Retirement: Part 2

After the hustle and bustle of “last” things: sermons and services, meetings and visiting classes for a final time, comes the boxing up and putting way. Moving is never fun and while I have not moved from my home packing up my office was not an easy task.

In a dated musical, “I Do, I Do,” one of the final songs speaks to a long marriage and to downsizing and moving on to a new place and new possibilities. I had forgotten about this musical until the final worship service of the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church in June of 2013. Kansas West, Kansas East and the Nebraska conferences of the UMC had voted to become one conference on January 1, 2014.

I was struck at the time at how emotional that last service was for me. I had voted for one conference, rather than three served by the same bishop. I knew what it was like to serve a three point charge: three times the meetings and paperwork are not three times the fun! Still, I had attended my first Kansas West Conference as youth member in 1974. So many memories and appointments were from that conference and an intimacy of knowing most everyone is now lost in a bigger conference. Not bad, just a different experience.

That last service brought home that there are beginnings and endings. It is the way of life. In Ecclesiastes the author writes: “To everything there is season, a time. for every matter under heaven.” (3:1) At that last worship service, this song, “Roll Up the Ribbons” was sung at the end of the service along with a person walking down the aisle with a suitcase. We also used that for Pastor Christopher Eshelman’s final Sunday at West Heights UMC.

“Roll up the ribbons, fold up the papers, stow all these things away. This day is done and another is on its way.” It took longer than I thought to pack up my office. Part of the reason was I lost a week after contracting Covid-19. Then all the things that needed to be done was scrunched together. So my husband and I went in to finish packing, but there was still more to be done.

Forty years of files is an amazing amount of paper. Most were things from before the digital age, but not all. Files of classes I taught, sermon idea files, a file for every liturgical season for every appointment I served along with bulletins, newsletters, sermon notes. You get the pictures, actually here is an actual picture:

This is the top of a 55 gallon drum for recycling paper. I filled this one and two others three quarters full. So much paper, so many sermons and classes and notes and thoughts. As I dumped them I wondered why I had not done so earlier. I had gone back and looked at my thoughts and understandings and the exegetical work I had done before, but not for a long time. It took retirement for me to let go of all of this.

Now, to be fair, I saved two small boxes of paper to go through at a later date. I realized that most of this wasn’t useful any more. It had served its time. I went through my hundred of books, left a few for the church, kept maybe 5-6 boxes for me and the rest will go to my daughter’s bookstore Fables, in Goshen, Indiana.

This is the second load. Again, so many not useful to me anymore, but may be useful for someone else down the road. Letting go is not easy, but feels so good when I do it and understand that this time and season does not require these things anymore.

“Pack up the present, look to the future, one thing I know is true, the best day of all is the one that is on it’s way, waiting for you.” Every move has been accompanied with joy and sorrow, uncertainty and hope. Every new appointment has been a blessing, but leaving was always hard and I grieved those undone ministry moments and that I would no longer be that appointment’s pastor. I also anticipated the joys that were on their way and the new possibilities that would be open to me, because I was willing to say yes to a new ministry opportunity.

Now as I retire from active ministry, I can affirm that statement “the best day of all is the one that is on it’s way.” Every move, every change has brought new best days as the future becomes the present moment. “To everything there is a season and a time for every moment under heaven.” Packing up the present and looking to the future, I trust and believe that the new days yet to unfold will be filled with God’s grace and blessing. Those new days are waiting for me as I live into what the future holds.

I am graced to serve in whatever comes next.

Retirement: Part 1

I find it hard to believe it is almost four weeks, since I preached my final service at First UMC, as I prepare to retire as a United Methodist pastor. I began my ministry on June 1, 1982 at the Alden United Methodist Church. I had no training, no seminary, no “license to preach school,” nothing other than being certified as a candidate and the blessing of my home church and the Wichita District Committee on Ordained Ministry.

