Larry's Lines

 

July 27, 2011

 

One of the things the staff has been talking about is how we can best                         communicate what is going on through the church.  You may have noticed lately that we have a LOT of stuff happening here!  The children and youth  are always doing and going.  The adults are working and donating time to mission.  There are new worship services and groups meeting.  Then we throw is some family time activities and it all works in a really wonderful way. The key is that no matter how wonderful the opportunities are; if folks don’t know about them then it’s all in vain.  We are trying to be very conscientious about keeping them in front of you.  But as we are aware communication is a  2-way street so please make sure you take the time to read the newsletter and bulletin.  Highlight the stuff that you will take part in and hang it on your refrigerator or in your calendar.  Then be sure to tell your friends. Recently I’ve had 2 different people, one a pastor and the other a prominent member of the community, tell me; “no one in town is doing the stuff y’all are!”  Those comments make me beam with pride.  People are hearing about the good works here at PSDUMC.  Let’s make sure we do too!    Grace and Peace,Larry July 13, 2011 By now I imagine most of you have heard that there will be some changes in our staff here at PSDUMC.  JB Zahn and John Mackrell are both in a position in life where they are ready and able to retire.  JB’s retirement begins August 15 and John will retire September 1.  While it is hard for us to imagine just what our staff will look like without them, we wish them well as they begin this new phase in their lives.   The Staff-Parish Relations Committee has already begun the process of looking at  how to try and replace these men and in what way can the congregation best be served.  To that end 1 new hire and 1 expansion of duties have already been made.   Beginning in August our youth director, Shelby Brown will become our Director of Youth and Praise Ministries. In this role Shelby will take over the music leadership in our contemporary services.  Also in August, the Rev. Terry Lynn Hilliard will come on staff part-time as our Associate Pastor of Pastoral Care.  She will be working mainly with our more mature adults as well as some general pastoral duties. The SPRC continues to look for the right persons to serve our chancel choir and provide our custodial and maintenance needs. I believe that this can be a pivotal time in the life of our congregation as we seek to serve God in this community.  Please be in prayer for Shelby and Terry as they begin these new ministries and for our SPRC as they continue to serve us all faithfully.
Grace and Peace,Larry 

 

June 22, 2011

Man is it great to be back home!  We had a wonderful trip to Honduras and did some great work in the name of God and in the name of Poplar Springs Dr. UMC.  I can’t even begin to express to you how proud I am of the members of the mission team.  Each person gave of themselves, physically and spiritually to serve God by serving the people in Honduras.  We were able to provide medical care for people who never get any.  Many of the Honduran women cook outside on wood burning stoves and we put roofs over their stoves so they don’t have to cook in the rain, we poured concrete floors in homes with dirt floors and we played soccer with the kids for hours every night, we provided over 4000 meals but most of all; we showed them that in spite of what we have and what they don’t have, we are all in need.  We all need a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible.  Your time, money and prayers made some really special things happen.  On July 3rd we will be highlighting our Risk-Taking Mission group in worship and for the sermon you will get to hear more about our trip.  You won’t want to miss it.

Grace and Peace,
Larry

 

 

 June 8, 2011

Today I did a little cleaning up.   Not the kind that you are thinking about but I cleaned up the inbox of my email accounts. I admit that I am somewhat of a pack rat with emails. I am not this way in the real world. I have no problem throwing away things, but for some reason I keep emails. I don’t even keep them in files for work, personal, etc. I just keep them all jumbled up together. So far today I have deleted upwards of 200. 

 

 

My church had a drive along one side of the building and on the drive and in the grass there was a rainbow of family photographs. They had flowed from the home that was now gone behind the church. As I walked along the trail of pictures I saw the joy of a man and woman on their wedding day, young children playing, vacation shots, teenagers marking rites of passage – dances; proms; graduations, and much more. My heart ached for the persons represented in those pictures.

As we cleaned up over the next few weeks, I began to understand why it was so important to me and to others to recover lost “things” from our homes and surroundings. That vase, or picture, or that baby blanket, or bed frame, or (fill in the blank) was a piece of history; our history and that of our families. Yes, we have those memories and images in our minds and hearts but the physical item proved we existed before August 29, 2005. They represent the life we had before and at the time of the storm and hope for the future.

