From the Pastor's Desk

This family has been worshipping at Fleming Island UMC since March. Many times, when you find the place that works for your family, you know. That's how it is for them, except their family includes an aunt and grandparents. You should be seeing their faces in the blog soon.This week, we welcome this wonderful couple, Andy and Courtney, with open arms. They are transferring their membership from an...

What makes a United Methodist? For some, it's food. I've served churches where you couldn't have a meeting or event without food and coffee. For others, it's our traditions. Many of those traditions are unique to each Methodist congregation.For me, one of the essential things that makes a United Methodist is our connection, meaning that we are not a solo church; we're a network of churches. As a p...

Sunday, we start a new series called Rules of Life that will carry us all summer. This series pulls pieces from a book called The Red Sea Rules: 10 God-Given Strategies for Difficult Times by Robert J. Morgan. It's a powerful, short book that is a great way to stay connected to the church throughout the summer. We’ll spend most of the summer in Exodus Chapter 14.I am trying something new this summ...

In just a few weeks, Julie and I will be traveling to Annual Conference, where all the clergy and laity of the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church gather in Lakeland, FL, for Holy Conferencing. We worship, pray, and conduct the administrative work of the church.Conferencing is one of the things I love so much about being a Methodist, and it's not unique to United Methodists. I...

Life is hard, especially for Christians. It is certain that we will face difficulties and that God will allow them. But it's just as inevitable that the same God who led us in will lead us out. Learning from the Israelites' story in Exodus 14, we'll look at 9-10 strategies (rules) to move from fear to faith. Just as Moses and the Israelites became trapped between Pharaoh's rushing armies and the u...

Seeing our church grow over the past year has been so exciting! One of the things I've learned so far in ministry is that it's not always easy for someone newer in a church to find where they are "allowed" to serve or volunteer. You can serve or volunteer anywhere you want. These are the only things that have requirements......

Everyone has relationships of some kind: family, friendships, dating, partners, or marriage. No matter the type of relationship, we all want them to be things that give meaning and help us in life. This 3-week series looks at some of the things that often make relationships feel like they are dragging us down, how to fix it, and what God says is the right way to do it. This series connects to our ...

This month is our second 5th Sunday month. What that means is it's our second opportunity to invest in the Florida United Methodist Children's Home.This week, Val and I had the opportunity to meet with Rev. Brian Carr, who is the Children's home's Director of church relations. This was my first time meeting Brian, although Val and Eddie have met him before on trips to Enterprise, FL. Brian shared ...

Holy Week is always a holy time, but it's so easy to get caught up in the busy. This year though, I started it off with a focus that's hard to beat. Monday, April 3, I headed to Mayport Beach for the joy of baptizing and receiving into our congregation Amanda. Amanda started worshipping with us around October of last year after driving past the church. She saw the banner for our "Christianity for...

Last week, I got the pleasure of sitting around a table with pastors, chaplains, and deacons from different faith communities in our area! The Breaking Bread Ministerial Allience seeks to show the entire community that we are one body of Christ, no matter our race, gender, or denomination.So far, the following faith communities are a part:The VINE FellowshipClay County Sheriff’s OfficeNew Bethel B...