Category Archives: Pastor’s Ponderings

Volunteering

I do not believe the quote “Money makes the world go round.” It is our willingness to volunteer and the many hours of service that are given each year by volunteers that makes the world go around. By volunteering we show that we do have compassion and want to serve our community and the world.

Volunteering is an act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work in, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Other services are on an assisted basis, such as in response to natural disasters. Churches have depended on volunteers to assist the church in a number of their needs from the beginning of the institution.

We volunteer in many different areas, some volunteer military service, others for local government. Some for-church committee or boards. We have found for hundreds of years churches have depended on volunteers even for the basic needs such as cleaning the church or bringing meals to those in need. Others serve on local government boards. I am proud that the YMCA is recognized as one of the first institutions that realized the wealth of sharing that can come from volunteers. Back in 1851 during the Great Awaking the YMCA was established to serve the disadvantaged others through volunteers.

Even today, as history has shown us over the years, many institutions could not have survived without volunteers and the uncountable hours given to them on behalf of other’s needs. Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus answered a question put to him “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 the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” From this directive of Jesus, we are able to fill part of Jesus’ commandment by serving others in volunteerism.

When we say “Yes” and volunteer, we fill a need a community or individual has. You many use the incredibly unique gifts the God has given you or you may share your general abilities and time. All are needed. We volunteer in our schools, for emergency services, community service, social needs, sporting events, medical care, and yes for the needs of our churches.

In the next few weeks, the Claybanks Nominations Committee will be contacting members of the Claybanks Family requesting them to serve in distinct roles and positions on our church committees and council. We ask you to responsibly consider with prayer how you can love you neighbor as Jesus commanded. Volunteers are needed everywhere, and I cannot state enough the positive goodness that comes from volunteering not only for those who are served but by those who serve!

Pastor’s Ponderings

Lay Representative and Pastor Report – Annual Conference 2024

To my Claybanks Church Family,

I want to take a few minutes to thank my Claybanks family for sending me to the Michigan Annual Conference as their Lay Representative.  This year’s theme was “Fearless, Embracing a New Future.”  Fearlessness is not the absence of fear or concern, but it’s living with “less fear,” according to Bishop Bard.   

While Bishop Bard gave a couple very moving messages and kept us laughing at many times, my biggest take-away was, “We will not always be at our best, though we strive to be, but we can always work to be at our better,”  in his message titled “Anything Good?”  I also considered the  guest speakers Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli and Rev. Doctor Lillian Daniel to be very dynamic and thought provoking.  From Rev. Gaines-Cirelli I gleaned a new short prayer:  “Let me trust in the Lord more than I distrust myself.”

The music we sang/listened to is always one of my favorite things.  We sang a combination of older hymns as well as some contemporary Christian music and even some that were composed/written by the music leader.  The icing on the cake was listening to the conference choir sing “It is Well with My Soul.”  They did an  absolutely phenomenal  job with my favorite hymn.

I would probably be remiss if I didn’t report back to you on the legislation and other reports that took place.  This is my most least liked part of conference, but here are just a few of the highlights:

• The conference budget this year was lowered from last year by 8.4%.  A lot of this was due to the closing/disaffiliation of churches.
• Only 73% of Ministry Shares were received last year.
• 6,500 Rice packs were packed by fellow attendees which totaled 39,000 meals to be sent worldwide.
• Passed the 2025 Minimum Salary Schedule
• Voted in favor of Witnessing and Voting for Civility, Compassion, and Democracy in 2024
• Voted in favor of a Call for peace with justice in the Middle East.

There was much discussion on many of the above legislation as well as amendments, amendments to the amendments, reversals, and explanations, but I must say, I believe most of it was done with dignity and grace.

Again, I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be your Lay Representative.

Sincerely, Konnie Grant

Claybanks United Methodist Church Family

Thank you Konnie for representing Claybanks UMC and thank you Reba Peterson for being an Equalization Representative. We were very well represented as a church at conference with three from our church.
Just to add a few things to Konnie’s report:  Our Clergy session detailed educational requirements for clergy during the next two years with emphasis on “Anti-Bias/Anti-Racism” training. We continue in a downward movement where we will come to a point of not enough clergy for all our churches in the future. Legislation for our Annual Conference did not include any of the items ratified by the General Conference (Held in late April and early May). Items will first go before the Jurisdictional Council and items for our ratification will be part of our Annual Conference Legislation in 2025.

We are in a time of unification for the United Methodist Church with the departure of 22% of our church in the conference during the past two years. Nationwide the percentage is similar, which presents to us as United Methodists many opportunities to do things a little differently as we strive to be the church that God calls us to be in making disciples for the transformation of the world for Jesus Christ.

Pastor Gary

Claybanks United Methodist Church
Sunday, June 9, 2024
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Third Sunday After Pentecost

Welcome and Announcements

*Praise Song
“Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above”.….UMH  126

Prelude

*Processional
In this place, among these people
God is worshipped, God is praised.
We have seen the signs and wonders;
The lost are found here, the dead are raised.
We are living the Gospel story;
lives are changed, and mountains moved.
Won’t you come and work among us?
You are welcomed, you are loved.

