Dear Partners in Ministry,
SPIRITUAL POLAR BEARS. Recently we were on Martha's Vineyard for a weekend of meeting with the United Methodists who are doing great shared ministry with the resources of four church buildings, two pastors, and the historic Oaks Bluffs Camp Meeting Grounds. Ministry is happening with a food bank, clothing ministry, community free dinners, artists, Brazilians, everyone and anyone.....including polar bears. Yes, Linda and I were invited to go swimming at 7:30 am with the polar bears (they really should be called the "early birds"). We didn't make it for the 7:30 swim but we did catch up with them at the beach thanks to Arlene Bodge, one of our pastors who has lived and served on the Island for years......she's a polar bear too.
You guessed it. Every morning (the coldest part of the day...thus they are "polar bears" but not the winter kind) at 7:30 throughout the summer, a group of twenty or so folks of various ages, backgrounds, races and spiritual traditions gather to swim in the ocean. But more than that, they praise God together in singing, and praying, and encouraging each other in the Spirit.....sometimes in the water, sometimes on the land, and always "splashing" in God's love. There on the shore Linda and I joined with them in a circle of prayer...spontaneous, spirited, and sensitive to the needs of each other and the world around them. There was a rich bond of caring among this diverse gathering and great joy in both the physical and spiritual "exercises." Many of the polar bears had been there a couple hours that morning.
I thought of Jesus and those who gathered with him on the shore. I thought of Wesley and his daily morning hours spent with the Lord. I thought of some of our churches that every day have a time at the church, or at a coffee shop, or in a computer "chat-room", or at the Y gym, or in someone's living room, or at the beach (at least in the summer), where folks can gather to pray and sing and share the joy of the Lord in the morning. Does your church offer such a time and place....welcoming anyone from the community...splashing in God's love? Maybe you could be the first one to jump in!
"NO MAN IS AN ISLAND" Speaking of islands, along with Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and several islands off the coast of Maine, we have several United Methodist Churches in Vermont on the islands of Lake Champlain. I visited these in August and was amazed at the courage and commitment of the present Methodists but also the pioneer Methodists who came to these islands starting in 1799. On the Isle La Motte, circuit rider William Anson "nearly perished in his efforts to cross the lake in fierce winds but he managed the dangerous crossing in a final desperate effort. His service in the tavern the next morning drew a large and curious crowd. Although two men vowed '....to run Methodism out of the place,' when Anson left at the end of the year, he had established a chain of classes that extended into Canada with a total of 102 members on the new circuit.".....so says the history. Later, bringing a load of lumber to build the new church on the Isle, the boat capsized and they spent eleven hours in the freezing water before saving the lumber for the church. When Anson set out in 1802 to share the Good News in North Hero (don't you love that name), he was told that "the inhabitants of the islands were living in a savage state and that his labors would be wasted." But a group of "vigorous converts" met in homes, barns, groves and school houses, and Methodism is still "vigorous" on these islands. (North Hero has done one of the best remodeling jobs I've seen in any of our older churches....this one built in 1872...check it out if you are thinking of remodeling an old building for 21st century ministry).
Do we have the same passion for sharing the Good News with those who are seemingly living on their "own little island"? We are all connected . God loves us all. As United Methodists we need to be in the "bridge building" business. It often will take risk, and sacrifice, and leaving our "comfort zones." Many of our congregations are here and vital today because someone, years ago, dared to reach out to their community (in whatever "savage state" it was). Can we, by the Grace of God, do any less? Thank God that we are partners with Christ and one another in this ministry!
Grace and Peace,
Pete
