Dear Friends,
This is the 195
th
– and last time I will be writing to you in this space. While there have been times I have missed, I have offered an “almost weekly” newsletter article to be informative, encouraging, challenging, and always pointing us to Christ.
Please read these words from Philippians 1:3-11, for this is what I want you to know…
I thank my God every time I remember you,
constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace
[
with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,
having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
To all the pastors and lay persons of the Mountain View District, I am so grateful for the privilege to have been in ministry with you these past 6 years. To those with whom I have agreed and disagreed, I value our experiences together and hope that we both grew closer to Christ through those times. I am grateful to have had so many opportunities to preach around the district. I will miss your bright, shining faces!
To the chairperson -Pastor Greg White along with past and present members of the District Committee on Superintendency - I have been so grateful for your support, As I’ve told you several times, I am the envy of my colleagues on the Cabinet, because I believe you are the most actively supportive DCOS in the Conference. At every meeting, including the night Bishop Webb introduced me to you, you have laid hands on me and prayed for me. Talk about supportive! Wow! You have also never failed to ask about my mom, which was very thoughtful, and knowing your collective character and compassion, not at all surprising. You have truly been a blessing to me, and the times when I’ve asked you to specifically pray about something, I know you have followed-through. Not only did I feel your prayer support, but you have also followed-up with me to see how things turned out. I could not have felt more supported by you these past 6 years.
To the past and present members of the District Committee on Ordained Ministry, it has been a joy to work with you, and the ways you have taken this very important work so seriously, but also with compassion, sensitivity, joy, and laughter. We’ve had some difficult conversations sometimes, and yet they’ve always been grace-filled. Thanks be to God that we went from having zero candidates to having 5! The Holy Spirit continues to call…
To the past and present members of the District Lay Servant team, thank you for your dedication to training up more and more lay servants to strengthen the lay leadership of our local churches.
To the past and present members of the District Board of Location and Building, while we haven’t met with great frequency, I appreciate the way you have used your time and talents, and how you have responded when a church was closing or to other business for which we needed to be attentive.
To the District United Methodist Women – I appreciate the various invitations you offered, understanding that I could rarely meet with you, other than the yearly banquets at Watson Homestead. Continue being in mission in Christ’s name!
To those who were able to participate in the Pastoral Leadership Development experiences and those who also participated in the separate “Canoeing the Mountains” book study, know that I appreciated you and our rich discussions together. Peer learning is a gift!
To the past and present members of the District Leadership Team, thank you for the countless hours of dedication in working toward an effective strategy for coming alongside congregations to aid them in their disciple-making systems. One of my biggest frustrations is that we were just ready to launch what we’ve been working on over a year, when Covid struck. I know you will carry on and be a blessing to all the churches who commit to the process. The way we all used our very different gifts was a microcosm of the Body of Christ. Our study times together, particularly around John Orgberg’s “Soul Keeping” and Henri Nouwen’s “Life of the Beloved” were particularly enriching – and I trust – informed our work together. I look forward to hearing about the fruitfulness that will come from our work together and the work you will continue to do with Jeff McDowell and the churches on the district.
To Mountain View District Lay Leader Ann Welch Wood – what a blessing you have been to me and to the District! The way you live out your discipleship 7 days/week is evident – not just to me – but to everyone who knows you. I look forward to continuing to work with you as we live into our new regional teams across districts.
To Mountain View Administrative Assistant Patti Gridley – what can I say? For 6 years, you have made me look good. You are the gifted administrator that I am not. You have always been so gracious even during the times I know I was driving you crazy. Your work ethic is stellar and you have always made the office a comfortable and fun place to be. Thank you for all of your support and for putting up with me! I know that wasn’t easy! There’s so much more I want to say, and know that I will miss you greatly…
I commend your new Superintendent Jeff McDowell to you. No doubt, he will be a breath of fresh air to the District as you all continue in ministry together in Christ’s name.
I do thank God for each of you and cannot adequately express my gratitude. I also want you to know that Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Ephesus is my prayer for you. (Ephesians 3:16-21):
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Keep picking those apples!
I thank my God every time I remember you…
With You in Journey and with great love and gratitude to God and to you,
Nancy
