Recently one of our parishioners passed on to me a wonderful article written by a Methodist Minister colleague Rev. Melvin Amerson in Austin.  It is entitled "Closing the Holes in Your Pockets and Maintaining the House of God".  He bases his words on the Hebrew scripture found in Haggai 1:2-6.  The focus of this passage is the rebuilding of the Lord's house at a time when the people were seeing to it that their own houses were well cared for.

We live in a "consumerist driven culture and society" says Amerson.  And just like the people in the time of Haggai it is most important to set priorities and establish personal budgets to assist us in managing our finances and focusing on the things that are really important.  He suggests that we look at our checkbooks and credit card statements, for there is a record of what we deem important and valuable.

The church in Haggai was decaying because its members failed to make the church and its maintenance a priority.  We here at Cochran Chapel have made a concerted effort through the past years to see to it that our campus and our facility were a priority and maintained in very good fashion.  To that end we have done extensive work in the Sanctuary and Meaders Hall; we have updated the Education building and Youth Cottage; and we have worked diligently to be good stewards of the grounds on which we are located.  Preservation of our church facilities should be a priority.  Thank God the Trustees are very diligent about looking ahead and trying to plan for the upkeep of our historic church.

So often churches, particularly small membership churches, either delay or defer improvements or they suffer from a lack of resources to keep up with the necessary projects.  As Rev. Amerson states, "Visitors want to see a welcoming, well kept campus.  Your church and its appearance is a reflection of its members."  

We have a beautiful campus.  Our facilities have either been recently updated or are scheduled for improvement in the near future.  As you continue faithful stewardship we will continue to provide a home that is welcoming and inviting to all persons.  Let us seek the house of God first and our God who is always faithful will see to it that we too are cared for. 

Last Sunday at our services of worship Mike George, our Lay Member to Annual Conference, spoke sharing the events and happenings of the Conference.  One of the things he shared was the address by the Lay Leader of the Conference which was titled "Grow or Die".  In his talk at Conference Richard Hearne asked the question would the United Methodist Church really be missed if we ceased to exist as a denomination.  And then he answered his own question with what would be missed:

• UMC's long history of emphasis on grace God's unconditional love for us.
• A denomination where laity has equal voice in what happens in the church.
• A church that's very inclusive, where women and youth have an equal voice in what happens.
• A denomination that recognizes the call of women in ministry.
• The special connection we have, which we sometimes complain about.....apportionments.
• Our open communion table where everyone is welcome to share in the body and blood of Christ.
• And the almost 300 years of Wesleyan tradition.

Hearne said that now is the time to change and the time to take risks and the time to step into the unknown.  With that he called for Methodists to get back to "loving our neighbors by being in relationship with them.  He said that we need to stop fighting among ourselves over non-Kingdom issues.  "We can not be mean-spirited and not care about people with whom we are in a relationship." 

He concluded by saying that if the new Strategic Plan of the Conference succeeds it will be because of the laity and if it fails it will be because of the laity.  He told the Conference that the Pastors were willing to lead and asked the laity if they were willing to follow?  And finally he asked them to insert themselves into a Sunday morning pre-worship prayer time to pray for their pastors prior to them delivering the Word.

I commit to honest, humble and loving leadership of the members of our church family.  I thank you for those of you who are willing to walk beside me in the building up of our church community in love and fellowship.

Across the denomination of the United Methodist Church the average size congregation is 250 members.  That may be hard to believe when we live here in the Dallas area where we boast some of the largest congregations in the denomination.  So Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church is an average size Methodist congregation.  One of the frequently asked questions when I tell people that I am a Pastor is "how large is your congregation?"; as if the size of the congregation somehow is a measure of success or accomplishment.

The other important statistic to note is that across the denomination approximately one third of your membership is actually active in the local church on any given Sunday morning.  That means if you have a congregation of 1000, about 350 people will be in attendance in worship on Sunday morning.  While Cochran Chapel is an average size congregation, I am proud to say that our active membership is running at 85% of our membership.  We may be a "small membership congregation" but we are a  "large congregation" in many other ways.

We are a community of faith that is firmly founded on the teaching and preaching of the Gospel of Jesus.  We seek to make our way in the world by living a life disciplined by prayer and selflessness in the service of God and our neighbor.  This congregation is committed to social justice and working for the betterment of others through our missional projects.  And, we believe in hospitality that welcomes everyone into our midst.  Yes, I believe that we are a "large" congregation and one of the best kepts secrets in Dallas.

But now the secret is out!  You are invited to find your church home with us; we are waiting for you.

I remember as a young seminarian hearing Pope Paul VI speaking before the General Assembly of the United Nations and declaring in French "Jamais, la guerre!"  "War, never again!"  I was impressed by the challenge of the words of this holy man to the men and women of the United Nations.  Was it possible for them to find a way for our world to cease warring against one another.

