsden Street UMC as we seek to follow after the example of Christ.

On July 8th, The Pensacola News Journal released a news article implicating Gadsden Street United Methodist Church in KKK activity through T.T. Wentworth’s involvement. This news is heavy on our hearts. We believe that all forms of racism are a sin and we pray forgiveness for the ways Gadsden Street has caused harm to our neighbors through either racism or apathy.

Together as a church we will acknowledge the sins of our past by working together for a more Christ-like future. The leadership of the church council and I would like to suggest the following steps for our congregation. These will help us listen to the stories of the past and allow God to guide our direction.

We will include this letter (and others) on our website and where appropriate to acknowledge our past and hopes for the future.

We will facilitate discussions with the church and community using resources by leaders teaching racial justice and racial reconciliation. Check our church website for small groups starting this August.

I will be preaching a sermon series on our baptismal vows and our commitment in Christ to join him in the work of the Kingdom of God.

I want to make sure we all have access to the same information. You can find the PNJ article that mentions Gadsden Street here. The PDF of the preliminary report from UWF of T.T. Wentworth, Jr.’s involvement with the KKK here. Page 34 is the pertinent page. The response of the Alabama West Florida Conference can be found here.

Because we serve a God that can reconcile sinners, bring victory out of defeat, and even create life out of death I can confidently say that our part in this narrative is not finished and Christ will lead us into a future showing the goodness of our God.

It is an honor to serve as your pastor.

Be well!

Jack

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Gadsden Street United Methodist Church has experienced a lot of changes in the past year. The most important thing has not changed: Jesus Christ is still Lord! As we celebrate the coming of the Christ child, I anticipate God’s blessings will become ever more apparent as his presence grows in our midst.

I pray often for what God has in store for us. The question I ponder the most is where God will lead us as a church and how we can fulfill our mission. This next year Gadsden Street will make great strides in sharing hope so our neighbors know God’s love. We all play an important part in that whether we are praying, giving, or serving as the Body of Christ. We get to do this together and I know you’ll succeed at making 2022 better than 2021. If you haven’t filled out a commitment card I hope you will so we can more clearly plan for this next year.

There are some great things coming so I hope you’ll prepare to get involved in 2022. Whether with Family Promise, taking on a challenging Bible study, loving our neighbors through service, feeding folks at Bright Bridge, or spending time with the kids at Lighthouse Private Christian Academy, there are lots of ways to make a difference together. We will even worship Jesus in our Sanctuary!

Our hope is that you will have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year.

We will worship on December 26th and January 2nd, but the church office will be closed in-between.

Hello Gadsden Street! I know you are as ready for Christmas as I am. One of the best ways to prepare for Christmas is to give gifts! We recently had a “Kids’ Night Out'' where we gave the gift of time to some very thankful parents. Seventeen children came to the church on Friday night and we had a blast. Played games, ate s’mores, and shared hope with them for this Christmas season. Big thanks to our volunteers who made it a success.

We have already lit the Advent Candles of Hope, Peace, and Joy. The last candle will be lit this week before we welcome the Christ child.

I hope you’ll join us for our Traditional Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at 5pm on December 24th. We will read the Lukan Christmas message, observe the sacrament of Communion, sing Silent Night, and light candles together. It’ll be a special moment in the life of our church.

The sermon from this past Sunday is here.

It is the Season of Advent and this past Sunday we lit the Candle of Hope. The Sermon for this past Sunday is here.

I have hope, because Jesus Christ loves us and is coming to us, yet again in this season. We will see his presence in our “Hanging of the Greens” Service tomorrow evening at 6pm. We will see his presence at our “Kids’ Night Out” event on December 10th. We will see his presence on Christmas Eve at 6pm with our traditional candlelight Christmas. Tis the season, right?

I have hope because Edd Powers and Jim Witt joined our church this past Sunday! Christ is coming to us through so many new faces. Thank you for joining me in praying for them.

I have hope because we have received twenty-four commitment cards from our congregation already! A sign that, together, we are sharing hope so our neighbors know God’s love in this next year.

I have hope because of you. Your potential for sharing the hope of Christ in this world gets me excited. I’m grateful we get to do this together and happy Advent!

Hello Gadsden Street United Methodist Church!

We have a lot going on! Join me in welcoming Elodie, Zane, and Jean Pierre who joined the church in worship on Sunday. While they have already been a part of the congregation I’m thankful for this formal commitment both by them and the church that we get to follow Christ together here at our church together. Let’s continue praying for them and each other as this year comes to an end.

This Sunday there are two important events happening in Pensacola, and one of them is at Gadsden Street. You can watch my invitation here.

The sermon from this past Sunday here.

It is almost Advent! The first Sunday of Advent is actually November 28th, but on December 1st we will have a “Hanging of the Greens” Service in the Sanctuary at 6pm. Come get in the Christmas Spirit with us.

Hello Gadsden Street United Methodist Church!

The mission of our church is to share hope so our neighbors know God’s love. One way we do that is by acknowledging our past sins so they become yet another avenue for us to lean into God’s love (Romans 8:28). As Christians, we believe that resurrection is always possible.

Several months ago, an opportunity to bring resurrection was presented as TT Wentworth’s Klan involvement was made news in Pensacola. Our church continues to reject the sin of racism and share hope that such a force in our world is no match for a life-giving God. Together, we can join Jesus in bringing reconciliation in our community.

The Wentworth family is hosting a Service of Acknowledgment and Lament on November 21st, at 2:00 pm. It will be held at Pensacola’s Hunter Amphitheater at Maritime Community Park. Afterwards, the sanctuary at Gadsden Street United Methodist Church will be open to the community for a time of reflection and prayer from 3:30 pm to 5 pm.

I strongly encourage you to attend these events. I believe Jesus invites us to hear our neighbors and learn from our past. This is how Jesus will bring us to a better future so that our church will look more like the Kingdom of God.

As always, it’s a privilege to serve as your pastor.

Hello Gadsden Street United Methodist Church!

We have completed our “Hope Made Helpful” campaign and I hope you’ve felt empowered to be a part of the work of the church. Your hope in Christ is going to give this church a future that will make Jesus proud. With that said, I want to encourage you to return a commitment card to the church as soon as possible. It will help us be faithful in our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness here in Pensacola.

Here are a few upcoming things of note:

• This Sunday is special because it is All Saints Sunday. We will celebrate our loved ones who have passed but especially the five church members who have died in the past year: Pam Stewart, Jim Smith, Marti Lovering, Dorothy Lister, and Steve McClellan. We will also celebrate anyone else who has passed recently and is close to our congregation.

• Our clocks will “fall back” this Sunday so make sure you use that extra hour with us in worship this Sunday.

There are, of course, plenty of things happening at our church in hospitality, outreach, worship, and discipleship. Let me know if you’d like to jump into any of these possibilities and I look forward to us being the church together.