Newsletter Here
A couple of weeks ago we showed a teaching during service time by Rev. Jasmine Rose Smothers titled, “Blank Slate” based on a book that she co-authored with her father. Some of you loved it, some of you hated it, expecting a “real sermon”. Some of you may not understand why we even bothered to show it at all. But here’s the thing, and I’m just going to address the elephant in the room, the church, as a whole, is filled with apathy (lack of interest, enthusiasm and concern). I’m not just talking about our little Mears UMC, but nationwide. I get it, you’re tired. Over the last four years as needs have increased in our community, Mears UMC has given, but less. The Angel Tree is going to be discontinued because people haven’t actively purchased presents for children, even though we’ve continued to downgrade the guidelines to children under 12, etc. Missions spent a couple of thousand dollars and incredible amounts of time last year so that all of the kids would get presents. So, for Christmas 2025, there will only be food baskets given out. In a time when our local migrant workers are afraid to step foot in public buildings like churches for fear of deportation, when thousands are being dropped by Medicaid, what is the church saying to the people of our community? Sorry about your bad luck. Go get areal job. Go home, you’re not welcome here. Come back when you look like us, talk like us, and do the things the way we like to do them. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I thought that Jesus said things like, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them”(Matt 19:14) and “come to me all who are weary and heavy laden” (Matt 11:28). “But those people don’t deserve the things we do. Not one person said, ‘Thank you’, they haven’t come to church” etc. etc. etc. When you first received God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ, did you deserve it? I certainly didn’t. I was a mess of working three jobs to make ends meet, “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, and you can fill in the rest. The times have changed drastically in the last 40 years. We carry our phones in our pocket/purse instead of being attached to a cord by a wall; retail therapy is dying along with most of our malls because people shop online. You can even buy a car online or at a “vending machine” and test drive it for 30 days after you sign the paperwork. When I told my youngest and his wife to watch “the Chosen” they said, “Mom, we don’t like sit down and watch tv anymore.” Their payments are on apps like Venmo and Paypal and they’ve never even used a checkbook, let alone watched network news. Jesus hasn’t changed, we might argue, so why should we?
So, here’s the tough question which hangs out there and nobody asks – What are you willing to give up to see your children, your grands, your greats have a relationship with Jesus? Please note, I did not say for them to come into the church. They don’t want your church, they don’t want my church, they want to experience church, they want to experience Jesus. Why do you think that those who have watched The Chosen have had such an overwhelming response? Because it’s a new way to EXPERIENCEJESUS. Over the past few years, I’ve seen several people experience the grace of Jesus Christ at Mears UMC, but it is past time to start looking into the future and where Mears UMC will be. Will it become the antique store that someone prophesied it to be several years ago? Will it be a new expression of church? Or will the last one out the door have to turn the lights out? It might “only take a spark to get a fire going”, but it takes fuel and other elements for it to grow. If you want to be a part of a holy spirit revival, then please let me know. Likewise, if you just want to be the next church to close in this area……well, that’s entirely up to you. Only the body of the church can decide its future.
Pastor Bev Williams
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