from the pastor

June 22, 2003

I enjoy waking up and seeing the yard the day after mowing the grass. Birds from all over the city flock to it and pull off a scavenger hunt. Just like those people who swarm to Saturday morning yard sales--picking over the merchandise--so the birds gather early morning in the back yard--hopping this way and that--sorting through the yard clippings--discerning--eager in their body language--to take home a bargain, a steal.

Our family enjoyed Father's Day last week by joining my parents and brothers at my brother's house in Mt. Zion. On the way back home, I decided to take the girls slightly out of the way so they could see where I lived when I was in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades--Dalton City. We moved there 40 years ago this fall, the week after John Kennedy was assassinated. I wanted to show them the garage--where I threw a rubber baseball for hours--practicing my grounders--imagining myself in the big leagues. But the garage had been torn down and replaced by one with aluminum siding. I showed them our house and church, the school I attended (now for sale), the little league diamond, the grocery (now an antique shop), the post office (still a post office), the spot where Mrs. Earl's restaurant used to be (really only a candy and cigarette shop--and the only place in town that would run a tab for a ten year old), where Mrs. Baker used to live (the meanest teacher in the school), where Howard Monroe lived (the old guy in the church who loved to laugh and who knew how to make every kid feel like royalty), and the "highway" that ran right in front of our house. Mindy and Alison were amused at my recollection of this busy highway. It used to be route 121, going smack through the middle of Dalton City, right in front of our house, separating our house from the schoolyard. But along about 1967, the state built a new route 121, going around Dalton City. And now my busy highway is a narrow crumbling street, another peaceful part of town, in a town where all appears to be settling.

Back to 2003 and Urbana. Congratulations to Art and Derys Harper on their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married 50 years ago last Friday at the Villa Grove United Methodist Church.

Our new projects--Grace Street and Grace Years--will begin in July. These innovative and experimental projects consist in starting two new faith communities--separate--but related in multiple ways to Grace Church. Grace Street will focus on young adults (ages 20-40) and children. We will be meeting with literally hundreds of young adults, one by one, and inviting them to become part of small groups. There will be programs for their children. Grace Years will focus on retired people, harvesting their stories and memories, and inviting them to participate in small groups. Each project will have a unique worship component starting sometime in the fall. And both projects will focus primarily on relating to persons who are not currently active in a church. As we begin this exciting and scary faith adventure, please be in prayer that God will bless our work and that our efforts will be true to God= s love for persons in our community. Marcia Burns joins the church staff full time on July 1 to work with us in developing and shepherding these projects. --Mike

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