Pastor's Midweek Message

June 24, 2026

Beloved,

Two years ago this week, Mary and I were moving out of our home for 20 years, and into the parsonage, to begin this journey with you. As we mark the close of my first two years here, I thought it might be worth seeing where God has been moving in these 104 weeks.

When I arrived, we were in a state of disarray and conflict. People who were members were staying away: in the first six months of 2024, we averaged 35 people in worship (in-person and online), and our youth group had dissolved. My first weekend, 36 of us came to check out the new pastor. My first week here, I was greeted with church leaders telling me they were leaving to go elsewhere. I began to wonder what God had in mind for me in this new place.

God quickly began to answer that, as we turned away from the past and stepped into our future together. People came to Coffee With The Pastor to share their hearts for our church. People seized on the idea of hosting a National Night Out, and that first year we welcomed around 200 neighbors. The Church Council asked if I would be willing to lead them to explore and implement the Simplified Accountable System (SAS) of church governance. God began to lead old friends back to us, and new people began to join us Sunday mornings. 

Fast forward two years. We now average 60 people on a Sunday. We have welcomed more new full members than we have lost to moves or death in these last two years, including two by adult baptism. We have a reinvigorated youth group, who lead us in worship at least twice a year, and whose energy and enthusiasm encourage me every time we meet. We honored our roots, with a beautiful and powerful celebration of Our First Seven Decades in May, welcoming our District Superintendent and 100 people in worship—and we have looked forward. We have stood up our new Leadership Board under the SAS model, and released people to serve in the mission field instead of sitting around committee meetings. We offer help to our neighbors as never before, with feeding ministries in Hopewell, tutors at Enon Elementary, and mentors at Marguerite Christian Elementary. We blessed Communities in Schools children with gifts for Christmas and for the summer, and we welcomed back our Girl Scouts to be a part of the life of our church again. We partner with others, such as Chester UMC and Trinity UMC in youth events, at ChesterFest and Vacation Bible School, and amazing musical cantatas, and also with First UMC Hopewell and Living In Your Purpose for feeding the homeless. God is on the move in and through “the church on the hill,” and it’s beautiful to see!

So let’s pause a moment this week and just give thanks to God for how God is working in and through us. I could tell even before we unpacked that God had a plan for us, and if we could cooperate with that plan, God would bless us richly. The blessings have already begun, and I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store for us!

So let’s go.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Eric