*Call to Worship
Leader: In this family of faith, we have a place where we will always belong.
All: Here we will find friends who will love us as children of the Most High.
Leader: All who need a place to belong…
All: Join the family of God.
Leader: All who seek spiritual sisters and brothers…
All: Join the family of God.
Leader: All who strive to grow in faith and love…
All: Join the family of God.

*Gloria Patri……………………………………UMH  70

*Opening Prayer

*Hymn
”Happy the Home When God Is There”……….UMH 445

Prayers of the People – Joys and Concerns

The Offering of our Gifts and Ourselves

*Doxology………………….…………………..…UMH 95

*Prayer of Dedication

*Hymn
”This Is My Father’s World”……………UMH  144

Sharing of the Word

Old Testament Reading
Psalm 138………………………………………………….Page 503
*Gospel Reading
Mark 3:20-35…………..……………………………………………Page 814

Message by Pastor Gary Peterson
“We Have a Very Large Family”

Prayer

*Hymn
“The Church’s One Foundation”…………UMH 546

*Benediction.

Postlude – Please be seated

Pianist – Suzanne Bellrichard

Liturgist  – Janice Anderson & Richard Lindell

Ministers – All People As We Live The Good News

A few years ago, the Worship Design Team encouraged me, and it became a practice that on the third Sunday of each month, we as a congregation would recite an Affirmation of Faith. In our hymnal we can find ten Affirmations of Faith. The one we recognize most, the Apostles Creed Traditional version, has been a part of Christian prayers since almost the beginning of the Christian Church. From time to time, I find other Affirmations of Faith that are engaging as I reflect upon what I believe. Some of these affirmations are exceptionally beautiful and at times they may deviate slightly from what we find listed in our United Methodist Hymnal as affirmations. Because they are not included in our hymnal and affirmed by our United Methodist Denomination, I refrain from using them in our general worship setting, yet they can be expressions of much of what we believe. I believe on a regular basis that we need to affirm what we believe as followers of Jesus Christ, and so doing it in our corporate worship strives to strengthen our commitment as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Since a youthful age when I first began to work for the YMCA as a professional, I have had the blessed opportunity on a few occasions to hear William Barclay speak at different large gatherings of the YMCA. William Barkley at that time was a member of the World Board of the YMCA and was a noted theologian who published a number of books including the William Barclay Commentary which I have used regularly throughout my time as a pastor. William Barclay’s Commentaries have assisted me not only in studies to become a pastor, preparation for messages that I deliver on Sunday, and also as I prepare to lead Sunday School Bible studies.

William Barkley has an exceptionally good explanation of the Apostles Creed that I would like to share with you in my Pastors Ponderings this month.

The Apostles’ Creed

So much was this the case that the statement of beliefs became embedded in what we know as the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe… In Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary…” As it stands, the Apostles’ Creed is a fourth or fifth century summary of the Christian faith. They took its name from a legend passed down to us by Rufinus, an Early Christian Church leader and writer. Rufinus says that while the apostles were still alive, soon after the ascension of Jesus, “The Lord commanded them to journey to separate countries to preach the word of God.” When they were at the point of taking leave of each other, they first settled on a common form for their future preaching, so that they might not find themselves widely dispersed as they would be, delivering divergent messages to the people they were pursuing to believe in Christ. So, they all assembled in one spot and being filled with the Holy Spirit, drafted a short summary, each contributing to the clause he deemed fitting: “They decreed that it should be handed out as a standard teaching to converts.” This is most likely a legend; but this much is true, the substance of the Apostles’ Creed was in fact the Confession of Faith used by the early church as early as AD 150 and required of candidates for baptism.

The church still today uses the Apostles’ Creed and other Affirmations of Faith as statements to what we believe and we as United Methodists recite the creeds or parts of the creeds at various times, at baptisms, confirmations, on special church holy days and in special religious contexts.

I would encourage you to take the time during your study or meditation to look at the Apostles’ Creed and other Affirmations of Faith and meditate upon each of the statements contained within them. I will be doing the same and from time to time including the statements found within the affirmations as part of the messages that I deliver to you each Sunday morning. It would be my prayer and desire that by doing so we can strengthen our commitment to Jesus Christ to be disciples for him and the transformation of the world. Just as Jesus commanded his disciples in Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and said to them, “Authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Sunday, June 2
1 Samuel 3:1-20
Mark 2:23-3:6
Do God’s Work On The Sabbath

Sunday, June 9
Psalm 138
Mark 3:20-35
We Have A Very Large Family

Sunday, June 16
Father’s Day
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Mark 4:26-34
By What Do You Select

Sunday, June 23
1 Samuel 17:1-11, 19-23, 32-49
Mark 4:35-41
So, We Are Farmers

Sunday, June 30
Recognize Independence Day
Adult And Teen Challenge

Spiritual Retreats

As I write this Pastor’s Pondering for our May Newsletter, I am between spiritual retreats. This past weekend, I was with a number of middle school age youth on a “Spark” retreat for confirmation at the Lake Michigan United Methodist Camp in Pentwater. This coming weekend, beginning on Thursday, Reba, and I will be part of the leadership and Ellen Zimmerman will be a pilgrim on an Emmaus Walk, which is in a sense a retreat for individuals who want to continue a journey with their Lord and savior Jesus Christ. On the Monday following the Emmaus Walk, which ended on Sunday evening, I will be attending an all-day pastor’s retreat organized by our Western Waters District. Last fall I had a spiritual blessing by attending one of the best spiritual retreats I have ever been on. It was sponsored by the Rural Church pastor’s Fellowship of the Michigan Area Conference.