What I had was my own deep sense of call and certainly the well wishes of those who knew me best. The congregation at Alden, as I have said many times, were saints. They took me in and loved me as I grew into being a pastor. I reflected on that congregation’s care and support in that last sermon I preached. You can find the entire service here. The sermon begins at 31: 15.

I am still in awe of the celebration that was held that final Sunday. I was able to speak to my deep gratitude to all the people I served in Alden; Burr Oak, Esbon and Odessa of the Jewell County Parish; Plainville; Douglass and Rock; Lyons First; West Heights and First in Wichita. What a privilege it has been to be invited into the most intimate moments of people’s lives and to be the presence of Christ.

God knows, I have made so many mistakes. I missed opportunities to minister, was short sighted, or was flawed in so many ways in my pastoring. I am hopeful for forgiveness for all those times I missed the mark.

On that last Sunday I was surprised with a scholarship created in my name for women attending seminary who are pursuing ordination as an elder in the United Methodist Church. I have been so blessed to be a pastor in the UMC. I am so touched to be honored in this way and to continue supporting women to pursue full time ministry in the church.

I am not “officially” retired until June 30. Although I am on vacation, in the days following that service, I presided over the memorial service of a dear friend that had grown up with me at First, was honored by my family with a party, had two online Great Plains UMC conference meetings as well as annual conference in person at LaVista, Nebraska. I also had my office to finish cleaning out in preparation for the new senior pastor.

I will have more reflections over the coming weeks. I am just now slowing down enough to ponder what comes next and what this means. I am so deeply grateful for all the moments I have had to be in ministry with so many.

Breaking the Chains, Lent Begins

Lent began last week on Ash Wednesday. Each year offers a new opportunity to find ways to deeply engage in these forty days. this year the theme is “Breaking the Chains.”

Every persons was given an envelope with 40 white slips (the days of Lent) and six purple slips (the Sundays in Lent, including Easter Sunday.) Each slip represents a different day, and there are tasks for each day: prayer focuses, scriptures to read, or something to learn or do. You make the paper chain and then break one of the links each day.

I have found this particularly meaningful. We all have chains, but this positive chain breaking invites me into deeper prayer or study or action.

The First Sunday IN Lent (Sundays are not counted in the 40 days, since every Sunday is a “little Easter”) always has us looking at the temptations of Jesus. Personally, I find myself each year pondering Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and his willingness to be tempted, really tempted. Temptations are part of the fabric of our human existence and what a gift it is for Jesus to have entered in our lives so deeply.

I had cut a lot from the sermon Sunday because of time. Part of what I cut had to do with how often the heroes and heroines of novels, movies, stories must also face temptations and trials. It is their choices that make them who they are. Their temptations are real, as are ours and every choice we make matters and either means we bring more good in the world or more evil. The worship service can be found here, the sermon begins at 52: 11. Right prior to the sermon is a piece from Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass.”

I am grateful for these days of Lent. I am glad to have chains to break and time to ponder and pray.

We Believe: Why I am United Methodist, Part I

Yesterday Pastor Rebecca finished up our sermon series “We Believe.” After focusing on the United Methodist General (simple) Rules we wanted to end series with why we are United Methodist. I think like simple rules, the why is more complicated than just an easy or simple answer. If you want to see Pastor Rebecca’s “why” here is a link to the service. Her sermon begins with a video at 50:42.

She challenged us to think about our “elevator” speech. What would say in a minute or two to someone who asked us why we are United Methodist. Like many people, I suspect, I can go much longer. You won’t get my elevator speech in this blog, this is part I, but I will share it later.

I was raised in the Methodist Church that became United Methodist in 1968. Baptized as a child and then raised from the age 9 on in the church I am currently honored to serve. At First Wichita, I was confirmed, learned to read the treble clef, played handbells, was a founding of their youth choir the Free, was a leader in the UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) and also served on the various youth committees. I was also elected to be part of what was then the Wichita District Youth Council where I was the representative and member of the former Kansas West Conference CCYM (Conference Council on Youth Ministry). I received my call to ministry attending the annual conference in 1974.

