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Ash Wednesday Info
        As previously mentioned, this year Ash Wednesday is 2/17.  This is the day we start our Lenten journey.  We usually begin with an afternoon/evening service that includes the imposition of Ashes.  Last year we had a series of stations set up in the sanctuary for personal devotions at your leisure, ending with Ashes.
        What is the deal with Ashes on this day?  Have you ever wondered why we do this?  We can see when someone has been to a service and started their Lenten journey because the Ashes are visible on their face.  But in our worship, we specifically read in Matthew 6 about NOT making a show of our faith with outward signs…  It seems like a contradiction and it is a bit confusing.  Back in the day [Bible times] people who were repenting for a transgression or a significant change in attitude would adopt a manner that would involve humility and public display of repentance - wearing sackcloth and covering oneself with ashes.  This behavior of repentance would be very public and draw attention to a person’s devotion and faith.  Sometimes, it would be a bit of a show and occasionally more show than actual change.  This led to the teaching that repentance should be more private and less of a “production.”
        So why, then, do we have such a visible sign of repentance at the beginning of our Lenten season with the imposition of ashes?  Not for their visibility but as a reminder.  Primarily, the ashes are used to remind us that our life is finite.  We are born and we die as children of God.  Marking the beginning of our Lenten journey - as we dedicate ourselves to journey with Jesus to Jerusalem - we are remembering our own mortality and our fleeting opportunities to mend relationships, with God and with one another.  Traditionally, the palms from last year’s Palm Sunday - now crisp and dry, are burnt to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday [“Sunday’s Palms are Wednesday’s Ashes - as another Lent begins…” TFWS #2138].  We use these ashes to remember that the adoration of the crowds as Jesus entered into Jerusalem quickly turned to the crowd’s cry of “Crucify!”
        Can we enter Lent without Ashes on Feb 17?  Absolutely!  Look to Facebook and the website for worship elements and look for a little devotional booklet to come to you in the next couple of weeks.


Pastoral Message/June 2019

6/6/2019

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OK - it is that time of year again - Annual Conference this year is back in Syracuse at the ON Center June 5-8.  There, many United Methodists will gather to worship, Bible study, Holy Conference and to once again elect delegates to General Conference in 2020.   Not surprisingly, there will be more debate and controversy about what happened at the Special General Conference and the following Judicial Council decisions and what it all means for the future of our congregations, Annual Conference and Denomination.  

So - What happened?  In a nutshell, the Global UMC voted, through its clergy and laity representatives, by a narrow margin (53% to 47%) to adopt the Traditional Plan which not only maintains exclusionary language, it reinforces the exclusion of certain folks from full inclusion in the UMC and also introduces mandatory punishments for non-conformity.  

Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb has announced regional gatherings that he will be hosting throughout the Upper New York Conference in April and May. These regional gatherings will primarily focus on unpacking the Judicial Council’s decision regarding the constitutionality of the petitions that made up the Traditional Plan affirmed by the delegates of the 2019 Special Session of The General Conference. It will also be a time to help attendees to understand what becomes part of the Book of Discipline on January 1, 2020 and what does not.  These times will include an opportunity for questions and conversation about what God might be doing in and through The United Methodist Church in the future.  There will be a brief time of worship at each gathering as well.

Our local gathering will be May 29, 2019 from 6:30- 8:30 p.m. at Shenendahowa UMC.

For a re-cap of General Conference 2019 decisions and Judicial Council rulings - information may be found at this site: http://www.unyumc.org/events/general-conference-decisions-2019.
For information about traditionalist ideologies - please visit wesleyancovenant.org
For information about inclusive ideologies - please visit rmnnetwork.org
For information an article by Walter WInk “Homosexuality and the Bible” please visit: http://www.godweb.org/wink.htm
Look for a re-cap of Annual Conference in our next Muse!Blessings,

Pastor Kristi
 

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