What I Won't Miss & What I Will Miss at Lancaster First United Methodist

What I Won't Miss and What I Will Miss at Lancaster First United Methodist

By Robert Vincent McDowell

June 7, 2015

Let's begin with what I won't miss. You are free to hiss, hiss.
I won't miss the Sunday I fainted, this was not on my wish list.
I won't miss hearing OH-IO, and my team getting the diss, diss.
I won't miss the drunk guy ring'n the church bell at night and then getting sick, sick.
I won't miss the tracks on my way to Crossroads, knowing I'll be late and shaking my fists.
I won't miss my Wednesday weekly bible study when Pearleene would kiss, kiss.
I won't miss the loud freezer alarm, that sounded like the landing of a huge space ship.
Yeah, these are the things I won't miss.

Now, let me tell you about a few things that I will miss, lest I be remiss.
I will miss all of you, especially the several little Methodists.
I will miss the ham loaves because there's no food better than this.
I will miss the great staff here who serve people with such great openness.
I will miss my short commute so that I could be so close to my beautiful princess.
I will miss your love and compassion during that year that my mom passed.
I will miss this place where I walked my daughter to begin her marital bliss.
Yeah, these are the things that I will miss.

But of all the things I will miss, nothing compares to what I have intentionally missed.

You have shown that by God's grace, you can overcome ANY challenge here at First United Methodist.

A Thank You to "My Peeps" (Staff Team)

Top Row Left to Right: Clarence McCoy, Joe Palmer, Dustin Roberts, John Coen, Dan Kemp, & Jill Warner
Middle Row: Lisa Schenck, Sandy Roberts, Deb Silvia, & Judy Tucker
First Row: Penny McDowell, Robert McDowell, & Cheryl Foulk


Penny and I were treated to a fun farewell party at Olive Garden today. They went way above and beyond in sharing their gifts, laughter, and love with us. We had a great time. They even let me have the extra black olives from the salad bowl!

Lots of fun gifts and one of my favorite ones was this gold star trophy! Ha!

During the Easter Season, we made a big deal about how we are God's "peeps" as in the marshmallow treats. I consider it a high honor to be one of our staff peeps!

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism was known for emphasizing that Christianity is meant to be lived in community. This faith of ours is not meant to be lived in isolation. Thank God for that! We need each other. Over these past six years, I have been blessed with a wonderful staff team. I can't say enough about how much I have appreciated their prayers, support, encouragement, and their ministries in our church and community.

As I reflect on the staff picture above, I notice that six of the eleven staff members were added during my time here. Change is inevitable and God promises to always be with us during times of transition. Another change will happen by the end of June when Brian Jones will become the new Senior Pastor. Brian will be a wonderful blessing to this congregation. I'm sure that our church will offer him a warm welcome just as I received six years ago.

To all of my staff "peeps," thank you! May God continue to bless the ministry of Lancaster First UMC through your loving leadership!

Bicentennial Bundle Commercial - Lancaster First UMC

Enjoy our recent commercial in which our church is selling a DVD history of our church along with a bicentennial booklet, plaques and plates.

Order yours today!

Another "Church on the Hill" Story

During last Sunday's sermon, I shared how someone referred to our church as "that church on the hill." Immediately after he said this, he continued, "Like Jesus said, you're a city set on a hill."

His comment gave me a wonderful image for our church. We are a church set on a hill for a purpose. God placed us in this particular spot to shine the light of Jesus in our community.

I was reminded of this last night when I attended a community meeting. As I was leaving, a woman ran after me shouting, "Robert, Robert!" 

"You are life-savers!"

She said, "I wanted to thank your church for making it possible for my mother to buy medication for her illness. We are both on disability and don't make any money and your church helped us. You are life savers!"

Evidently, our church was able to help her mother through our monthly Local Relief Fund which we receive on the first Sunday of each month. After she shared her gratitude for what our church did for her mother, I gave her a hug, told her that we were glad to help and that we are here to share God's love to as many people as possible.

