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April 02, 2013
HE'S ALIVE
CHRIST HAS DIED. CHRIST IS RISEN. CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN. Posted April 02, 2013
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March 12, 2013
Walk with the Lord
There is a Native American proverb that goes like this:
"Tell me, and I will forget,
Show me, and I may not remember,
Involve me, and I will understand."
I am using this saying to invite you to join with us for the services of Holy Week here at Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church. As a preacher, I can tell you about the evening when Jesus sat down with his disciples at dinner and broke bread and shared the cup of wine. And as a minister, I can stand at the table of the Lord's Supper and lift the bread and wine and declare them to be the Body and Blood of Jesus. But perhaps you will forget and not remember.
On Good Friday, we can remember that our Lord Jesus the Christ walked the painful road to the cross on a hill called Golgotha; and recall that he was crucified upon a cross as an innocent man condemned to death for doing nothing but proclaiming God's kingdom of righteousness and peace. But perhaps you will forget and not remember.
The night before Easter, we can consider what it must have been like to be in the tomb for three long and dark days. We can recall God's long story of saving humanity beginning with the Hebrew people and leading forth to all Gentiles. We can wonder what it would be like if the light of Christ could scatter the darkness of the world. But perhaps you will forget and not remember.
So I would like to invite you to join with me to walk through these high holy days of Holy Week with the Lord Jesus. When you come and sit with him at the table while the bread is broken for you; when you walk the dark streets of Jerusalem on the way to the mount of death; and when you sit and remember God's promises to God's people through the ages, then you will be involved in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and perhaps you will indeed understand.
Posted March 12, 2013
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January 29, 2013
Best Secret
For a long time I have been saying that I believe Cochran Chapel is the best kept secret in Dallas. We are a small membership congregation that is very active in so many ways as we seek to honor God in ministry and mission. This past Sunday we had a couple visiting our church from Addison who had done a lot of research on the internet trying to find a small church home.
There are certainly opportunities that large membership churches can offer but few of them can offer the hospitality and the sense of family that we have here at Cochran Chapel. And although we are small in membership, we are not small in our outreach through mission and ministry beyond our own doors. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank our membership for your faithfulness to our church community and your participation in all that we are doing. I want you to know how very proud I am of Cochran Chapel and all that it has been through the years, all that it is doing now and all that we can accomplish for the Kingdom in the future.
There must be many many other people here in the Dallas metroplex who like this couple that visited this past Sunday and looking for a smaller membership church where they can fit in and join in. I invite you through this year 2013, to make it priority to come and give our church family a try. We have a great deal to offer persons in the way of worship, education and missional outreach; and from time to time we have great pot luck and barbeque dinners.
Won't you please join me in trying to get the "best kept secret in Dallas" out there so that it is no longer a secret? A beautiful campus, friendly congregation, meaningful worship and reaching out to others in mission......."This is God's year to act"......so let's collaborate with Him.
Posted January 29, 2013
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August 01, 2012
Not Great Blogger
There you have it. The title of this blog tells it all, I am not a great blogger. However, I do believe that it is important to change the blog more often. So I am going to try to do a better job of keeping up with it in the future. You all can help me by asking me when I am going to change the blog on the website when I allow it to go too long.
We are in the "dog days of summer". I really don't know what that phrase means but it is one that I have heard from the days of my youth. What I do know is that it is HOT and that is pretty normal for this time of the year here in Dallas. At least we don't seem to be headed toward setting any records this year like we did last year and 1980. So try your best to stay cool and know that there will always be an end to this and things will change.
Speaking of change, we are having a few changes here at the church. The first big change is the Children's Program and our new Children's Minister, Patti Pickering. We are now offering the excellent Sunday School program called "Godly Play" to our children. We have two sessions each Sunday morning at 9:30 and 11:00. The children are loving it and are quite actively involved in the creativity of the presentations. Miss Patti is the founder of My Treehouse, a non-profit organization for post-adoption services. She is also working on her Master's Degree in Counseling and comes to us with many years of children's ministry experience. Laura Keller is also very involved and the two of them are making our children's department exciting.
The other big change at the current time is the work on the Cochran House. Built in 1895, the house has an historical marker from the State of Texas and is in the process of being restored and remodeled. The work on the exterior has been mostly completed with the new roof to be added in the next weeks. Work on the interior is now going on, to ready the house for occupancy by the Missional Wisdom Foundation. Four seminarians from Perkins School of Theology will be living communally in the house in what is called "neo-monasticism".
Cochran Chapel is historic and while we stand on the shoulders of years of history we keep our eyes on the future, seeking always to discern where God would have us reach beyond ourselves in ministry for God's kingdom.
