The Simpleton Blog

*CONTEXT* I’m currently an ordained elder in the UMC. My local church has been talking disaffiliation (switching denominations) for a long time. This past September we held a Town Hall Meeting and I presented an “impact report.” Simply put, we outlined what would happen if we stayed in the UMC and what would happen if we left. Then we took a four question survey asking about people’s theology of LGBTQ inclusion and asking them which denomination they would like to be a part o

Click here for the Word Doc.. Click here for the PDF.. Making Room For Jesus – 12.18.2022 [Hebrews 1:1-4, 10-12] In the beginning, there was nothing. Just God and nothing. God spoke, and created the entire world. From the animals in the woods, to the birds of the air, fish in the sea – God created it all. Last but not least God created humans. And for a while things were good, God and humanity were getting to know each other. But the humans broke God’s heart, betrayed his tru

Click here for the Word Doc.. Click here for the PDF.. The Gift – 12.11.2022 [Matthew 2:1-12 and Mark 14:3-9] As a child around Christmas, I had no self-control when it came to Christmas presents. If it was there, and it had my name on it, it was going to get opened, and quick. And so growing up, we had no gifts under the tree until Christmas morning. Now, in our house, we had some rules. All the bedrooms were upstairs, and the tree was in the living room at the bottom of the

Click here for the Word Doc.. Click here for the PDF.. Between The Trees – 12.04.2022 [Hebrews 11:8-16, Revelation 22:1-5] One of the greatest and most easily recognized Christmas traditions is this giant thing standing behind me. The Christmas tree. Every piece of it has an origin, from the type of tree to the lights to the thing on top, and everything else we put on it – everything has a reason that it is the way it is. What I want to teach you today is that the story of Ch

Newsletter – December, 2022 Greetings from the desk of the Pastor! Can it be true? Is December really here already? As many of you know, I took a quick vacation in the middle of the month that brought me to the other side of the state. As we were heading to my in-laws house, the west side of the state was experiencing what I can only describe as a snow-pocalypse! A good three feet of snow met us on the of the roads, but the crews did a great job clearing things and we made gr