Her words to me that our church was a "life-saver" were the words I thought about as I drifted off to sleep last night. "You are life savers. You are life savers. You are life savers. You are life savers. You are life..."

Our church is literally saving lives spiritually, emotionally, and physically because we are "the church on the hill." Like Jesus said, "we're a city set on a hill."

Sleep well tonight, Lancaster First UMC. Sleep well.

The Church on the Move!

Dear Friends of Lancaster First UMC,

As Penny and I were reflecting on our move to Athens this June, she said, “Do you realize this will be our ninth move?” Wow! I had forgotten just how many times we have ordered bubble wrap and wardrobe boxes over all these years!

Methodist preachers have a long history of moving from one location to another. This is one of the main reasons why Methodism grew so quickly when it first came to America. 

Methodist preachers were always ready to move in order to “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.” Back then, they were known as "Circuit Riders" and rode horses from place to place. Today, we drive Ford Focuses.

"We have a mobile faith!"

This willingness to move is at the heart of the Book of Acts as the early church took the gospel message from Jerusalem all the way to Rome. Today, the church continues to be on the move. We have a mobile faith!

Our church is also on the move. We are sharing the good news of Christ as far away as Lithuania and Zambia. Our youth will be sharing God’s love on their mission trips to Maryland and West Virginia this summer. Our monthly Second Saturday outreach blesses people in a variety of ways throughout Lancaster and the surrounding area. There are also many other ways that we are living out our faith beyond our church walls.

I just want you to know what an honor and a privilege it is has been over these past six years to serve a church that is always on the move.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Robert 

Church Staff Milestone Recognitions - Lancaster First UMC

During our staff dinner tonight, we recognized the following staff for their 10 plus years of service (& counting) on staff. Congratulations to Scott Gottliebson, Mary Grover, John Coen, Jill Warner, Clarence McCoy, & Sandy Roberts.

And of course, what would a night together as a staff be without karaoke? Church staff just want to have fun!

Centennial Anniversary of World's Largest Men's Bible Class (Lancaster First UMC) - April 15, 1915

Certified Lay Ministry: Congratulations, Judy Hug!

Congratulations to our own, Judy Hug who completed her 2013-2015 studies as a Certified Lay Minister in the United Methodist Church. She is one of 15 lay persons in our West Ohio Conference who will be recognized at this June's West Ohio Conference gathering at Lakeside, Ohio. Judy has been instrumental in helping us launch our church's new and exciting vision of Love-Grow-Serve.

Even I Like this Buckeye Van

Pastor Robert, would you be able to attend a photo gathering at Medill Elementary School on Tuesday at 12:30?

Sure! What's going on? 

Our church gave $1,000 to help a family with two disabled children have a handicap accessible van that includes a chair lift.

OK, I can do that!

When I arrived at the school, I walked passed the van (see picture above) and was very impressed! I approached the door of the school and could see that they were already having a special party in the hallway. Standing there were the very grateful parents and their two children sitting in wheel chairs. A teacher introduced them to me. I told them that I was Pastor Robert from First United Methodist Church in Lancaster. I looked up at the parents and said,

My church is so glad that we could help contribute funds toward the van. That's why we're here. We're here to be a blessing.

I wish all 1,400 members of our congregation could have seen the look of deep gratitude in each of their eyes.

They thanked me (meaning you, the congregation) over and over again as if I didn't hear them the first two times. Dad and mom were so appreciative that our church gave so much to help them even though we hadn't ever met their family personally and they don't attend our church. I wish all 1,400 members of our congregation could have seen the look of deep gratitude in each of their eyes.

Actually, we do know this family. About two years ago, we provided an air conditioner for this family because one of their children had extensive surgery and would need to stay in their hot apartment during the extensive recovery process.

Our church was able to make this generous donation through your faithful giving to our Local Relief Fund. We used to call this our Pastor's Discretionary Fund but that sounded like it was a fund to send the pastors on a vacation to Hawaii! This fund has always been used to help people like this family who are facing significant financial challenges and who are finding it difficult to care for basic needs.

Thank You!

So thank you church for helping to buy a special van that will help this family get from place to place. Our dollars are being used to build God's kingdom right here in our community!