All of that background is a way for me to acknowledge I have United Methodism in my spiritual DNA. One doesn’t not have to continue to stay in a church or denomination one’s whole life. My call to ministry was confirmed and mentored and accepted in the United Methodist Church. I was unable to get a percentage of the number of Christian denominations that ordain women, but it is a small part of Christendom. I won’t go into the whole history, but there are New Testament scriptures that forbid women’s leadership and of course tradition.

When I was exploring my call, there were not many women as pastors and certainly not in leadership. In truth the first response to me articulating my call in high school was to encourage me to do something else less difficult: youth ministry, children’ ministry, music ministry anything other than local church ministry. I come by my stubbornness naturally and said, “of course,” knowing full well I intended to ignore that particular advice.

There were others, though, during that early exploration that enthusiastically encouraged me: Wayne Flanders, Bill Ester, Steve Fink, Ken Hathaway, Jack Ropp, Gary Fisher, Glen Tombaugh and Bishop Ernie Dixon to name a few. I was just a high school student passionate that I was called to serve and determined to do so. How grateful I am that these pastors saw something in me and wasn’t about to dampen my enthusiam.

During those formative years, questions were as much a part of my faith as any answers someone might give. I would hear occasionally, “quick asking questions, just believe.” I would shut down, for a while, but it didn’t stop the questions, nor the search for a deep faith and connection with Christ. I am United Methodist because while my questions were sometimes obnoxious and often pushed again whatever the current theological understanding might be, they were not shut down and I was not pushed out of the church.

The United Methodist Church takes the Bible seriously, but not literally. The UMC encourages and questions and is willing to wrestle with the deepest issues of each time and age. John Wesley did not shrink away from current controversies of his time. In the US we would say he was on the wrong side of the Revolution, but found ways to support the fledging church after it. He preached wherever he could and promoted not JUST personal holiness, but social holiness as well. For Wesley that meant taking care of the poor, the orphan, the widow, visiting the prisons, those who were ill.

The United Methodist Church was one of the first if not the first denomination to publish Social Principles to guide not just Methodists but all people into doing the right thing. Those early Principles included an end to child labor, the right for workers to organize and for people to be paid a fair wage. In 1908, these principles were cutting edge and revolutionary. You can find the original creed here.

I am United Methodist because it was in those early times I learned not only the Bible, but how the Bible calls to love God and love others. I am the first to acknowledge we don’t always do it right, but I am willing to do things wrong if it means I am looking to challenge any system or belief that belittles any of God’s beloved system.

This is part one of why I am United Methodist. I am grateful for all those early teachers and mentors who took me on and took me in so I could explore my faith and my call. I am United Methodist and proud of it.

Graced to Serve,

Cindy

We Believe, Transitions and Doing Good

I began the year with good intentions to blog weekly again. Well, you know the saying, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I don’t think that not blogging means I am on the road to hell, still I would like to do better, or in the words of John Wesley’s three simple rules, “Do Good.”

I found multiple references to that proverb, but the alternative I think hits the mark: “Hell is full of good meanings, but Heaven is full of good works.” I know I am not the only one who thinks about doing things, but doesn’t get them done. Often to the detriment of others, or the opportunity for ministry lost because I “intended to” but “didn’t do.”

Not long after I publicly acknowledged and announced my retirement, a new senior pastor for First Church was announced. I could not be more excited! The Reverend Amy Lippoldt is a Wichita native and I have known her for years. She is, in my opinion, one of the best. Her leadership, her love of Christ, her deep commitment to theological and biblical integrity and her amazing talents are a great match for First.

It probably goes without saying that I have known Pastor Amy for a long time, I am blessed to call her friend. I am even more honored to “pass” the baton to her as we transition from my service at First church to hers.

