JANUARY
2005 Newsletter
A
JANUARY MIX
Paul T. Stallsworth
THANK
YOU
The
Stallsworth’s of Morehead City (and the Stallsworth’s of
Belleville, IL) are deeply grateful for the thoughtful --
actually, wonderful -- Christmas gift from St. Peter’s United
Methodist Church. Because of your generosity and careful
planning (or was it scheming?), Brandie and Ryan Stallsworth
were flown to New Bern, driven to Morehead City, and delivered
safely and soundly at the parsonage late on Christmas Eve. This
to the surprise of (most of) the local Stallsworth’s.
Experiencing the first Christmas in twenty-one years without our
beloved Paige, we were profoundly thankful to have Brandie and
Ryan in Morehead City on Christmas Eve and Day. Grateful to God
for our many years with Paige and recalling her often, we had a
blessed time together. You made that possible. Again, our
heartfelt thanks to you for this thoughtful, great, memorable
gift!
CHRISTMAS
PARADE
The 2004
Christmas Parade down Arendell Street in Morehead City, on
December 11th, was enjoyable. The marching bands, the other
musical groups, the elected officials riding in fancy cars, the
beauty queens waving, the participating businesses, the candy
throwing, and the various floats made for a good time for the
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of spectators who lined Arendell.
The vast majority of the musical selections, the groups, and the
floats celebrated the Santa side of the season. And of course,
that was fine. But there were two floats that remembered the
Christian reason for the season. St. Egbert’s Catholic Church
and St. Peter’s United Methodist Church’s Pioneer Clubs had
floats that featured the Holy Family -- Mary, Joseph, and Baby
Jesus -- in Nativity scenes. Again, out of all the floats and
marchers of the day, only some Roman Catholics and some United
Methodists witnessed to the (historical and theological) truth
of Christmas. It was one of those unplanned events in Christian
unity. And it made this United Methodist pastor very thankful
for, and humbly proud of, our congregation’s participation in
the 2004 Christmas Parade.
MAKING A
STATEMENT
Did you
ever think that, by greeting someone with “Merry Christmas!,”
you would be making a statement? Or offering a witness? Well,
it seems that day in America has arrived. As we all know, there
has been a big push -- by secularizing organizations and forces
in our society -- to transform “the Christmas season” into “the
holidays.” They strongly prefer “Happy Holidays!,” as a
greeting, to “Merry Christmas!” Christians, a “Happy Holidays!”
greeting would be most appropriate to Jews whom we know.
Otherwise, we can be eager to greet one another and others with
“Merry Christmas!” throughout the entire Christmas season of
2004-5 and those that follow.
NEW SUNDAY
SCHOOL CLASS
A new
Sunday School class has started at St. Peter’s United Methodist
Church. Meeting in the kitchen near the Choir Room, the class
is small. And it still lacks a name. But it has started. The
new class hopes to involve those who have recently graduated
from high school, twentysomethings, and others. Each Sunday
morning we are discussing various “issues,” drawn from the
newspapers or from magazines, that relate to being Christian in
our time. The goal is to build us up, in relationship to Christ
and in the Church’s faith, to meet the challenges of our day
with truth and in love. If you are a young adult, you are
invited to join us.
THAT
ORDINATION SERVICE
On the
evening of December 12th, the pastor preached the sermon at an
Ordination Service of Worship, as Benjamin S. Sharpe, Jr.
entered the priesthood of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA).
The service took place in York Chapel at Duke Divinity School in
Durham. For years, Ben Sharpe had been a faithful, resourceful
United Methodist pastor throughout the North Carolina
Conference. You may remember when he served as the pastor of
Atlantic United Methodist Church in the New Bern District
several years ago. Recently, Ben sensed the Holy Spirit’s
leading into the AMiA priesthood. He is now establishing a new
congregation, The Church of the Messiah AMiA, in south Durham.
This opening story from the sermon might be of some interest:
“Probably ten years ago, Ben Sharpe and I were discussing a
matter, we took to be of some importance, about the Church and
the world. As I recall, we were disagreeing about the matter.
In advancing his case, Ben, in good lawyerly fashion, was lining
up all the evidence at hand that favored his position. Then I
noticed that the main source of authority, for his opinion --
the trump source, if you will -- was ‘Lisa said...’ [Lisa is
Ben’s wife.] Repeatedly, Ben noted, ‘Lisa said...’ Since that
memorable conversation with Ben, when telephoning the Sharpe
household and Lisa has answered, I have carefully and
respectfully addressed Ben’s good and faithful wife as ‘Bishop
Lisa.’” It should be noted that the bishop presiding at the
ordination service, The Right Reverend Charles Murphy III, was
amused by this story. And the evening’s preacher was thankful
that he was.