As I was getting ready to leave the school, a church member standing next to me said, Hey Robert, did you notice the large Buckeye decal that is on the back of the van? Isn't it nice? If you look closely at the picture of the van above, you can see this sticker on the back side of the van.

The new owners of the van overheard our conversation and they looked at me with a confused look. The church member said, Oh, don't worry about him. He's just a Penn State fan.

I have to admit that even though I bleed blue and white, that Buckeye sticker looks really great on that van!

SPECIAL NOTE: Our Local Relief Fund is received on the first Sunday of each month when traditionally we offer the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Click here for the article about this story in the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.

Happy 5th Birthday, Second Saturday Outreach!

Tomorrow (February 14) marks the 5th birthday anniversary of the launching of our Second Saturday outreach ministry. Second Saturday is held on the 2nd Saturday of each month at our Crossroads facility from 8:30 am to noon where we go into the community to share God's love in simple but powerful ways.

Here's a list of the many projects of our Second Saturday outreach:

Painted several of the city’s fire hydrants
Painted over graffiti on bridges
Served as volunteers for charity events
Helped with house repairs 
Laid new flooring at Foundation Dinners 
Helped with the City of Lancaster downtown volunteer day
Split and delivered wood to help people in need heat their homes
Given away quarters to people at the Laundromat 
Helped residents at a nursing home play bingo and chair volleyball 
Taken bags of fruit and cookies to first responders, sanitation workers, and to people who are shut-in
Raked people’s yards
Helped with the Habitat for Humanity resale store
Given away smoke alarm batteries in the neighboring community
Made warm blankets for nursing home and hospice patients
Helped build a tree house for the students at Forrest Rose school for Developmental Disabilities

We launched Second Saturday as part of our worship services on Sunday, February 14, 2010. We had a great big map of Lancaster in the front of the church and we invited people to place a heart sticker somewhere on that map as a symbol of God's love for our community. I will never forget how moving it was to see people come forward and fill that map with those hearts! It was really awesome that Valentine's Day fell on Sunday that year when we launched this new outreach ministry.

Tomorrow (Valentine's Day) will mark our 5th birthday anniversary of Second Saturday. Thank you Jeff and Carrie Campbell, our Local Missions Team, and First UMC for blessing who knows how many people through this incredible ministry!

Lancaster First UMC & Imagine No Malaria

Here's an article about our church through the Imagine No Malaria campaign. Click this link. I'm so proud of the generosity of our church!

Church Leaders Attend Annual Training Gathering @ Lancaster First UMC

Our church held a church leader training at our Crossroads facility last night. The purpose of the training was to equip our 135 committee and program area servant volunteers with information related to our:

• United Methodist Theology
• Church's Mission & Discipleship Process (Love-Grow-Serve)
• Staffing/Committee Structure
• Church Meetings
• Church Finances, Policies, & Resources

We began our meeting with fun singing and also provided time for committees and program areas to be introduced. The cookies were also a highlight!

Each person received a leadership packet with all of the information that was covered during the training. The other wonderful thing about this annual training is that it only lasted one hour! How about that?!

"Lord, bless and equip our church leaders with the resources we need to carry out your mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Amen."

Haiti Mission Trip Commissioning - Lancaster First UMC

[Members of our Global Missions Team and Pastor Robert commissioning Judy Hug (kneeling) today in worship for her Haiti mission trip.]

Today, we commissioned Judy Hug who will be serving on a mission trip in Haiti this Friday through January 17. She will be going with a mission team from Indian Run UMC located in Dublin, Ohio.  They are being commissioned today at their church as well.

Judy last visited Haiti in1968, as an eighth-grader. Her father who was a doctor helped to start Grace Children’s Hospital in Port au Prince, Haiti.

They will stay at Les Cayes on the southwest coast of the island traveling daily to the small village of Pelerin. In Pelerin, they are planning to help with the building of their new concrete block church around their existing wooden structure. In addition to the construction tasks, they will also be providing Christian activities for the children of the area.