Pastor Amy embodies the three simple rules in her life and preaching. Which brings me back to Sunday’s sermon, Do Good. There are multiple ways to do good, to be intentional about our words and actions. This coming Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. Lots of people get pretty crazy about their favorite team. Me, I like the commercials and occasionally enjoy the game. This week, United Methodists in the Great Plains and Missouri Annual conferences have a friendly competition with the United Methodists in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Great New Jersey Annual conferences to see who can bring the most food items to support their team. The win is actually for hungry people who need the food provided.

So do some good this week, bring some food for United Methodist Open Door, pray for our church and St. Paul’s Papillion and the transitions that are occuring.

A Baptism, a Bishop and the word Beloved

We started a new sermon series on Sunday and began with the Baptism of Jesus. We already had scheduled a baptism and renewal of baptismal vows but mid-week came the surprise that our brand new Bishop, David Wilson would be in worship. Bishop Wilson was part of a historic election, including Great Plains candidate Rev. Dee Williamston who was the first African American woman elected in the south central jurisdiction and she was elected first! Bishop Wilson is the first Native American bishop elected in the United Methodist church in the United States. All three of the bishops were elected on the first ballot.

I was so delighted to have him worship to bring greetings not only to our congregation, but to all those who join us each Sunday through KAKE TV, Facebook Live and YouTube. I have the privilege of working with Bishop Wilson over the years through the jurisdiction. I am so happy he was elected and assigned to the Great Plains Conference.

It was a beautiful day to celebrate a baptism. Pastor Rebecca married the young couple and presided over his baptism, but I had the honor of introducing him to the congregation.

I didn’t get a picture but I did get a screen shot of Gary LeRock’s video from Facebook. This baptism lead into thinking about our own baptism and claiming by God.

At this baptism, Jesus is called beloved and I believe at each one of our baptisms we are as well. All the world wants to label us this and that….but all that really matters is what God labels us, what God names us: BELOVED!

You can watch the whole service here. and the Bishop’s greetings come at 17:02.

Star Words

Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of Epiphany. I know, I know, Epiphany is January 6 and Sunday was January 8. Somehow, it didn’t seem right to celebrate the visitation of the magi on January 1. Pastor Rebecca did a wonderful job of encouraging us to pray and live into John Wesley’s covenant prayer. On January 8, she led us into Epiphany with star words.

Star words are not that new, but are a great addition to a new year. as you can see from the featured picture, we had yellow stars with a different word on each one. These words are to guide and direct us through 2023. I have done this before at First and at other churches.

Pastor Rebecca encouraged us to pick a word and just live with it, unless it was just not doable. In the past, that is exactly what I have done. This year, no way I was going with my first word.

I know endurance. I have lived it on occasion. But not this year. This is a year of change. I am embracing this change, but I don’t see it as something to endure. I want to enjoy and delight in the next phase of my life.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s my congregation received a letter https://firstwichita.org/pastor-cindy-announces-retirement/announcing my retirement at the end of the conference year (June 30) This is something I have been pondering and praying over for several months. The announcement of my retirement went out the GreatPlainsUMC website last week. It is time. I am grateful for the 41 years I have been a United Methodist pastor, but it is now time to move into the retired relationship and see what comes next.

I am looking forward to time with Andrew. He has loved me and supported me all the years of our marriage (28 years in July.) I anticipate time to travel, to enjoy our family, to garden and walk and do all the things we enjoy together.

There is a time and season for all things, and the next few months will be a time to say goodbye and to put into place a transition that will celebrate the ministries at First and prepare for the new senior pastor. I have been so privileged and honored to serve this congregation who nurtured me and loved me.

So my second word is far more appropriate for the season I am currently living.

It is time to release the past and the ministry I have loving been honored to be a part of. I expect it will not be easy, but I also do not think it will be hard. I am so thankful for some many things: people, opportunities, invitations to honor folk’s most sacred moments. I suspect there will be more for me to share over the next few months.

Today, I am grateful, for God calling me into the United Methodist ministry, for the days and months and years of preaching and teaching and caring and celebrating, for the tears and the prayers and the laughter shared. I embrace all that comes next as I release this season of my life and discern what comes nest.

