1 Siblings in Christ, Welcome to a New Year! The United Methodist Church has had a rough couple of years and unfortunately2020 looks like it will be more of the same. In May we have General Conference and it is likely that we will dredge up the harm and hurt of General Conference 2019. In light of this, a pastor friend of mine recently pointed out that part of our problem is that the UMC doesn’t really have anything that binds us together in meaningful ways. We have a shared polity and itinerary and apportionments, but for the most part these are secondary things to what we do as a church every day. Take for example the Southern Baptist Convention who very strictly enforces doctrine in churches within the convention or Episcopalians who worship every Sunday from the Book of Common Prayer. Regardless of how you feel about the doctrine of the Southern Baptists or the liturgy of the Episcopalians, it binds them together. Which brings us back to United Methodists, who are united by the frustration of moving pastors and apportionments? A spiritual unity it is not. I hear some of you countering, “We are united in mission and evangelism and outreach!” Yes, we are… to an extent, and in certain places that is more true than in others. Fortunately for the church universal, mission and evangelism and outreach are not distinctive to United Methodists. The reality remains that mission, evangelism, and outreach don’t necessarily connect us any deeper to Center UMC, Foundry UMC in D.C., Good Shepherd in Charlotte, or North Pole UMC in Alaska. So what connects us, binds us as Methodists? For early Methodists it was a “Method,” hence the name. This year I am personally trying to reclaim some of those methods in my own life and am going to invite you to do the same. Which leads me to my first invitation of the year. I invite you to join me in a daily lectionary (a fancy way to say “Daily Bible Reading Plan”). In this Newsletter (on page 3), you will find the lectionary readings for every day in January. I modeled it off of the daily lectionary that John and Charles Wesley used, which is why it says “hath xxxi days” at the top. I will admit that this is a very robust and thorough plan of reading through Scripture. It will take us through all 150 Psalms every month, through the New Testament 3 times by the end of the year, and through the Hebrew Scriptures once. There are readings for morning and evening. If you don’t think you can do it all, don’t worry. You aren’t a bad Christian, Jesus isn’t going to be angry, and I won’t be disappointed. To start, I recommend that you pick Morning or Evening and then either Psalms or New Testament and read through just that column. If you miss a day, don’t try to catch up by reading every chapter you missed. Just pick up with the reading for the day we are on. The nice part about this cycle is that for the Psalms and New Testament, the readings will come around again. For example, if you don’t read this until the 5th or 6th, just start reading with Matthew 5 on January 7th. If you get to February and feel like you can add in more, don’t go back and try to read everything you missed, simply join in with the readings on The Grapevine January 2020
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1
Siblings in Christ,
Welcome to a New Year! The United Methodist Church has had a rough couple of years and
unfortunately2020 looks like it will be more of the same. In May we have General Conference and it is likely
that we will dredge up the harm and hurt of General Conference 2019. In light of this, a pastor friend of mine
recently pointed out that part of our problem is that the UMC doesn’t really have
anything that binds us together in meaningful ways.
We have a shared polity and itinerary and apportionments, but for the most
part these are secondary things to what we do as a church every day. Take for
example the Southern Baptist Convention who very strictly enforces doctrine in
churches within the convention or Episcopalians who worship every Sunday from
the Book of Common Prayer. Regardless of how you feel about the doctrine of the
Southern Baptists or the liturgy of the Episcopalians, it binds them together. Which
brings us back to United Methodists, who are united by the frustration of moving
pastors and apportionments? A spiritual unity it is not.
I hear some of you countering, “We are united in mission and evangelism
and outreach!” Yes, we are… to an extent, and in certain places that is more true
than in others. Fortunately for the church universal, mission and evangelism and
outreach are not distinctive to United Methodists. The reality remains that mission, evangelism, and outreach
don’t necessarily connect us any deeper to Center UMC, Foundry UMC in D.C., Good Shepherd in Charlotte,
or North Pole UMC in Alaska.
So what connects us, binds us as Methodists? For early Methodists it was a “Method,” hence the name.
This year I am personally trying to reclaim some of those methods in my own life and am going to invite you to
do the same.
Which leads me to my first invitation of the year. I invite you to join me in a daily lectionary (a fancy
way to say “Daily Bible Reading Plan”). In this Newsletter (on page 3), you will find the lectionary readings for
every day in January. I modeled it off of the daily lectionary that John and Charles Wesley used, which is why it
says “hath xxxi days” at the top.
I will admit that this is a very robust and thorough plan of reading through Scripture. It will take us
through all 150 Psalms every month, through the New Testament 3 times by the end of the year, and through the
Hebrew Scriptures once. There are readings for morning and evening.
If you don’t think you can do it all, don’t worry. You aren’t a bad Christian, Jesus isn’t going to be
angry, and I won’t be disappointed. To start, I recommend that you pick Morning or Evening and then either
Psalms or New Testament and read through just that column. If you miss a day, don’t try to catch up by reading
every chapter you missed. Just pick up with the reading for the day we are on. The nice part about this cycle is
that for the Psalms and New Testament, the readings will come around again. For example, if you don’t read
this until the 5th or 6th, just start reading with Matthew 5 on January 7th. If you get to February and feel like
you can add in more, don’t go back and try to read everything you missed, simply join in with the readings on
The Grapevine January 2020
ber 2018 Yadkinville United Methodist Church
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February 1st. If you want to start off with all 6 readings you are more than welcome! If you need to step back, I
would encourage you to at least keep the discipline of reading through the gospels with the lectionary.
Throughout 2020, I will be inviting you into different spiritual practices with the goal of uniting us to
our history as Methodists to each other. Join me as we are united in the discipline of reading scripture together.
Pastor Jonathan
Prayer Concerns
Church Family James Roseberry, Patty Choplin, Dustin Spencer, Wade & Barbara White, Rachel Brandon,
Donna Bowman, Royce & Patti Ragan, Edith Davis, Dot Gish, Barbara Stephenson, Mary
Reavis, Tony Macemore, Gerald Messer, Kenneth Baity, Betty Boyette, Jerry & Ginny
Taylor, Faye Diachenko, Allen Brandon, Gerri Reynolds, Kim Harrison, Paul Williams,
Dylan Spry.
Friends and Family
Albert Brown, Jacob Shore, Marilyn Snow, Eidson Mulling, Wanda Burger, John Wooten, Sammy Reavis
family, Brenda Baird, Avery Rayit, John Hutchens, Janet Hutchens, Julie Dalton, Dean Richardson, Larry and
Terry Hutchens, Lois Cheek, Janie Helton, Mary Ann Allen, Carol Roberts, Tony Casstevens, Rev. Mike
Bailey, Tom Alston, Carin Casstevens family, and Clara Biswas (missionary).
Youth Ministries: Our Youth Group will remain busy and active in the life of our church and
community as we start a new year. We have regular meetings on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 4:00 pm until 5:30
pm with Pastor Jonathan in the Youth Room. Here are some of our planned activities.
December 31, 2019 New Year’s Eve Party. Tuesday, December 31, 2019, 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Come celebrate the end of the decade and the beginning of 2020! The Youth and Youth Parents will host the
2nd Annual NYE Party on Tuesday, December 31, 2019 from 6:00 pm until 10:00 pm. There will be board
games, corn hole, and a paper airplane competition for everyone, as well as a mystery prize ball for the youth.
Come play a game or two or come to socialize and have a bite to eat. Everyone is welcome! If you have
questions or want to help, call Amanda Mason (336-785-5378) or Karen Pizzuti (336-468-7669).