Top Ten Lancaster First UMC News Stories - 2014

What are the top Lancaster First UMC news stories from 2014? That's not easy to rank with so many highlights, but here is my personal top ten list. And no, my infatuation with taking selfies with church members didn't even make the list!

#10

Singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" for Easter Sunday

Our wonderful music ministry leads us in singing this amazing piece each year for thee most triumphant Sunday on our church worship calendar. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I can't wait for next Easter Sunday!

#9

Youth serving Holy Communion 

Our youth sit together every time we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion at the 10:30 am service. They also serve at several of the communion stations. It's always nice to know I have a fan club close by. It's also wonderful that they are providing leadership every time we receive this Sacrament that reminds us that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are invited to receive new life.

#8 

Holy Week Services - Last Supper Drama

Most churches have average to low worship attendance for their Holy Week services (Maundy Thursday & Good Friday.) Our church experienced record numbers in attendance because of our Last Supper drama that tied into our Lenten sermon series on "Who Were the Twelve Disciples of Jesus." This drama was done several years ago at our church so it was nice to continue this tradition.

#7 

The Twelve Disciples of Jesus Lent Sermon Series

This Season of Lent sermon series gave our church the opportunity to learn about the twelve disciples of Jesus and why Leonardo da Vinci depicted them the way he did in his famous painting. 

#6

Church Float Prize - Holiday Parade

Our Creative Ministries Team did a great job with our holiday parade float. We won one of the prizes for best floats. Way to go First UMC!

#5 

Four New Staff Members

It's not often for a church to hire four new staff members in one year, but that's what we did. Due to retirements and staff changes, we now have a new Discipleship & Outreach Director, a new Youth Director, a new Maintenance Tech, and a new Discipleship & Outreach Administration Assistant! Around this time last year, I told our Staff/Parish Relations Committee that we shouldn't be too busy in 2014. Boy, was I wrong! We owe a lot of gratitude to this committee for hiring wonderful people to equip us to serve in ministry in the name of Christ.

#4 

Crossroads building debt dips under $800,000!

To help put our church in a better financial position for the near future, we decided a few years ago to accelerate the pay off of our large Crossroads building debt. We are presently in the middle of the fourth of a five year campaign with the goal of being debt free by June, 2016. We hit a milestone this year when we dipped under the $800,000 mark. Thank to pledges, memorial gifts, rentals, and many fundraisers, we are rapidly seeing our debt drop lower and lower! This is great news!

#3 

Congregational Church Photo for New Pictorial Directory

Our combined worship service back in September, gave us the opportunity to be in a church wide group photo in the shape of a heart. Over 400 of us are in this photo. A colorized version of this photo is the front cover of our new church pictorial directory. By being in the shape of a heart, we are reminding ourselves that God is calling us to Love First, just like our church logo says.

#2

September combined worship service at Crossroads.

On the same day that we took the large church wide photo, we also worshipped together for the first time at our beautiful Crossroads facility. It was a great day. We also worshipped with Grace Fellowship Community which worships every Sunday morning in our Crossroads facility. It was an inspiring day of worship, singing, and celebrating our unity in Jesus Christ.

#1 

Launching of new Love-Grow-Serve church vision and discipleship process

Our church is excited about our new vision and discipleship process of Love-Grow-Serve. Those three words are simple, but powerful! We love through weekly worship. We grow through classes that cover the core areas of our faith. We serve by being part of a LifeGroup of 3 to 12 people where we not only share our faith with each other but serve in ministry as a small group. Expect to hear a lot more about Love-Grow-Serve in 2015!

A Very "Rotary" Christmas for Sharing Hope

[Pictured (from left) are: Bill Haase, rotarian; Donna Stalter, Rotary president; Rev. Robert McDowell, First United Methodist Church Senior Pastor; and Kristin Ankrom, Information and Referral executive director and rotarian.]

Christmas came early for Sharing Hope, a county-wide program that seeks to eliminate local poverty. Initiated two years ago by Rev. Matthew Richardson of First Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Sharing Hope brings people together from various socio-economic backgrounds.