I am, as always….graced to serve.

Revealed through Prayer

This was a packed weekend, filled with wonderful connections and celebrations. At First Church, we have two groups of quilters that work hard year round to create quilts, baby blankets, place mats, and other amazing sewed projects. The money raised each year from their sales help fund both the Religious Nurture Center (a ministry for developmentally disabled adults) and the Downtown Alive television ministry. The sale was both Friday and Saturday and of course I found things I could not live without. About a year ago, they started a blog, so you can purchase items for holidays and gifts year round.

This was also a weekend for a wedding. I have not presided at a wedding for a very long time and this one was held in our beautiful chapel. Of course I didn’t get any pictures! It was beautiful for many reasons, the brides grandparent’s and parent’s married in the chapel and now she too was being married there. They have been together for a long time and so this service was a celebration of love and laughter and life together.

On Sunday, not only did we have worship, but our first organ concert since 2019. Our organist, Dr. Bryan Mock had a wonderful concert called “An Evening in Paris.” You can enjoy the concert here

Last but not least, worship in the morning and in the evening focused on the Luke text of the Religious Leader and the Tax Collector praying in the temple. I find this text challenging because it is easy to fall into the same trap as the religious leader: “I thank you God I am not like….(fill in the blank).”

Jennifer Daily and Arthur McClendon of the Gathering Band shared a Matthew West song “Truth Be Told” in both services. They performed it at Wichita’s Recovery Idol and represented The Gathering and First UMC well. They took first place.

For me it pointed the lies we all tell, including the religious leader and the tax collector. Without acknowledging something is broken, something wrong, we can not live into being the people God created us to be. You can see the whole of the Downtown Alive service is found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYFT6-xkp0I You can find the song at 41: 28. You can watch the Gathering service here. The song is at 36:05

The Generosity Challenge

We have completed two sermon series since I last blogged and have had staff changes! Life is certainly interesting and never remains the same. We are kicking off a new stewardship campaign as we build a budget for 2023 for First Church.

Each year stewardship focuses on our giving and almost always paired with our membership vows of prayers, presence, gifts service and witness. This year we are using a daily study/reflection book called The Generosity Challenge, by Scott McKenzie and Kristine Miller. I am personally appreciating the reflections and the exercises. We made a video to help us look at how we can reflect on how we are generous. https://www.facebook.com/reel/2189083717929471/?s=single_unit

This weeks sermon is focused on generosity. As I mentioned in my sermon, I usually look a money later in the series. Yet, focusing on “how am I generous and how will I join the generosity challenge” actually made me look at the opposite….How am I stingy. What am I holding back from God? I need that look inside more than I need the affirmation of my generosity.

How about you? Is it harder for you to look at how you are generous or what you are withholding? If you want to see the service itself here is the link. We did have router problems, so the service picks up at ten minutes in. How will you be generous this week? How will you join the generosity challenge?

Taste and See

I started a new sermon series the second Sunday of July. You wouldn’t know it by this blog. I have lots of good excuses for not getting around to posting, including illness and VBS. I have missed reflecting on worship.

This new sermon series is focused on Jesus and the table. Hospitality was considered an essential part of life. Jesus did some of his best and deepest and most controversial teachings at the table. We began the sermon series with the feeding of the 5000. This story, found is all four gospels, was one of the lessons for Vacation Bible School: Food Truck Party!! On Monday, VBS kicked off!

I got sick during the week, so Pastor Rebecca preached and then preached again the following Sunday as she had already been scheduled. Her insights were wonderful. Yesterday, I was in worship at both Downtown Alive and the Gathering and Pastor Rebecca and Kate Davis both had great sermons.

Both Downtown Alive, and The Gathering, have YouTube pages. Their services can also be found on Facebook. I am looking forward to digging deep again and discovering how I can “taste and see that the Lord is good!”