Posted August 01, 2012
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March 06, 2012
Size Matters
I consider myself blessed for having had the gift of ministering in two different denominations. I loved my ministry as a Roman Catholic priest; and I have often said that I was indeed the best priest the day I chose to leave the priesthood because I had a woman in my life who kept me grounded and humble. I love being a United Methodist minister now, with the same woman continuing to keep me grounded and humble. In my years of pastoring, I have served in large membership churches both in the city and in rural settings; and have served in small membership churches in the country and now in the heart of the city. There is no doubt that in both places the Holy One is being worship and proclaimed and good things are happening in the name of all that is holy. However, there is an affinity that I have always had with the smaller membership congregation.
It is my belief that the ideal size church congregation be between 300 and 500 members. There is no doubt that large congregations can be faithful and they certainly have the resources to do very good work. However, I believe there is a loss of intimacy and fellowship that I find essential to the Christian experience. On the other hand, many smaller congregations have the sense of family connection but then lack the resources to do more than just exist and keep their own doors open for their members.
I believe that the 300 to 500 member churches are able to accomplish the very best of both worlds. There are indeed enough members to provide the resources to reach beyond their own doors for the building of the Kingdom and for the furthering of God's justice upon the earth. At the same time they are intimate and small enough for persons to enter into a closer bond with one another. Pastors are able to know all of the members of their flock and keep in touch with them; and the members can stay in fellowship with one another more easily.
Some pastors want to serve the large membership congregations and enjoy the challenges of these churches; as for me, give me Cochran Chapel any day.
Posted March 06, 2012
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September 06, 2011
Emerging Christianity Conference
Cochran Chapel is proud to be joining with Life in the Trinity Ministry and Perkins School of Theology and several other Christian churches in the area to sponsor "The Four Cornerstones of Emerging Christianity." This Conference is featuring noted author, lecturer and public theologian Brian McLaren; Lutheran pastor, Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber; and teacher and Conference speaker Suzanne Stabile. The Conference begins on Friday evening, September 30, with an exciting lineup of keynote speeches at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
On Saturday, participants are invited to one of four church sites to explore in depth the Four Cornerstones of Emerging Christianity. Dr. Douglas Slawson and I will be presenting the Historical Jesus; Reverends Fred Schmidt and Courtney Pinkerton will be hosting the discussion of Spiritual Disciplines; Reverends Bill McElvaney and Larry James will be speaking on the topic of Social Justice; and Suzanne Stabile and Rev. Robin Michalove will be exploring Active Community.
Added to this event will be presentations by Ted Swartz who offers a unique perspective to the issues of scripture and theology by way of drama. The Holy Spirit is doing something new and exciting in the Church and we are gathering to deepen our understanding of where the Church is moving in the years to come. Please join us for this exciting event. You can register by going to www.lifeinthetrinityministry.com and clicking on the Conference registration. Posted September 06, 2011
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May 31, 2011
Annual Conference
In the Methodist church we toss around the term "Annual Conference" but do we all understand just what it means. Probably the most simple description is that the Annual Conference is a territorial boundary of the United Methodist Church. So here we are in the North Texas Annual Conference that comprises over 50,000 square miles of north Texas; including Dallas north to the Red River and east to west from Sulpher Springs to Wichita Falls. Within that geographical area are all of the local Methodist churches, about 300 of them, that make up our Annual Conference. Each Annual Conference is presided over by a Bishop and is divided up in smaller territorial groupings called Districts. In our Conference there are now four Districts of which we belong to the Metro District made up of Dallas County.
The second understanding that we have of Annual Conference refers to the yearly gathering of the clergy and elected lay delegates from each local church for the purpose of doing the administrative decision making for the greater territorial area called the Annual Conference. United Methodist clergy do not have membership in the local church, their membership in the church is held in the Annual Conference. During meetings of the Annual Conference there must be one lay person elected as a delegate for each clergy person, so there is an equal number of clergy and lay members for the Conference. That means approximately 1000 people will gather for the two and one-half days of meeting. And it is here each year that the administration of the Conference is decided upon by these clergy and lay delegates.
Each Annual Conference is also part of a larger administrative structure called "Jurisdictional Conference". In the case of the North Texas Annual Conference, we are part of what is known as the South Central Jurisdictional Conference which is made up of the all of Conferences in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. One of the main functions of Jurisdictional Conference is to appoint Bishops to preside over the Annual Conferences.
The ultimate decision making body of the United Methodist Church is "General Conference". This Conference happens every four years as Methodist clergy and lay delegates gather from all over the world. This is the body that makes polity and doctrinal decisions for the whole of the Methodist church. As in each Conference there must be an equal number of clergy and lay delegates and the Bishops, while presiding over General Conference, do not have a vote. This year at Annual Conference we will be electing the clergy and lay delegates who will represent the North Texas Annual Conference to both General and Jurisdictional Conferences which will be held in 2012.
Our Annual Conference session will be the first week of June. Please pray for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit to be with all of the delegates as we move forward toward next year's General Conference.
Posted May 31, 2011
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April 28, 2011
Where's the Energy?