June 26-28^th we have the opportunity to produce a piece of history for our church.  On those days we will be taking pictures for a new church family directory. What an exciting way to witness to those present now and to those in the years to come, not only of our existence but showing our ministries and those who are Poplar Springs Drive UMC. The heart of the church is not in the building but in each of us! Beginning this Sunday we will have sign up sheets available for you to reserve the most convenient time for you and your family to have your pictures taken. Please remember that this directory is for our church family not only for church members!

You can also help me by signing up to help during the photography sessions. Email me at terry_hilliard@bellsouth.net if you are willing to help or call the church office. I will definitely get back to you! Thank you in advance for helping and committing to be a part of this new directory!

Grace and Peace, Terry Lynn Hilliard

 

My parents did so many wonderful things for me as a child.  There were of course the basic things of food, clothing, shelter and education.  There were the extras like vacations, taking me fishing and keeping me involved in sports.  As I grow older I appreciate these things even more, but without a doubt the one thing my folks did for me that I appreciate more than any other was they kept me connected to God through the church.

 

No matter what I did on Saturday night, I was expected to go to church on Sunday morning.  If I was too sick to go to church on Sunday morning, I was too sick to hang out with friends on Sunday night.  Just like we went to school Monday- Friday; we went to church on Sunday.  There was one or two times that they actually made me go to church!  Can you believe it? And I’m glad they did.

 

Mixed up in all of that was the summer they sent me to church camp.  It was at a place called Camp Wesley Pines in Gallman, MS.  That first summer I wasn’t too sure about it but when I got there it was truly a life-changing experience.  So much so that when I was old enough I became a counselor there and then later directed some summer camps.  I can’t say for sure how many times I’ve been there but I’ve had more years in my life where I’ve gone to CWP for a week than years I haven’t.  And every single time I’ve gone, I’ve met God.

 

This summer I hope to see some of the children from PSDUMC attend CWP.  I know mine will be going.  If you are the parent or grandparent of a child in elementary or Jr. High and are interested in the dates of camp contact the church office and we can help you find a week that works.  We already have a group of older elementary students who are attending this summer.  If you don’t have children or your children are grown up but you understand the importance of Christian camping maybe you want to be a part of this by making a donation to help send these children.  That would be a really wonderful thing to do.

 

Grace and Peace,
Larry

 

Please take note that I will be out of the office this week as I attend the annual reunion of my anorexia survivor’s group.

 

We are sad to report 2 changes in our staff: 

-during her time in Vietnam our youth director Shelby Brown has decided to leave the UMC and join a Buddhist monastery.

- Also our Music minister John Mackrell will be leaving us in June as he has recently been hired to tour as a back-up singer with country music legend Merle Haggard.

 

Upcoming events:

April 1- Water Walking practice at the home of JB and Sherrie Zahn

April 1- The Deborah circle will begin a silent retreat at the monastery in Shubuta

April 1- Training for anyone interested in being our resident church fire-fighter

April 1- Senior Adults leave for a white-water rafting trip

April 1- We begin a bible study based on the songs of Lynyrd Skynryd

 

I hope you find this Friday April 1^st to be a fun filled day.

Grace and Peace

 

February 2, 2011

I received the following in an email from a friend.  I found it to be amusing and thought provoking.

 

Isn’t it strange…
- How $20 seems like a lot when you give to the church but a small amount when you go shopping?
- How 2 hours seems so long at church but so short at the movies?
- That you can’t seem to make time to pray but have no trouble meeting friends for lunch?
- How boring and difficult it is to read one chapter of the Bible but so easy to read 100 pages of a popular novel?
- How everyone wants front-row seats at a concert but the back row in church?
- How we expect notice in bulletins and newsletters to make time for an event at church but will drop everything if we get invited to a sporting event?
- How difficult it is to share about God with others but so easy to gossip?
- How we believe everything that we read on the internet but question the Bible?
- How everyone wants a place in heaven but don’t want to change ourselves to get there?

 

Some of these are strange indeed.  May we love God and God’s church with our heart, mind and soul.

 

Grace and Peace,
Larry