Today is Good Friday and similar words echo through my mind and my heart as I meditate upon Jesus who we have nailed to a tree.  "Scapegoat, never again!"  He was willing to become what we do to so many others in order to show us how very wrong we are.  We love to be over and against "the other"; we think that the only way we can cohere is to have a common enemy and so we are quite willing to scapegoat someone else so that we might appear to be right or better.

Today from the height of the cross, I hear Jesus shouting to our world, "Scapegoat, never again!"  We may be black or white or brown or yellow; we may be conservatives or liberals; we may be rich or poor; we may be gay or straight and we may be Christian or Jewish or Muslim; but we are all, yes all, beloved sons and daughters of our loving God and Father.  On this Good Friday as we gaze up at the crucified One, the One we scapegoated for our sins, can we agree........never again!

Suzanne and I just recently returned from leading two "silent directed retreats" at Casa de la Rosa Retreat Center in Marfa, Texas.  This extraordinary place is also called "The Threshold" and that is very apt for it is a sacred place of liminal space; a threshold when you are not in the old place and not yet in the new.  It is a place to leave behind the anxieties and demands of our everyday world and "be" in the presence of the Holy One, who holds us in love, extends to us mercy and grants us peace everlasting.

Like the prophet Elijah of old I went there expecting to hear God speak in new ways to my heart.  Just like Elijah I looked for him in the powerful dust storm that obscurred our view, but he wasn't there.  Then I looked again for him to move in the mighty (70 mph) wind that blew across the desert, still he was quiet.  When the rain blew through and the mountains were left covered in snow, I thought surely God was there, but still he hid. 

And then the bell rang that called us to the Chapel for prayer four times each day and like Elijah, I recognized His Presence in the sound of the bell.  And, I remembered all of those years in my past, when the "vox Dei", voice of God, called me to prayer and silence through the sound of the bell and I knew that I was at home.  Home once again in the loving arms of a most merciful and faithful Father; home again sitting at the table with my selfless and obedient Brother Jesus; home again wrapped in the embrace of the Spirit. 

In the silence, there was peace!

If you are reading this blog you have found Dallas' Best Kept Secret.  Recently it was reported in the paper that Dallas could be considered the "Vatican City" of the "prosperity gospel".  That is not shocking to me but it does make me sad.  Our city is blessed with so very many churches of every denomination and every size but I find nothing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that offers us "prosperity" if we are those who are the followers of the Lord Jesus.

Cochran Chapel stands onthe corner of Northwest Hwy and Midway Rd here in Dallas as a beacon of light reflecting the "good news".  We are not a large membership congregation but we are are large congregation.  Large being defined by our active participation in worship, our strong commitment to missional outreach and social justice, our ever-deepening desire to grow spiritually, our on-going dialogue of the important issues we face as Christians and our inclusive hospitality that allows room for all of God's children.

We most definitely find ourselves outside the walls of the prosperity gospel but we believe that we are firmly entrenched on the ever challenging road of following in the foot steps of the One who stood with the least and the last and the lost; in the footsteps of Him who prayed to discern the will of His Father and then offered us His Spirit to walk where He would lead.

I am biased, yes, because I am privileged to serve as the Pastor of this historic congregation which is not willing to rest on its 166 year past but continues to find the ways to grow into the future.  In the vast number of wonderful Christian churches in the city of Dallas........you have found Dallas' Best Kept Secret.  Come give us a visit, you'll want to come back and we would love to have you journey with us. 

It was back in December of 1982 that I first asked a member of my parish if we could put out a sign in front of the Church inviting persons who had fallen away from attendance to "Come Home for Christmas".  And so we created a large sign painted with holly and berries and placed it where everyone in town would see it as they drove bye.  It was the very first sign of that kind that I had ever seen.  Now almost every church denomination has at one time or another chosen the theme of "coming home for Christmas."

Maybe it has become trite or maybe since 1982 it has been over-used but the sentiment holds.  Christmas is a time that calls us back to family, home, traditions and for us as Christians, church.  What we celebrate is not some romantic or sentimental idea of a baby, although who can not be moved by a baby; but the very real Incarnation of God coming to dwell among us as human beings.  It is a love so great, so overwhelming that God chooses to send forth Jesus from the Godhead and humbly walk among us as humans to show us the reality of the "kingdom of God".

Love that wonderful is more powerful than family, home, traditions or churches.  So this year, I invite you to "Come Home to God".  Whatever your reason for neglecting your relationship with God, God has never withdrawn God's self from relationship with you.  You are beloved of God.

Our Christmas Cantata will be Sunday, December 20th at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m in the Sanctuary.  On Christmas Eve we will hold a Candlelight Communion Service at 6:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.  I invite you to "Come Home".

