Romans 15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you.

The welcome and acceptance I find in our church is a blessing and a joy. This was not the response when I approached this congregation 23 years ago seeking membership in a faith community. I was informed that unless I was heterosexual this church would not welcome me. Happily, this has changed and SSUMC became a ” reconciling congregation” which welcomes every person. It is unfortunate that the majority of UMC churches continue to deny membership and leadership privileges to GLBT individuals and couples. When will the larger UMC body overcome its policy of judgement and exclusion?

Matthew 20:26-28 (New International Version) 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

I volunteer in the prison ministry called Kairos and serve at Dannemora. At our most recent training session for our in prison retreat coming up in May, we were given this bible passage to meditate upon and to share with another team member. I was paired with a Methodist minister from a small town in Vermont. I asked what this passage meant to him. He said that felt that there was no job in the church that was beneath him. He said that though he was not handy, he would act as a gofer during construction projects. He even cleaned the toilets in his church. He had set up a free lunch program on Thursdays where anyone who was hungry could be fed, most who came were not from the church. He worked closely with the community services program in town to provide vouchers for food, gas and utilities to needy individuals who came to the church. He felt that the measure of a church was not just how many came on Sunday but how much the church was able to do for the people truly in need. In providing assistance, he said he always took a chance on people where warranted, as he could not sleep at night if he turned someone away by mistake. This made me think that although we can give something up for Lent, we can also serve someone in need for Lent.