Things I Want You to Know #5

I’ve heard through the grapevine that a going away party is being planned for me. I’m not entirely sure who all is planning this, so I’m just going to share my preferences here. I would prefer not to have a stand alone party. I would prefer that Jenny be included because we were unable to have a farewell for her due in 2020 to Covid-19. 

We get the keys to the Manhattan townhouse on June 1. The moving truck departs with our stuff on June 15, my last Sunday will be June 19. Jenny and I are looking forward to sharing Holy Communion with you during that service. It would be great to have either our regular spread or some cake and punch-coffee-tea-whatever afterwards as we say goodbye to all of you. That’s really all we want or need.

Preaching Schedule

Below is the preaching schedule for the remainder of May and June 2022:
May 8: Confirmation Sunday
May 15: John Collins
May 22: John Collins
May 29: Peggy Riley
June 5: Rick Saylor
June 12: Mark Queen
June 19: John Collins
June 26: Amanda Cormack

Bible Study: The Royal Priesthood

This evening, May 4, 2022, at 5:15, we’ll have a Bible study on The Royal Priesthood — Episode 6. You can attend in person in room 200 or you can join us via Zoom at https://wp.me/P3IZ7l-nZ. You don’t need to read anything ahead of time to participate. (Most people don’t.) We’ll begin with a short video introduction and then continue the discussion from there. If you want to watch the video or study the materials ahead of time you can go to https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/royal-priesthood/.

My Favorite Documentary

My favorite documentary is “Prohibition” by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. It is a cautionary tale about what happened when a minority of people in this country tried to impose their religious beliefs, values, and morals on the majority. It warns of the unintended consequences of doing so and the inevitable blowback that comes about as a result.

I can’t find it for free anywhere online, but you can pay to stream it at various places and, in a few days, I should have the DVD if anyone wants to borrow it.

Purvis Farewell

The church office received the following flyer and we wanted to make sure all of you knew about this event:

You’re Invited to an Open House to Say Farewell to Andrea and John Purvis

SATURDAY, 7 MAY 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The Alamo Saloon in Old Towne Abilene

Andrea and John are headed to Linn County as Andrea becomes a District Court Judge. Join us so that we can see them off and thank them for all they have done for our community.

Cake and punch will be served
POC is Sarah Ikena sarahikena@yahoo.com

Worship — Sunday, May 1, 2022

If you want to follow along with bulletin you can follow this link or the link in the menu above.

If you’re having trouble streaming our worship videos, you may want to simply download the entire video to your device and then play it. You can do that by clicking on the link in the Vimeo logo above and then selecting download.

You can make a contribution online via tithe.ly. Other options can be found here.

Previous worship services can be found at abilenefirstumc.org/onlineworship/.

Checking In

I just want to check in with as many people as possible after yesterday’s big storm. (We had quite a bit of excitement driving back from Topeka, but it sounds like you had even more excitement right here at home.) Please let me know if you or someone you’ve been in contact with needs help.

Bible Study: Jesus the Royal Priest

This evening, Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at 5:15, we’ll have a Bible study on Jesus the Royal Priest. You can attend in person in room 200 or you can join us via Zoom at https://wp.me/P3IZ7l-nZ. You don’t need to read anything ahead of time to participate. (Most people don’t.) We’ll begin with a short video introduction and then continue the discussion from there. If you want to watch the video or study the materials ahead of time you can go to https://bit.ly/37NegJt.

Worship — Sunday, April 25, 2022

If you want to follow along with bulletin you can follow this link or the link in the menu above.

If you’re having trouble streaming our worship videos, you may want to simply download the entire video to your device and then play it. You can do that by clicking on the link in the Vimeo logo above and then selecting download.

You can make a contribution online via tithe.ly. Other options can be found here.

Previous worship services can be found at abilenefirstumc.org/onlineworship/.

Things I Want You To Know As I Leave #4

My colleague, Amanda Baker, wrote what follows about funerals. I’m thankful that she gave me permission to share it with you. Hopefully, it helps to explain why I don’t believe you need me to come back to officiate at funerals after I move.

“It isn’t hard for skilled clergy to preach a funeral for a person we’ve never met. I know that sounds strange, but it’s true. Meeting the family and gathering the stories and tidbits that tell us about a person’s life and witness are some of the best things we get to do, and I promise it’s enough. When we do know the person, we nearly ALWAYS learn things we hadn’t known, and, to tell the truth, we’re much more at risk of skewing the service with our own perception of the person.”

“We bring an understanding of the grief process, a theology of resurrection, the tradition of the Church, and a willingness to listen. You bring the stories and the love, and together they create the right service for the person you love.”

“I know many of you have been to a service where it was wildly evident the officiant didn’t know anything about the deceased. But that isn’t really the problem. The problem is that they didn’t listen to the people who did.”