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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Your parsonage family will be celebrating Christmas through Epiphany. For pastors, it is Christmas Day before things slow down enough for us to enjoy the season. While some are taking down their decorations and going back to work, we are finally putting our feet up to watch Christmas movies in our pajamas and eat the goodies we finally got time to make. I’ll be on holiday and vacation time from Christmas Day through January 3. I do not know if we will get away anywhere or if we will simply have a staycation. Either way, I will be available by phone if you have an urgent pastoral need. I will see you again in church on January 4.
What will you be doing for New Year’s? I’m sure Charles and I will cook some black-eyed peas with dried sausage, and since he will not touch a collard, our greens will probably be cabbage. I’m hoping he will cook us some tenderloin kabobs on the grill if the weather cooperates. They are so delectable! Will you be making a New Year’s resolution? I have a suggestion: Maybe you could resolve to invite people to church in 2026. Do you know someone who does not have a church home? Do you have friends or acquaintances who might be struggling with their faith or curious about who this God we worship is and what a relationship with God might mean for them? I think Calvary Memorial United Methodist Church is a great place to grow in faith and practice, to ask questions, and to put the gifts God gives us to good use in one of the mission ministries the church offers.
We talk about how the pews used to be filled with people on Sundays. I think they could be again if we are willing to share what a great place Calvary Memorial is for Sunday worship, for Bible study, for fellowship, and for service in the community and beyond. Jesus’ last words in the Gospel of Matthew are for us to make disciples. Now, a disciple is not just a church member, but getting people involved in church is a good place to start the discipleship process. There is a step before this, though. To get people to church where they can learn about Jesus, worship God, and find a place to use their gifts in service, we need first to go to them, meet them where they are, and begin there. Let us make this a goal for 2026. Let’s make disciples!
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.”
—Matthew 28:16-20 [CEB]
In faith, hope, and love,
Pastor Gina
