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Recently, while providing pastoral care to someone facing an especially difficult season, the person said something I have heard in different forms many times throughout my ministry: “I don’t know how people get through something like this without the Lord, without faith, and without a church family.” I understand the question. When life becomes heavy, like when we are grieving, frightened, exhausted, or facing circumstances we cannot change, we naturally wonder how anyone manages without something larger than themselves to hold onto. But if the question is how we make it through life’s hardest challenges entirely alone, I am not sure that we do. ItRead More →

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Have you ever been so surrounded by joy that it’s almost like you can touch the Holy Spirit, she’s so present? Last Saturday was one of those days for me. Our first Compassion Camp brought together children, youth, and volunteers from United Methodist Church of Geneva, Batavia United Methodist Church, Wesley United Methodist Church, The Neighbor Project, and surrounding community for a morning filled with fun, faith, friendship, and a lot of jumping at The Neighbor Project in Aurora. From the moment children arrived, the space buzzed with excitement. They jumped into songs, stories, yoga, crafts, and compassion projects while volunteers of all ages worked side-by-side, embodying the lovingkindnessRead More →

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First, thank you. Thank you to everyone who prayed for our family and wished us well while we were away. We had a wonderful time exploring the Big Island, Maui, and Oʻahu. We experienced breathtaking landscapes, learned about the islands’ rich histories, and encountered people whose generosity and hospitality left a lasting impression on us. I’ll have more to share in the weeks ahead, but one lesson has stayed with me. Wherever we went, people spoke naturally and joyfully about what it means to be Hawaiian. Their identity wasn’t something they held tightly for themselves. They shared it freely—with stories, language, food, customs, music, andRead More →

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Do you remember what summer felt like when you were a kid? The days seemed endless. There were bikes to ride, sprinklers to run through, popsicles to eat, books to read, and just enough boredom to spark creativity. Summer felt spacious. It was a time to linger outside until the lighting bugs came out and to lay in the grass to see what the clouds looked like. So, let me ask: How is your summer going? Have you found moments to breathe? To laugh? To linger over dinner with people you love? Have you watched a sunset or read a book just because you wanted to?Read More →

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A couple of weeks ago at Annual Conference, Bishop Schwerin “fixed the appointments.” That is one of those wonderfully odd Methodist phrases that sounds, at first, like something was broken and needed repair. But in this case, “fixed” means set. The bishop sets the pastoral appointments for another year of ministry, and clergy and congregations receive those appointments as part of our shared covenant in The United Methodist Church. So, with gratitude, I am glad to share that this marks my tenth appointment year at The United Methodist Church of Geneva: four years as your associate pastor and now six years as your senior pastor.Read More →

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A group seeking to create space for adults in roughly their 20s through 50s to build meaningful relationships, grow in faith, and find joy in shared life together. But… Where’d This Name Come From? A Bit of History In 1738, the Anglican priest John Wesley (founder of Methodism) experienced a profound spiritual awakening in London. On the evening of May 24, 1738, Wesley was attending a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, where someone was reading from Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. What happened there became one of the defining moments in the birth of the Methodist movement. Wesley later recorded the experience in his journal: “InRead More →

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Graduation season has a way of shining a spotlight on individual achievement. And that’s good for the most part. Afterall, the graduates and scholarship recipients we know have studied hard, shown up faithfully, overcome challenges, made sacrifices, and taken meaningful steps toward the lives they are building. They deserve to be celebrated. But one of the gifts of being the church is that we also know a deeper truth: none of us are self-made. Every one of us becomes who we are through the people who love us, teach us, challenge us, forgive us, encourage us, pray for us, and make room for us whileRead More →

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This June, both World Refugee Month and Pride Month, the Missions and Church in Society Teams invite our UMCG and wider community into a simple but meaningful practice: walking one mile a day in solidarity with people who are on the move. At first glance, a mile may not seem like much. It might be the distance around your neighborhood, through a local park, or even across a vacation destination. But when we walk with intention, our steps can become embodied prayer. They can remind us that while many of us walk by choice, millions of people around the world walk because they must…seeking safety,Read More →

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Summer, like most seasons, has a soundtrack. Sometimes it’s obvious and nostalgic: the splash of children at the pool, cicadas and crickets buzzing at dusk, the crack of a baseball bat, or fizz of a pop-top…or the sound of the wind whipping around your ears mingled with the first notes of a favorite song after you’ve rolled down the car windows. It’s the kind of soundtrack that can bring a memory back before we even know what hit us. But sometimes it’s a bit more “everyday,” like the hum of your ceiling fan, the beeping of construction equipment, or the clattering of tools. And, aroundRead More →