February 2, 2023
Hi Christ Church and friends!
As I typed the date of this blog post, I realized it is Groundhog Day. I also realized, Groundhog Day is a little less important for me than last year when I lived in a slightly different climate. Ok. I really didn’t pay attention to Groundhog Day when I lived in Colorado either. My apologies to those of you who anticipate February 2nd every year (and to Punxsutawney Phil, of course). ☺
Groundhog Day means though that we are nearing the start of the Lenten season. You read that correctly, Lent begins in less than three weeks, on Ash Wednesday, February 22. Then it’ll be on to Easter six weeks later.
Before we look forward, let’s take a moment to look back. We had a joy-filled Advent and Christmas season here at Christ Church United Methodist. We had great concerts, various events for our School and Parkway and Fort Lauderdale campuses. We had parties and, of course, meaningful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship services. One of my favorite moments of the year as a pastor is being able to greet you all with a hearty “Merry Christmas“ before and after services those days. I hope you found the season inspiring and comforting, especially after two years of not being able to celebrate Christmas in more familiar ways due to COVID.
During Advent, we also moved the worship service at our Parkway Campus to Wednesday evenings. I’ve enjoyed getting to know better those of you who call the Parkway Campus your church home. I love the opportunity to worship each week with you all. If you haven’t worshiped at Parkway yet, I encourage you to check it out. We worship at 6pm, after the free community meal at 5pm. The service is informal and intimate. You’ll recognize many of the hymns and songs as those we sing at our Fort Lauderdale Campus. Parkway is located at 100 NE 44th Street in Deerfield Beach.
This January we continued the great work of experiencing and reflecting the love, hope, and joy of Jesus to our community. In worship, we dove deeper into our values of being a social justice-seeking church, anti-racist church, and a reconciling and inclusive church as part of our Bloom worship series. This series gave us the opportunity to discuss these important parts of our discipleship and our lives together, as we proclaim that Jesus calls us to love one another and to this work specifically.
I must admit that some sermons are easier to preach than others. The sermons from the Bloom series did not fall into that category. Honestly, they were exhausting to write and even more so to preach. Yet, I believe wholeheartedly they were critical in our continued work and growth as a church.
We must be aware of why we are doing what we are doing and where we are currently, before we go where God is leading us. This series was one small way to help us in this work. I’ve had several of you quote back to me the 70/30 concept I shared in the sermons. This concept simply states that in order for our church to grow more diverse and inclusive and otherwise, we have to be comfortable with being comfortable 70% of the time and uncomfortable 30% of the time, knowing that when we are in our comfort zone, others may be in their respective “discomfort” zone and vice versa. If we can make this not simply a concept, but our reality, I am convinced that God will do things with and through us we could never imagine. Let us never forget the discomfort Jesus was willing to, and did, experience for each and every one of us. We can do the same for others.
At the end of January, we started a new worship series, It Takes a Forest. Our Bad: When the Christian Church Got it Wrong. The intent of the series is to acknowledge that we need each other, that we and the Christian Church haven’t always acknowledged that, and to offer hope for how to move forward as we do better. We kicked off the series with a challenge and invitation not to live in fear and scarcity, but instead to use our time, talent, and treasure to live and reflect the abundant life of love, hope, and joy that Jesus offers us all. This is, after all, what we get to do!
I am also proud and excited to share that we marched in Fort Lauderdale’s King Holiday Celebration parade on MLK Day. This was a simple, but powerful way for our church to show up, be in our community, and show that we care about our community. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for this powerful witness of the love, hope, and joy we share with our community. We hope to participate again next year with some options for those who aren’t physically able to march.
There were many other great things happening in January as well. We launched another Grow Group on Sunday mornings, had a great Worship Workshop on baptism, held our annual Church Council Orientation, continued our excellent ministries for children, youth, those with food and housing insecurities, and so much more. Also, have you heard our praise band, choir, or handbell choir recently? Almost every week I am delighted by the top-notch music we get to hear and sing and by the musicians who lead us in worship. I am incredibly grateful that they are sharing their time and talents with us all.
As we look ahead to February and Lent, we have much to anticipate. Ash Wednesday worship for the life of our church will be held at our Parkway Campus at 6pm on February 22. Our choir will lead us in worship, I’ll give a message of repentance based on Psalm 51, and we’ll have an opportunity to have ashes imposed. Check our Facebook page for other events taking place on Ash Wednesday in the life of our church and school.
As February has arrived, we continue to be reminded that it is Black History Month. Recent events in our state and nation, including the death of Tyre Nichols, remind us of why we continue to need to celebrate Black history. To put it plainly, black and brown lives and our history, continue to be devalued. We are a church that believes God values all life, especially those who are often overlooked, because we are all created in God’s image. Our Anti-Racism Task Force is organizing several opportunities to celebrate Black history this month and to continue the conversation and work of anti-racism. Our Rainbow Alliance is meeting this month to discuss our next steps and plan future activities. Check out the “serve” tab on the church website for more information on both of these areas in the life of our church.
Finally, I want to extend a special invitation to the South East District annual training event on Saturday, March 4. The event is entitled Eliminating Racism Through Change: Being the Body of Christ. We are hosting the event at our Fort Lauderdale Campus. Pastor Josh Beaty, lay member Susan Spragg and I are part of the planning team. Jason Campbell and our praise band will lead music. I will be one of the keynote speakers, along with my friend and colleague, the Rev. Chip Freed, lead pastor of Garfield Memorial Church in Ohio. The event will feature great music and conversations on becoming, being, and growing as an anti-racist and diverse church with many workshops related to this. It promises to be a powerful morning. I’d love to see many Christ Church folks present, not only to support the Christ Church team that is helping to make it happen, but so that we can continue to learn and grow together.
I offer a word of appreciation for our many staff members who will be working tirelessly in the weeks ahead to make sure the day, including the district youth event we are hosting that evening, goes well. You can register for the training event and read more about it here.
I’m also excited to share that Rev. Freed will join us in our Sunday morning worship services on Sunday, March 5. Rev. Freed is a dynamic preacher and pastor. I can’t wait for you to get to meet and hear from him.
Thank you for being a part of the great work God is doing here at Christ Church, everyone. I am so grateful that you are. Let’s continue to use our time, talent, and treasure to experience and reflect the love, hope, and joy of Jesus Christ to our community. This is indeed what we get to do. Let‘s continue to do it!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Nathan
