Reformed by Love
Happy Tuesday Gadsden Street UMC friends!
After a week of chaos and limbo after hurricane Isaias, I am glad that we are all safe and able to gather again. I hope and pray that our presence to our neighbors and friends has brought a little more of the love of Christ into our community. If there is still anyone you know who needs some assistance, please feel free to reach out to Rev. Heather Nysewander and we can touch base with UMCOR to see what assistance they may be able to offer.
This coming Sunday is a holiday of the church. It's Reformation Sunday! Every year, the Sunday before October 31st is Reformation Sunday, the day where the United Methodist Church recognizes our unity and the heart of all scripture, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hand all the Law and the Prophets."
- Matthew 22:36-40.
This is from the very scripture that we will be reading in worship this Sunday. We invite you to join us in our Sunday school class from 9:00AM to 9:45AM and in our Sunday morning worship from 10:00AM to 11:00AM. In addition to our coming service, I invite you to take a look at what our church has to offer for the remainder of this week.
This Week
Wednesday Morning Devotional
10:00AM to 11:00AM | Online via Zoom
Join us Wednesday morning for our devotional from The Methodist Book of Daily Prayer, Week 42. Please click on the link below to be a part of our devotional.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83149477818
Wednesday Coffee with Pastor Heather
12:00PM to 4:00PM | Jitterbug Beverage Co.
Come on over and grab a cup of coffee with Pastor Heather at Jitterbug! While the office is closed on Wednesday, the pastor is still working out in the community. Try some of Jitterbug's seasonal menu and gluten free treats and drop in for a chat!
Wednesday Night Dinner - Crocktober Fest!
5:30PM to 7:00Pm | The Fellowship Hall
It's Crocktober Fest this month at Gadsden Street UMC! We invite you to join us for a night of fellowship over various crock pot chili recipes and sides. We will also have Jason Waddell who will bring wisdom to us all as we enjoy an evening together.
Friday Grounds Workday
October 20 | 8:30AM
Join us on Friday at 8:30AM to do a little TLC on the grounds of the church! We invite you to bring trimmers, rakes, gloves, and water. We will work for a couple of hours or so. We hope to see you there!
Trunk-or-Treat
Saturday, October 24 | 5:30PM to 7:00PM | Gadsden Street UMC Parking Lot
We still need trunks and candy for our upcoming Trunk-or-Treat event! We are doing this event in tandem with Valerie's House but all children and families are welcome to come by!
Church Council Postponed
In addition to these announcements, we announced this past Sunday that our Church Council meeting was going to be pushed back a week. Considering the work of our committees and the chaos of storm cleanup for many of our members, we will be postponing our Church Council meeting to November 15th. This will fall on the Sunday before Charge Conference on November 16th.
A Weekly Reflection
While this month brings a lot of celebrations in the church, the United Methodist Church in particular is recognizing the fact that women have been in ministry in our denomination for the past 70 years. This includes all women in our church body that are affirmed and capable of bringing the gospel to the world. Women, as well as men, are capable of living out the mission of the church. In our denomination, we also recognize that women have been ordained as elders, deacons, deaconesses, local pastors, missionaries, extension ministers like chaplains, and even more roles in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
John Wesley's mother, Susanna, was a foundational source of strength for John and Charles. She had 19 children with 10 surviving to adulthood. Every week, she would dedicate an hour to each child to teach them and make sure they were nurtured. She was often a leader in their church in her husband Samuel's stead at times when he was away. This week's reflection honors the women in our lives and the ministry that we have received because of them. This liturgy is from the book called Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.
"We walk in the company of the women who have gone before, mothers of the faith both names and unnamed, testifying with ferocity and faith to the Spirit of wisdom and healing. They are the judges, the prophets, the martyrs, the warriors, poets, lovers, and saints who are near to us in the shadow of awareness, in the crevices of memory, in the landscape of our dreams.
We walk in the company of Deborah, who judged the Israelites with authority and strength.
We walk in the company of Esther, who used her position as queen to ensure the welfare of her people.
We walk in the company of you whose names have been lost and silenced, who kept and cradled the wisdom of the ages.
We walk in the company of the woman with the flow of blood, who audaciously sought her healing and release.
We walk in the company of Mary Magdelene, who wept at an empty tomb until the risen Christ appeared.
We walk in the company of Pheobe, who led an early church in the empire of Rome.
We walk in the company of Perpetua of Carthage, whose witness in the third century led to her martyrdom.
We walk in the company of St. Christina the Astonishing, who resisted death with persistence and wonder.
We walk in the company of Julian of Norwich, who we imagination and theology, proclaiming, "All shall be well."
We walk in the company of Sojourner Truth, who stood against oppression, righteously declaring in 1852, "Ain't I a woman!"
We walk in the company of the Argentine mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who turned their grief to strength, standing together to remember "the disappeared" children of war with a holy indignation.
We walk in the company of Alice Walker, who names the lavender hue of womanish strength.
We walk in the company of you mothers of the faith, who teach us to resist evil with boldness, to lead with wisdom, and to heal.
Amen."
A Litany to Honor Women
Peace and blessings,
Heather Nysewander