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| A happy (but too brief) reunion with Joe and Beverly McMurry |
It's one of my
favorite memories: walking into the back door of Bethpage UMC, bounding up the
small set of stairs and then hearing Rev. Joe McMurry boom out as soon as he
saw me, "Joooohnnn Wesley!" I
don't know how many Sunday morning's this actually happened, but it felt like a
lot and it meant the world to me. I was
a hyperactive kid, prone to being impulsive and unable to sit still for any
meaningful length of time. As a
consequence, I occasionally got on people's nerves. Sometimes it felt like the whole world was
poised, waiting to fuss at me for talking too much, asking too many questions,
not sitting still, whatever. Oh, don't
feel sorry for me - all of those things were true!
However, it did make
those adults who were patient with me and did make me feel welcomed that much
more important. And there were a lot of
those people, most of whom were at Bethpage UMC. But Joe stood out. He always seemed happy to see me. I'm pretty sure that Joe made a lot of people
feel that way, but it was important for a 7-year-old to have one authority
figure (outside of his parents) who expressed joy and gladness at their
presence.
Reason Number 2 - I'm a United Methodist because Rev.
Joe McMurry made me feel welcomed and wanted in church.
At Annual
Conference, candidates for ordination are asked John Wesley's Historic
Questions. One of those questions is
"will you diligently instruct the children in every place?" While Joe's enthusiastic greeting was not
technically 'instruction', it did teach me an important lesson about ministry
and making kids feel special and like they belong in the church. Joe and his wonderful wife Beverly (who was
just as welcoming and equally influential for me) moved to another church when
I was 7, giving me my first taste of the United Methodist system of
itineration. But I try to honor Joe's
legacy of faithful ministry by trying to make the children in my church feel
welcomed and loved.
So, there's my
second reason that I'm a United Methodist.
I'm thankful to God for Joe and Beverly McMurry and their faithful
witness to God's love and for being examples for me of Christian hospitality! And for what it's worth, I have been planning
for several months to start this 'series' of posts and this has long been #2 on
my list. Just a few weeks ago while I
was serving at Carolina Cross Connection, I realized that our camp was only
minutes from Joe and Beverly's home. I
asked my team if we could stop by and they were happy to. Joe and Beverly greeted us just as warmly and
with the same joy and kindness that I remembered from my childhood. What a blessing it was to see them again!
In invite your
feedback - why do you belong to your church?
What do you love about your church?
And, I kindly ask for no negative comments about the United Methodist
Church or any other denomination. Make
sure your words give grace to those who read...
1 comment:
Well, I'm still getting over the whole "skubala" thing! Haha!
Honestly, my husband and I joined a medium sized Methodist church when we first arrived in Charlotte 20 years ago. It had a lot of programs geared to young marrieds and we instantly met a lot of people. As we got more involved in small groups, we had an even deeper connection with a group of about 4 other couples. After we had kids, I even started working there, teaching preschool. Soon, we started seeing less and less people that we knew and felt a little connected. Not only was it bigger, but with small children, we became a little less involved.
When our oldest went to Kindergarten, we moved to our little town but continued to attend the now huge church. Finally we visited our current church home, which was a completely different experience. We didn't know anyone but instantly knew that it wouldn't take long since the congregation is so much smaller and very welcoming. It was a little scary, though. You cannot just blend into the woodwork. You know that your contributions as part of a smaller church are very needed. Turns out that they were/are much more personal and connecting to others of faith for us. I love that our little church is so much bigger to us, not because of the size of the building or congregation but because of the strong connections we have to others of faith and to the One who unites us all. Our church has been such a blessing to us!
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