Participants come together twice a month at our church's Crossroads facility on W. Fair Avenue for a meal, group discussion, an educational piece regarding poverty, and small groups that offer peer support and encouragement. The program is helping people to move toward long-term financial stability.

"We utilize the Bridges Out of Poverty and Getting Ahead in a Just Getting By World curriculum to build relationships between the community members who want to be a part of the solution and community members living in poverty," said Kristin Ankrom, Information and Referral executive director and Lancaster rotarian. "We have had much success over the past couple of years and can't thank Rotary enough for this donation."

When the Rotary Club heard about Sharing Hope's desire to have a special Christmas night for their recent December gathering, they offered a generous donation to help us purchase gifts for the children who are part of the program. And yes, the man in the red suit made a surprise appearance to hand out the goodies.

"Rotary is a strong supporter of the Lancaster community and we felt a need to help those struggling during the holidays by donating to this cause," said Donna Stalter, Rotary president. "The Sharing Hope Leadership Team shares the same goals as we do to promote a better community and life for people."

I am so grateful that our church has several people volunteering in this much needed outreach for our community. Thank you, Rotary Club for making Christmas a little brighter in our community!

Our Church Affirms & Blesses Two Persons in Pastoral Ministry

During tonight's Charge Conference meeting at our church, we affirmed the ministry of two people who are at different points in their ministerial journey.

Rev. Ben Foulk (Pastor Cheryl's husband)  is taking time off from active ministry and he needs to be officially affiliated with a United Methodist Church during this time. Ben has chosen to affiliate with our church. Ben will be teaching one of our Love-Grow-Serve core courses in Spring of 2015. Don't miss out on his class. You will learn a lot about your faith from him and he will be a wonderful blessing to our discipleship/teaching team.

Rebecca Hug is in the process of becoming an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Since we are Rebecca's home church, she needed our official approval to continue in the next phase of her journey toward ordination. She already met with our Staff/Parish Relations Committee and they recommended her to our Charge Conference meeting tonight for approval. Rebecca is currently the Youth Director at Hilliard UMC. After tonight's approval, she will continue in her process toward ordination by meeting with the District and Conference board of ministries. This process also includes supervisory years prior to ordination.

In the United Methodist Church, there are two tracts toward ordination. There is the Deacon track which focuses on service in the community and the Elder track which focuses on overseeing ministry in a congregational setting. Both are vital ways to provide spiritual leadership through the United Methodist Church.

Rebecca and our Youth Director, Joe Palmer were in the same confirmation class. It's great to know that our church is raising up leaders in the church!

[Rev. Mark Chows offers a blessing for Rebecca Hug in our church's chapel. Rev. Ben Foulk is kneeling next to her. Members of our Church Council shared in the laying on of hands.]

Following our meeting tonight, Rev. Mark Chow, the Assistant to the District Superintendent who presided at the meeting led us in a time of laying hands and offering prayer for Ben and Rebecca. There were approximately thirty of us and we gathered in the chapel and laid hands on each of them and offered prayers. It was a powerful and holy moment to know that our church has served and continues to serve as a home base for these two persons who have been called into ministry.

Love - Grow - Serve!

A new and exciting vision/discipleship process is emerging in our church. It's called,

Love - Grow - Serve

Over the past several months, our church leadership has been praying and wrestling about the vision that God has in mind for our congregation. We kept coming back to this simple phrase:

Love - Grow - Serve

Actually, this new vision was a no-brainer because we were already emphasizing "Love First" as our church focus. This is the logo that is on our church letterhead, website, church Facebook page, worship bulletin, and t-shirts.

As we thought about our church logo, "Love First," it became readily apparent that this is where any vision for our church needs to begin. We begin with love.

Here is a brief synopsis of our Love - Grow - Serve vision/discipleship process. It's brief because it's very simple and easy to understand. That's what I love about this! It's so easy that anyone can learn it rather quickly.

