A Month Like No Other

I’m excited by two very special events being held at Pearce in June. Get out your smart phone and enter these events in your calendar. (Go ahead and grab it, I’ll wait!)

Sunday, June 10, Pearce first graders will be presented with Bibles. This is a long-standing tradition at our church and a wonderful rite of passage for our children. We want as many people as possible to witness this special event, so we are having a single worship service that morning at 10:00 a.m. (We will still hold the Saturday Contemplative Service on June 9.)

After the Sunday service, Jim Heeks and company will serve a picnic to all who attend. (There is no charge for the picnic meal! Donations will be accepted, but are not required.)

Two weeks later on June 24, Bishop Roller will be at Pearce to inaugurate our summer sermon series “When God’s Story Became My Story.”  Bishop Roller is perhaps the best communicator I have ever heard, so you’ll thoroughly enjoy hearing him.

Once again we’ll hold a single worship service on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. A special part of that time with the Bishop will be the ordination of Pastor John Tassone. I don’t know if there has ever been an ordination at Pearce outside of past Annual Conferences that have been held in North Chili. So this is a very special event not only for Pastor John, but for our entire community of faith.

Okay, you can put your smart phone away now. I want you to give your full attention to the rest of this Dangling Conversation!

Sanctuary Art

There are quite a few perks to being a pastor at Pearce. One of them is regularly being handed original works of art at the conclusion of worship services. Several weeks ago nine-year-old Liam presented me his rendition of the sanctuary platform at the 10:30 a.m. worship service. (I like it because he has me with lots of hair!)

 

Bell Tower Update

To date we have received a generous $19,919 towards our $25,000 goal to help fund the restoration of Pearce’s bell tower. We are 80 percent of the way there! Again, I appreciate all who are helping us preserve this beautiful tower as a visible symbol of our congregation’s presence in North Chili.

 

 

Misery Loves Company

This past weekend I used an illustration from my one-day experience as a door-to-door salesman. Monday morning I received an email from Paul Britton informing me that he had the same exact experience in his hometown of Oil City: ad in a local paper, applying at a temporarily rented office space, hired on the spot, driven to a nearby town and dropped off in an assigned neighborhood. Both of us think the experiences took place the summer of 1969.

Paul wrote: “I think you lasted longer than I did. After about four hours of knocking on doors, I just walked away and called my dad to come pick me up in downtown Franklin.”

Pearce Library to Close!

I thought that title would get your attention! After many years of faithful service, Izzie Leupold is retiring her post as the librarian for our church’s library. We would love to keep this resource available to our faith community, but we will not be able to unless someone steps forward and offers their services to oversee this ministry. Contact the church office at 594-9488 if you would like to know more. Thanks!

 

P4K Graduation

The other day, I heard voices outside my office’s second-story windows. Peering out, I discovered that one of the Pearce 4 Kids (P4K) preschool classes was having graduation photos taken. Children in caps and gowns were lined up on the step of the Parmerter Chapel entrance waiting their turn in front of the camera. What a delight to watch them visit with each other as they anticipated their first graduation ceremony! I snapped this photo and thought you might enjoy it too! I only wish it came with the sounds of the children’s laughter!

By the way, the P4K graduation is taking place this evening (Thursday, May 17)!

A Mission Garage Sale Story

I thought you might enjoy a “rest of the story” about last month’s Mission Garage Sale. Carole Bassett sent me the following:

A few weeks before our church garage sale I invited Colleen Glass from the New Hope Free Methodist Church to come out on Saturday around 11:00 a.m. with any refugees from their church. 

When the twelve refugees arrived we gave them tags that said New Hope along with plastic bags and told them to “go shopping.” They quickly began sorting through clothes, books, electronics, and furniture. Each person was excited, and their enthusiasm quickly spread to those of us working at the sale that day.

Later, as they packed their goods into the waiting car and van, they chatted excitedly over all their wonderful finds. It was so much fun watching them and realizing that our junk had become their treasures. Colleen thanked me over and over and said she was just amazed at how much stuff we had and how organized it was. 

God is at work in these families’ lives, and it’s so wonderful to know that Pearce Church could have a small part in helping them settle into their new country. 

Seminary Grads

I celebrate the recent graduation from Northeastern Seminary of Maurice Hopkins and Jan Francis. Both of these individuals serve our faith community in many ways. Jan is involved in ministry to moms of young children and Maurice is helping lead one of the youth mission teams this summer.

I asked Maurice to reflect on his seminary training at NES. He wrote: My educational journey through my four years at NES was a tremendous blessing both educationally and spiritually. I currently work as a chaplain at Highland Hospital but plan on doing my chaplain residency at Strong Memorial Hospital next year. I am also still on the ordination track for the Free Methodist Church. I want to thank all those at Pearce who have supported me in so many ways during my seminary education.  

Pearce, We Have a Problem!

This past weekend Jim Heeks was featured on our worship folder. I thought it was a great idea until I walked into the church kitchen yesterday morning for my morning cup of coffee. Posted on the coffee machine was a copy of the folder with the following appeal: “Autographs $10 for Missions.”

Now, I applaud Mr. Heek’s long-standing commitment to support mission efforts, but autographs? He denies having any knowledge of the solicitations, but look closely at the worship folder photo. Do you see a sly and mischievous smile on his face like I do?