Hey Galilee—I wish you could see you as I see you.

The blessing of being a pastor at this church is that I can see the whole field of Galilee’s activities from the main campus of Galilee, to our online community, to our ministries at Lansdowne Woods and Ashby Ponds. I see us reaching out to feed students, to minister to the sick and lonely, to support neighbors near and far.

Across the board, I detect renewal and uplift; a rejuvenated spirit and a sense of growing community.

In what has been a loooong comeback from Covid, I see evidence of rebirth. In fact, I have seen evidence of actual birth! There are young families joining the church. We baptized seven children this summer. Seven! Honestly, my fingers feel pruny from all that baptismal water. That’s OK! That’s a win, I’ll take it.

It’s not just new people joining the church, existing ministries and experienced Galileans are growing, too. I see this in the groups using church real estate again, returning in person and even learning how to set up hybrid technology in the Adult Flex space to connect with those at a distance. As small groups return and renew, they’re not leaving the remote participants behind. They’re bringing them along. They are connecting with more and more people.

You know, this week we received a shipment of food from a company that’s new to me. I don’t know anybody at the company. Nobody at that company is a regular in our pews, as far as I know. And yet that company saw us online, saw what we are about, and chose Galilee as the recipient of their employee food drive. The Backpack Buddies program sees instant renewal because our church is making an impact online.

What else is new? What else feels renewed? The Galilee Christian School after-care program is starting today (Thursday, August 25). It’s great to see our classrooms filling up again. It’s refreshing to hear the boisterous activity from elementary students in the gymnasium. God is good! The smiles on the teachers’ faces tell that story. Their hearts are overflowing to see the children and to express His love for them.

What really tickles me is that 2022 feels like a year of renewal…and I sort of dreaded it.

Long ago, before any virus troubled my thoughts, I expected that the road ahead for Galilee was going to be bumpy due to denominational conflicts. I was going to have hard conversations with congregants concerned about the direction of our church. (I have written before about the difficulties I expected). 

Honestly, hard conversations have been few and far between and even when the person I’m talking to and I face incompatible notions of what Methodism means, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a chance for a fresh start—for those who walk away, for those who plow ahead, for those who may even feel stuck in the middle still. Disagreement gives us a chance to start anew. On a global or national level, there are difficulties in our denomination. But here on the ground, for the majority of us, there is the blessing of the work we do to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community regardless of any division.

Nothing symbolizes a new start and a new season like a “kick off.” Right? The Youth Group kicked off quite literally last Sunday with a kickball game. Also kicking off is a new worship time (10am—write that down!) beginning September 11. That Sunday is one we want to invite you to invite someone else to. Your friends, your family, your workmates, your neighbor, your Uber driver, your dog groomer, it doesn’t matter! Tell them we worship at 10am on September 11 (write it down) and that we’ll celebrate with a Kick-Off Picnic after the service.

I am so excited about more people returning to in-person worship at what we think will be a better time. Hey, the choir will be back, too. I hope you are excited about renewing your worship with us!

I wish you could see you like I see you, Galilee! What I have learned in recent years is that we are a resilient community of faith. We trust God and face challenges together. Maybe we’re ordinary people, but we’re committed, and we stay connected, and we continue to fulfill God‘s extraordinary purpose: knowing Christ and making Christ known.

“Be renewed in the Spirit.” – Ephesians 4:23