The meaning of a spiritual retreat can be different for our many religious communities. Spiritual retreats are an integral part of many different religious practices including the United Methodist denomination. There are many reasons to participate in or be on a retreat. Maybe it is for wellness, mindfulness, maybe physical or adventurous, to detox or just to relax.

Retreats have become valuable in the Christian Churches and can be traced back to Saint Ignatius of Loyola when he took others on a “spiritual exercise.” Pope Pius IX in 1922 named Ignatius the Patron Saint of Spiritual Retreats. Spiritual retreats were introduced to the Protestant church beginning in England in 1856 where many clergy and then laity attended retreats that lasted up to five days, sponsored by the Society of the Holy Cross. Other retreats that followed were typically three to four days in length and featured much silence and prayer. As the practice of retreating became more popular, their designs included more conversation and leisure. In the latter part of the 19th century, Christianity developed camp meetings to promote spiritual renewal and they happened far from the city and in natural settings. These camp renewals were an opportunity to pray, sing and listen to sermons for several days. Many different denominations have camps that had their beginnings in hosting camp meetings. Today we quite often refer to these locations as conference centers which will host a variety of “retreats.”

Some of the benefits and reasons for seeking a spiritual retreat: you will learn more about yourself, you are cautious in what lies ahead. You want to experience a new spiritual tradition, culture, or schooling. You need clarity in your life decisions. You are experiencing a loss; you are stressed and feel the need to relax or unwind. You have developed possible health issues that traditional medicine has not been effective in relieving your affliction. You crave to surround yourself with people of like condition and mindset and a support group can be developed. You want to rejuvenate, re-energize, and maybe even pamper yourself. You are looking for either a closer or an extended walk with God.

While on a spiritual retreat, you may just be, give thanks, praise God, confess your shortcomings, pray for others, feed your mind and spirit, study scripture, dialogue with others, listen, plan, reflect, claim God’s promise, practice spiritual disciplines and much, much, more. When spiritual retreats are planned and organized, many of these practices guide us as we get to know ourselves better and the relationship that we seek with God as Father, Jesus The Son, and the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

I want to encourage each one of us to find something valuable in a spiritual retreat. The next time a spiritual retreat is offered to you, it is my prayer that you will take the time to explore, meditate and pray on the possibility that the Holy Spirit is directing you to find a new place as we journey individually and together to the exciting places Jesus is taking us.

What a joy it has been to experience Lent, Holy Week and Easter Celebration. According to the church calendar Easter is not just one Sunday but a number of Sundays that would take us through 40 days of Easter, including Ascension Sunday, and culminating on Pentecost Sunday. When I look at the seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter Time I see where God has been determined to keep us growing using the biblical time reference of forty days. Advent is a time we prepare for Christ’s coming as an infant child. Advent times stress our preparation for a Savior. During the forty days of Lent we take a journey to learn more about Jesus. Following Pentecost for a number of months leading up to Advent, scripture takes us on an extensive journey studying about how Jesus instructs His disciples and continues to teach us through New Testament Scripture. It is my feeling that Jesus knew that not only His twelve disciples and others who followed him, including us today, need direction as to what it means to be a disciple and where discipleship will take us.

We see that Jesus recognized, following Easter and the Forty  Days of the Easter Season when we look at scripture, that with Advent, Lent, Easter and the other parts of the church calendar year, we need even more time to completely understand Jesus’ coming to earth. His death on the cross and His resurrection affects the ways in which we live. Forty additional days were needed to understand the empty tomb and what His continued appearances to His disciples would bring them to understand.

Additional preparation was needed following His resurrection and Forty days, bringing them to accept His resurrection and prepare them for Pentecost. As we continue to prepare for Jesus’ ascension, followed by Pentecost, Jesus believed that we, along with his disciples, are ready to take the gospel to the ends of the earth as he commanded not just his disciples but you and me.

During these forty days, following Easter, the focus of the scriptures that we read and the messages I bring to you on Sunday mornings, will be centered around our preparation as Jesus laid out in scripture for us to continue our spiritual growth and our training as his disciples. So, be ready for the challenge that scripture offers us between now and May 19th when we celebrate Pentecost Sunday when the advocate comes, the spirit of truth that Jesus promises us, because we have been with him from the beginning. And may we remember John 16 :12-15 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

May the Season of Easter be a blessing as we journey along the path that Jesus takes us on because he loved us so much that he returned to us after his resurrection and stayed with us for forty days so that we would be prepared to receive the Holy Spirit.