Blog posts from the pastors at CRCUMC
For the past 10 years or so, I have found myself focusing on a word that I think best describes the work of the church: connection. This began (as I’ve shared before) in reading a Council of Bishop’s report on what they called “vital congregations” (that is, congregations that seemed to be healthy and growing in their … Read more
For the past 5 months, we have been delaying the celebration of Holy Communion until we could meet together in person. However, since it looks like it may still be many weeks until we can worship in-person together, we want to make a provision for folks to receive the sacrament. This Sunday, August 2, 2020, … Read more
As most of you know now, we had a bit of a COVID scare last week when a couple of folks associated with the program tested positive for the disease. We immediately went into response mode, closing down the Child Development Center, and making provisions for deep cleaning of the facility. Of course, the greatest … Read more
On Tuesday, July 7, 2020, we learned that someone at the City Road Chapel Child Development Center has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. We immediately responded according to state and federal protocols, shutting down the center, informing families, and making contact with state and federal officials. We are responding in the following ways: All … Read more
Dear friends, I think that most of you know that we had been planning on resuming in-person worship at City Road Chapel UMC on Sunday, July 12, 2020. We have been making plans to ensure the safety of all and were excited that we would soon be getting together soon. However, today Mayor John Cooper … Read more
The following is from our member Steven Stinson, who is serving as our missionary at MountainTOP this summer. Salutations all! I hope everyone is doing well. After finishing the first week I was not expecting to be this tired, but a lot of great things were accomplished. Overall we were able to work with 32 … Read more
As we prepare to resume in-person worship in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, we believe that one of the ways of maintaining safety for all is to enter into a covenant together regarding our practices in worship. This covenant has been reviewed by the Worship Committee of the church, and we believe it represents a … Read more
Bishop William McAlilly sent the following letter on June 5, 2020 and asked it to be shared with all of the congregations in the Tennessee and Memphis Annual Conferences: A Pastoral Letter to United Methodists of the Southeastern Jurisdiction June 5, 2020 Brothers and Sisters: As president of the Southeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops my … Read more
This past Thursday, I recorded my message for Pentecost Sunday drawing on 1 Corinthians 12. In the course of that sermon, I lifted up verse 13: We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink. Paul, the … Read more
This past week a friend of mine commented on a Facebook post about our online worship service: Cool that you’re having Prime worship. We can order today and get free two day shipping!! Now while I wish Amazon would give us some special benefits for the name, the name of our online service comes from … Read more