Seth’s Message
I am taking a month’s break from our articles about the ministry teams of the church to share a few different notes. The month of April has several noteworthy items to share. I think you will understand. Next month will be an article about the Committee on Endowment.
As I turned the calendar to my favorite month of the year (I turn 52 on April 3rd) I thought about Holy Week and Easter. This year we will be hosting a Good Friday service on April 18th at 7:00 pm. This will be a special service. When I was in college I became good friends with Shawn. His father was a pastor in the Church of the Brethren and through Shawn I learned about the sacrament of Foot Washing. In the United Methodist Church we only have two sacraments: Holy Communion and Baptism, but in the Church of the Brethren they add Foot Washing. I am so grateful to Shawn for sharing with me the liturgy of this special service. In addition to Shawn, I remember my friendship with Jim. He was a member of a church I served and he too was raised in this same denomination. The community we lived in did not have a Brethren congregation but he was active where I was the pastor. Jim assisted me one year in this special Good Friday re-enactment of the sacrament that he grew up with. He also taught me about the Love Feast. “The Sacrament of Foot Washing must have a Love Feast following the service,” Jim would tell me. Since we do not have a functioning kitchen we will be modifying our form of the Love Feast; instead of a pot-luck meal we are asking you to bring a dessert to share. So, on Good Friday, we will participate in the Sacrament of Foot Washing and follow it up with Love Feast by sharing together dessert.
Easter is April 20th. Join us for a special celebration as we remember the Resurrection of Jesus.
On another note, last Sunday it was announced that I will be transitioning to a new appointment come July 1st to the Stevensville United Methodist Church. As of the writing of this article your new pastor has not been determined. I am confident in Bishop Stoneking that she will appoint the right candidate. I want to thank everyone for welcoming us into your state and into the parsonage here in Butte. We loved Montana so much that we purchased a home in Lolo in January. This is the place we want to retire. Thank you for the past three years.
Seth