Annual Conference & Memorial Day

We made it back from Annual Conference Thursday afternoon. It was a long week with long days. Surprisingly, all of the controversial decisions were not included in the agenda. Those items have been pushed to a special Called Conference in October. The Bishop wanted to spend this week recognizing all of the good work of the people in our churches and remind us that we have a lot to celebrate. Some of those things were the two million dollars raised to rehab and grow the Boy’s Ranch which will take the new name of “Flying M Ranch.” The forty two million dollars given out by Restore Hope to alleviate homelessness. And a lovely ministry by Hope UMC in east Tulsa that is providing tutoring and food for children. Faith UMC was celebrated by the Council Oak district for our Food, Body & Soul ministry. We recently received a grant from the District Missional Strategy team for expanding this ministry for thirty five thousand dollars. Mike Miller, Kurt Lamp and Mark Fowler represented you well. I give thanks for their willingness to attend.

This weekend we remember those men and women who have lost their lives serving our country. Memorial day was originally called “Decoration Day” and began in the 1800’s in New York. It didn’t become an official National holiday until 1971. Over the years, it has expanded to remembering everyone that has died. Cemeteries are typically decorated on this day. I was only about ten years old when my grandparents started taking me to the cemetery to decorate the headstones of all of our family members. My mom and I still go every year. I am excited that my brother will be coming home this weekend and I hope my mom will teach my nephews this rich history of remembering.

Finally, I wanted to acknowledge that I had no idea what horror we would be facing this week when I prepared my sermon last weekend. Our hearts are breaking at the deaths of nineteen innocent children in school. As people who believe in the power of prayer, we will pray but we must do more. Bishop Nunn said that we were in “an epidemic of violence.” There are no easy answers and no simple solutions. Stopping this will require us to do things differently. May God give us the strength and wisdom to figure out how.

Blessings,