And so it starts! The holiday season is upon us even if not yet official; it officially begins on the day after Thanksgiving. I am quite aware that many stores have begun their advertising and their stores are already decorated for Christmas. The usual radio stations have begun their Christmas music weeks ago and of course will end at midnight on Christmas day. All of that makes me crazy. But, I am a liturgist and love the cycle of the church year with all of its wonderful opportunites for waiting and watching and preparing prior to celebrating.

This week we will gather to celebrate Thanksgiving. And while our culture might try to rush the season and push us beyond this holiday; I urge you to take the time to just stop and remember and give thanks! There is so very much for us to be grateful for and we fall so short of expressing our gratitude to God or to the ones we love and gather with this week. Give thanks with a grateful heart......give thanks!

And then the great church season of Advent begins on Sunday. It is a time for waiting and watching and preparing. In the midst of the hurry and the muchness of the next few weeks, Advent affords us the chance to stop and wait; knowing that something wonderful is coming. The Christ who came in history is coming anew into our hearts on this Christmas day 2009. The promise of a world of peace and justice, a world of goodwill for all of God's children, is renewed in each of us. We carry that hope and that promise to a New Year: "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth..."

It is my prayer for each of you that this holiday season is filled with great gratitude, enormous hope and overflowing joy for the wonders that God has done, will do and is doing for you and those you love.

Dallas in the month of August is almost unbearable. It is usually the hottest time of the summer. So who would think that going to far west Texas in August would be such a renewing experience? Suzanne and I planned a "silent retreat" for ourselves at Casa de la Rosa, a retreat center between Marfa and Ft. Davis, Texas. It is a small yet beautiful Center of prayer and quiet under the wide-opened spaces of the Texas sky.

The men who run the retreat center are lay affiliates of a community of monks who are part of the Episcopalian church. They stop all activity four times a day to pray and they observe the "great silence" from eight o'clock at night until eight o'clock in the morning. They eat simple yet very nourishing food and do their daily work and life without the distraction of radio or television.

It is a long way to drive from Dallas to Marfa; however, it is an important drive for those who wish to reap the benefits of the prayer and silence. For as you leave the noise and much ness and many ness of the city, you gradually settle into the vastly different environment to which God is calling you. Little by little you speak more softly, fill your mind with less radio chatter, and view the glorious beauty of God's nature and not the clutter of buildings of glass and stone.

In the midst of the quiet and peace of Casa you can once again allow your soul to settle into the peace of God's presence and hear once again the still small voice within that lets you know that indeed you are "beloved of God". The nights were cool and the days at 5000 feet not as oppressive as Dallas. The coyotes sang us to sleep each night and the birds woke us up each morning with a song.

The time away and the time of silence allowed us to get back in touch with the great chain of being that our gracious God has created. And once again we could see and feel that indeed God is in everything, even in us and even in the honey bees that came to draw nectar from the flowers in the garden.

We have returned home to the duties and responsibilites of everyday life. Our souls have been renewed and our relationship with God has been nurtured. Our peace is restored and we are living in gratitude.

Dallas is still oppressive in August. There are way too many cars, buildings and people rushing around in a hurry to have more and more of whatever it is we think will satisfy us. And, eating out in a restaurant the other night was so noisy. But then I remember that I believe that God is in everything . . . yes, even Dallas.

Kingdom Progress

Several years ago at Annual Conference all of the African-American ministers stood in the front of the Conference and by their word and presence proclaimed their inequality in our Conference. I was surprised and ashamed, believing that so much of the inequality of segregation was fading away as we got further and further from the 1960’s. I had memories from my childhood and the kind of separation that we all lived with here in the South. At the same time the memories of my black friends and persons I have known came back to assure me we were making progress.

To my great joy, last year I connected with Rev. Elzie Odom, the Pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church. As we talked about our historic churches, we decided to have a joint worship service the Sunday before Thanksgiving with both congregations sharing praise and thanksgiving. It was a glorious event! Not long after that Cochran Chapel invited St. Paul to share our campus during the renovation and remodel of their own campus facility.

As we shared a common fellowship meal the last Sunday of March, I overheard one of the men from St. Paul’s congregation speaking to one of the men from Cochran Chapel and saying, “You know, it was not too long ago this never could have happened.” It may not have been too long ago, but it is happening now on this corner of holy ground; and not just happening but flourishing.

The last Saturday of May, we again are going to share a common fellowship meal. But this time instead of just Cochran Chapel and St. Paul, we have invited Christ Foundry, an Hispanic congregation to join us. Three churches, three cultures, three different peoples…..but one common bond: all beloved sons and daughters of a loving God.

Maybe, perhaps just maybe, the Kingdom of God is coming among us afterall.