I have had the privilege of hearing Phyllis Tickle speak several times and shared some personal time with her. Among her vast knowledge of church history she mentions that in the early days of the church "the authority may have been in Jerusalem but the energy was in Antioch." We know that Peter and James and the Apostles were centered first in the city of Jerusalem as the movement of "the Way" first began after the death of Jesus. We are also aware that Paul was the first writer of the activity of the early church and the growth and development of the church was begun in the small communities of places like Ephesus and Philippi and Antioch. While the church was expanding, the rules and procedures were being established in Jerusalem but it was out in Antioch that the people were struggling to live the Jesus way.
In this day of mega churches, it seems like we see again the authority of denominations and the power of the various denominations expressed and formed in the "big" churches. But, at the same time there is still a great deal of energy and faithfulness to be found in the "small membership churches" who are struggling to meet apportionments and pay staff salaries and at the same time continue to reach out beyond themselves to do the work of the gospel. If I could paraphrase Phyllis, the authority might be in First Church but the energy is in Chapel.
I wonder if what is being offered in the mega church with cafeterias, fitness rooms, gift shops and personal credit cards is not just an extension of our culture; we who have been called to be counter-cultural have succumbed to the ways of the world rather than stand apart and challenge our world to a higher standard. Perhaps it is the smaller family-centered church communities, seeking the little ways of being faithful to the way of Jesus, standing in solidarity with the poor, oppressed, marginalized and cast off, who are truly carrying the energy of the Christian life. Perhaps it is these churches who are growing and developing around a spirituality that stands opposed to the culture and offers a way of life that more closely matches the Risen Christ.
After Jesus was raised from the dead, he instructed his disciples to go to Galilee when they were held up in the upper room in Jerusalem. Just maybe that was a hint that we all missed!
Posted April 28, 2011
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March 01, 2011
Faithful
Wow, it has been too long since I have blogged on this site. I am so sorry that I have been away for this and ask for your forgiveness and indulgence.
This the first Sunday of March is Transfiguration Sunday. We have all heard the story of Jesus taking three of his most trusted disciple up the mountain and then being changed in their very presence. He appears on the mountain top with Moses and Elijah, the two greatest figures of the old Testament. And then there is the "voice" once again telling them how pleased God the Father is Jesus and all that he is doing and saying. He is after all the perfect reflection of the Father himself.
It would seem that all of this would cause great excitement and joy among the disciples but in reality what we notice about them is that they are afraid. And, then Jesus assures them not to be afraid; just one of the 365 time that we are warned in the scriptures to not be fearful. What would be your response if you suddenly found yourself in the presence of the Holy? Would it be one of joy or one of fear? My experiences of sensing the presence of the Holy One so very near caused me to humble myself in awe and reverence. I remember falling to the floor and prostrating myself, bowing before what I sensed was my Creator and Lord. And in that moment I was both filled with immense joy and appropriate fear; only to experience an overwhelming feeling of the love and mercy and faithfulness of a loving Father.
Often I have been asked what is the source of my great faith and hope in life after death. My answer is now and will always be the same. In the midst of all of my many sins and faults and failings, and in the flow of all of my gifts and graces, I have found God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit to be always "faithful" to me; and I have no reason whatsoever to doubt that God will not continue to be faithful to me in the future. As the old spiritual sings: "I've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in His holy Word, He's never failed me yet. Oh, Oh, Oh can't go back, He''s never failed me yet!"
Posted March 01, 2011
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October 19, 2010
Creation Speaks Praise
As Suzanne and I travelled the roads of Texas, Colorado and New Mexico on our recent vacation we spent a good deal of time taking in the beauty of all creation. We were blessed to spend some time in a wonderful cabin along the Rio Grande river in Colorado and view the magnificence of the the Aspens in full color. I have seen the beauty of the fall in New England and in the Ozarks but the beauty of fall in the Rockies is quite something else. As a nine on the Enneagram I just love being out in nature; mountains, rivers, trees wildlife, all renew and refresh me.
Often as we drove along, Suzanne would put on some Christian music and we would sing and praise God with voice and heart. One particular song spoke of all creation speaking forth its praise and I became aware that each and every creature, the rocks, trees, birds, deer, elk and bear, the blades of grass and the shimmering yellow of the Aspen were crying out their praise of God by just being what they were intended to be. They were happy and content to be who and what they were created to be and in the cycle of their life they offered glory and praise to the One who created them.
In those moments there was nothing for me to do but to join them in praise and glory. And so with the love of my life beside me I to raised my voice to give glory to the Creator for all that He has done in my life and let my voice mingle with all other creation that surrounded us to say Praise, Praise, Praise.
In Scripture there is a passage where Jesus is encouraged to silence the crowd shouting his praise. He replies that if he were
to silence them even the rocks would cry out. This fall I heard the Rockies cry out and couldn't help but join them. May God be forever praised!
Posted October 19, 2010
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