LOVE (Worship)

Like I said, our church's vision begins with love. As I John tells us, we love because God first loved us! When of the key ways that we receive and respond to God's love made known to us in Jesus Christ is through worship. We worship collectively when we gather to sing praises, hear the scriptures read and proclaimed, pray, and offer ourselves to God. We also worship through our personal daily time with God. Both are important! Love is associated with worship.

This brings us to the second word in the vision, GROW.

GROW (Classes)

Love leads to growth. Love prompts us to learn and discover who God and who God is calling us to be. This involves the exercise of our minds in learning and growing in the basics of the Christian faith.  

To help us grow, we offer Sunday School classes as well as bible studies. We also will begin offering six "Core Courses" designed for long-time church members as well as those who are new to our church. These will be offered on an annual basis on Sunday mornings at the church and on Wednesday evenings at our Crossroads facility as part of our Wednesday Fellowship Dinner program.

• Bible Basics
• Christianity 101
• United Methodism - History & Theology
• Means of Grace (Including the Sacraments)
• Spiritual Gifts
• Personal Finances & Stewardship

Our goal is to have a high % of our congregation complete all six of these "core courses" which will provide a strong foundation for our faith journey.

We love through worship. We grow through classes. And we..

SERVE (Small Groups)

Loving and growing naturally lead to serving. When we worship and receive God's love and then grow in our faith, all of this leads to a desire to serve and to live out who God has called us to be. 

In our emerging vision, we believe that God is calling us to form many small groups consisting of 3 to 12 people who will encourage each other to serve in ministry as a small group. For example, a small group may decide to help serve a meal at Foundations Dinners here in Lancaster. Another small group may decide to provide games for children at our annual Easter Eggstravaganza. Still, another small group may decide to serve at our Second Saturday outreach. The sky's the limit! There are many ways to serve and be a blessing in our church and community.

In addition to serving, we are encouraging our small groups to share their faith with each other. John Wesley, the 18th century founder of Methodism liked to ask the question, "How is it with your soul?" To help answer that question, we are inviting small groups to respond to these questions whenever they meet:

1. Share a recent "Closest to Christ" moment. (When did you sense God's presence in a very real way?)

2. Share when you denied Christ. It's good for the soul to confess when we fell short of being who God has called us to be.

3. Share when you were the "heartbeat" of Christ for someone. When were you a blessing to someone?

We will be hearing  a lot more about Love - Grow - Serve. In the meantime, pray for our church as we seek to live into this new and exciting vision/discipleship process.

Amazing Peg, How Sweet She Is

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Back Row: Clarence McCoy, Dustin Robers, Dan Kemp, Jill Warner, & Sandy Roberts

Middle Row: Lisa Schenck, Deb Silvia, & John Coen

Front Row: Jim Parker, Robert McDowell, & Peg Parker

Our Coordinator of Caring Ministries, Peg Parker is retiring this Friday after almost thirty years on staff at Lancaster First UMC. I have had the privilege of working with Peg these past five and a half years. She has been a tremendous blessing to our church in providing caring ministries in our church family.

The staff took her out to lunch today in Columbus as our way of saying thanks for her ministry. We had fun reminiscing and I wrote this song in her honor to the tune of "Amazing Grace." The staff sang this to her after our lunch. 

Our church will be hosting Peg and Jim for a retirement open house at Rising House from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm this Sunday, November 23. The Staff/Parish Relations Committee will be making a special presentation to her at 2:00 pm.

Thank you, Peg for helping our church make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!

“Amazing Peg, How Sweet She Is”

By Robert Vincent McDowell

[To the tune of “Amazing Grace”]

With special permission from John Newton’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandchildren.

Amazing Peg, how sweet she is.

Without her, our tummies would growl.

She loves to cook. She loves to bake.

What are we going to do now?

‘Twas donuts and coffee that’s made church fun.

Fellowship Time is the fun place to meet.

And now with Spirit Café on the same floor.

There’s more friends to meet and greet.

Through many freezer alarms and ice machines.

We have already come.

Tis grace hath brought us safe thus far.

And preserved our mayo and greens.

When Peg’s been there nearly thirty years.

Bright shining as the sun.

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise,

For this saint and a job well done!