World Communion Sunday

This Sunday we will be celebrating World Communion Sunday which was started by the Presbyterians in 1936. They had this crazy idea that all Christians around the world could gather together around Jesus’ table on the same day and recognize the beauty and diversity of all God’s people. The Federal Council of Churches adopted it in 1940 and both the Methodist church and the Evangelical United Brethren churches began this practice shortly after. World Communion Sunday is older than the United Methodist denomination!

On this day in UMC churches, there is a special offering gathered for scholarships for students.

“In 2022, you (the UMC) gave over $457 thousand to provide racial and ethnic students with scholarships, grants, mentoring and training for leadership development. Your donation provided scholarships for undergraduate or graduate level studies for both international and U.S. students. Your generosity allows those unable to afford an education to become leaders who embody the mission of The United Methodist Church.”

At Faith, we have traditionally celebrated this Sunday but we haven’t really emphasized the scholarship fund. So today I wanted to make you aware of it. If you would like to donate, click here. As someone who was given scholarships when I was attending seminary, I know how valuable these funds can be to students.

I actually received a scholarship that was for women over 35 years of age. It was the Georgia Harkness scholarship. I had never heard of Georgia but then researched this remarkable woman who led the way for women to be in ministry. I met a lovely woman who also received this scholarship from Mobile, Alabama. All these years later, she (Rev. Dr. Bessie Hamilton) and I have reconnected in ministry here in Oklahoma. She works in our Oklahoma Conference Office and is in charge of New Church plants and the Ethnic church. God keeps connecting us to each other. We are also both church planters and very few people have walked that path. Bessie recently invited DeRon and I to attend a “Day of Discernment for Potential Church Planters.” I was confused by the invitation but went anyway and was blessed to have been there. I will talk more about that in future blog posts but I want you to know that God is doing some amazing things in Oklahoma. Those things are not in the news but I see and hear about them almost every day. I look forward to looking forward with you and all the ways God will be moving through us tougher.

I love you,