First UMC to Welcome a USC Fan this Sunday (Sept. 6)

This Sunday, September 6, my brother, Dave McDowell who is a USC grad will be providing the 9:45 & 11:00 special music at First United Methodist Church in Lancaster, Ohio.

Did I mention that he is a USC grad? Wow, when he's in church, it will be just six days prior to the big OSU/USC game that has national championship implications.

I don't know if I should bring this up, especially before the big game, but one day, I heard him say a disparaging remark about Jim Tressel's sweater vest. OK, forget that last comment.

Did I mention that he is a USC grad?

Seriously though, please offer a warm Buckeye welcome to my big brother, an ordained Deacon and Music Director of our home church, Stewartstown UMC, Stewartstown, PA. He is a talented musician who will offer his gift of music with us and he will enjoy meeting all of you. It will also be great for our family to spend time with him and our mother who will be traveling with him this weekend.

Did I mention that he is a USC grad?

Learning Something New Every Day!

During my recent sermon planning retreat in Adam's county, a friend of mine and I spent an afternoon sight seeing Moore's Chapel United Methodist Church, located in Blue Creek, Ohio.

Moore's Chapel is named after Rev. Joseph Moore who organized the congregation as early as 1796. The historical distinction is that this church is on the site of the first Methodist Episcopal Church building in Ohio and the Northwest Territory dating back to 1800.

With so many United Methodist church buildings scattered throughout Ohio today, it was humbling to think that this was the location of where the very first one was built! The original building was a log cabin. An estimated guess is that there are probably about 1,500 to 1,800 UM churches in Ohio today.

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We toured the two room church which continues to be a place of worship and fellowship for the Moore's Chapel congregation.

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Before the sermon planning retreat, I never heard of Moore's Chapel UMC and it's historical distinction and I've been a pastor in the West Ohio Conference for the past twenty-four years! There's something new to learn every single day.

Sunday Worship Preview - September 6

Sunday, September 6 - (8:15 A.M. & 11:00 A.M. Traditional & 9:45 A.M. Contemporary)

Sermon - "Rethink Church"

Features - 14th Sunday After Pentecost & Holy Communion

Scripture - James 2:1-10 & Mark 7:24-37

Theme - Today’s Gospel reading is a difficult scripture for us because it offers us a side of Jesus that we don’t often see. In Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, he uses a negative term that was common in the 1st century. But thanks to this woman’s faith and determination, he rethinks his mission and ends up healing her daughter. What does it mean for us to rethink what it means to be the church? Who is God calling us to reach with God’s healing and unconditional love?

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Sermon Planning in Southern Ohio

I just got back from my annual three day sermon planning retreat to help me plan out sermons and worship themes for the upcoming year. A friend of mine who is also a United Methodist pastor joins me on this retreat and we help each other discern God's voice on what sermon topics would be most helpful to our respective congregations.

Here are some of the highlights from the retreat.

• While I wasn't able to incorporate everyone's ideas on which sermon topics to cover in 2010, I feel really good about the topics that have been chosen and how these topics will help our church to be faithful in our mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world. A big thanks to everyone who offered me sermon topic ideas!
• Since I'm still in the process of finalizing the sermon schedule, I won't include specifics, but there will be sermon series that will help our church to 1) attract seekers to our worship services 2) help us dig deeper into the bible 3) equip us to be involved in ministry and service 4) challenge us to new ministry initiatives 5) help us to take better care of ourselves; physically, mentally, and spiritually, and 6) enable us to celebrate the church seasons in new and fresh ways.
• My friend and I stayed at a beautiful home on the shores of Lake Wynoka in southern Ohio. (See picture above.) In addition to taking in the beautiful wooded area nearby, we also enjoyed a boat ride that took us around the lake.
• As always, our retreat included morning and evening devotions from the United Methodist Hymnal and we concluded our retreat by celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion outdoors.
• During our free time, we drove about 45 minutes to see the location of the oldest Methodist Episcopal Church in the Northwest Ohio Territory, Moore's Chapel United Methodist Church. We were able to take a tour of the small church building (not the original building.) We both were reminded that we are part of a rich history of those early Methodists traveling far and wide in order to "spread scriptural holiness throughout the land."
• 2010 is going to be a great year for us (including these two pastors!) to become more fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ through inspiring sermons and passionate worship.

August 16 Sermon - "The United Methodist Way - The Via Media"

Sermon by Pastor Robert McDowell

Video Forum on the Present Health Care Reform Debate

Kudos to Church of the Resurrection (United Methodist Church) in Leawood, KS for hosting a recent panel discussion forum at their church on the present health care reform debate.

This forum is a refreshing example on how to have a civil conversation on a very controversial topic that is dividing our country.

Here are the panel discussion participants:

Sam Turner, CEO, Shawnee Mission Medical Center
Myra Christopher, President and CEO, The Center for Practical BioEthics
Keith Wisdom, CFO, United Health Care Midwest
Rick Kahle, President, Employee Benefits, Lockton Insurance
Hilda Fuentes, CEO, Samuel Rodgers Health Center
Dr. Ritch Richardson, Emergency Room Physician, Johnson CountyEMS Director
Brenda Sharpe, CEO, REACH Health Foundation

Click on the link below to watch the forum:

http://www.cor.org/seasonal-special/health-care-forum/

Great Advice!

A friend of mine sent this piece of advice to me that was part of the Willow Creek Leadership Summit a couple of weeks ago. These were the closing thoughts from Bill Hybels.

1. Meet with God every day.
2. Read something good 30 minutes a day.
3. Review your replenishment strategy.

4. Decide to say “yes” to God every time the Spirit prompts you to do something.

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I guess before I work on #3, I need to have a replenishment strategy! I think I do to some degree, but it's not written down and as intentional as it should be. Also, I'm always saying that I'll read something good each day, but since the transition this summer, I haven't made this a habit again.

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Of the four things, I'm probably most disciplined in #1 and there is always room for growth with point #4.

By the way, isn't it cool that my friend took the time to send me and several other people the highlights of this conference to help us in our ministry? I appreciate the collegiality and support through other pastors in our United Methodist connection. We're all on the same team and we need each other.

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