Mitchell and Rebecca are back, saving me from flying solo! In this week's episode we look back at yesterday's wrap up of the "Earn, Save, Give," worship series. Mitchell received an award, on behalf of White Rock UMC, from Rev. Cammy Gaston, Director of Leadership Development at the North Texas Conference. We talked theology of hymns, how self-care is not an excuse for selfishness and how practicing kindness can truly lead to happiness, and did our best impersonation of NPR. 

Find out more about the four week class Rebecca mentioned at www.wrumc.org/november.

And here is a link to the painting in Mitchell's office: The Broad and Narrow Way

Today was a special treat as Rev. Mitchell Boone accepted the Harry Denman Evangelism Award. This award is given out each year in the North Texas Annual Conference to one clergy, one laity, and one youth. Mitchell, on behalf of White Rock UMC, accepted the award celebrating a 250% increase in professions of faith during the 2019 calendar year. If you aren't sure what that means, take a listen!

This award celebrates Mitchell's leadership and the incredible work this entire church does in the East Dallas community, and beyond! We celebrate this award and all you, the congregation, do to make WRUMC a home for some many.

Mitchell's second sermon in our series "Earn, Save, Give," focused on saving. He shares some staggering statistics and talks through a challenging text in the Gospels (Mark 10:17-31), often referred to as "The Rich Man."  He also discussed practices related to money we have to un-learn, then re-learn new ones, in order to have a better relationship with money.

We'd love to hear your feedback on this sermon, this series, and your relationship to the church. Reach out to us on Facebook, YouTube, or email.

I fly solo in this episode, as Mitchell and Rebecca have good enough reasons for being out.  

As we continue through our series "Earn, Save, Give," this week's focus is on saving - which is as much a spiritual issue as it is a physical discipline.

In this episode, I reference the story often referred to as "The Rich Ruler," in Mark 10:17-31. I also talk about this month's book club where we'll be reading Walter Brueggemann's book "Money and Possessions." You are invited to join the book club conversation on Tuesday, October 27th at 8:00pm. You can find out more about the book club at www.wrumc.org/bookclub. Even if you can't read the whole book, pick a few chapters and join the conversation.

I also mentioned our latest survey. Again, we do a new survey every couple weeks so we can checkin. This survey is a financial checkin, and by that I mean we want to know how you are doing in relation to money. Not how much you have, how much you are giving, but how is your emotional/spiritual state in relation to money. You can find the survey at www.wrumc.org/survey.

Amy Allen sits down with me to discuss what it means to save, both financially and beyond. Amy is a White Rock UMC regular and has loved being a part of this community. Amy talks about the lessons she has learned as well as her greatest joys in life - all a part of what it means to save.

How are you feeling financially? We'd love to checkin with you. Take our latest survey, a financial checkin at www.wrumc.org/survey

Mitchell introduces our new worship series "Earn, Save, Give: A Series on Money and Happiness." In this series we will look at stewardship through the lens of John Wesley, specifically his quote "Earn all you can. Save all you can. So you can give all you can."   

Mitchell address the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 and discusses the joy of stewardship when we look at possibilities rather than just preservation. He also challenges us to examine how we see God's character.

Today we discuss the kick off to our new worship series - Earn, Save, Give: A Series on Money and Happiness.  

Throughout this series we will take a Wesleyan perspective on stewardship and we begin by discussing The Parable of the Talents, God's character, vocation, and reprogramming the church... casual Monday conversations.

We talk about resources to better understand the Parable of the Talents. While I don't have anything specific to link to, I highly suggest the work of Amy-Jill Levine. She is an agnostic Jew (self professed) who teaches New Testament at Vanderbilt. Her work will open you to new perspectives on the parables, and the context from which they come.

You can sign up for this month's book club. We'll be discussing Walter Brueggemann's book "Money and Possessions." Details here:

Kyle Oberkrom, member and WRUMC Lay Leader, joined me to kickoff our new worship series - Earn, Save, Give: A Series on Money and Happiness. We discuss vocation, all the glories of finance, and the value and benefit of "Earn."  

Kyle also shares many of the ways he is involved at WRUMC, ways you too can get connected.

You can also learn more about our new series and the overall stewardship campaign at www.wrumc.org/2021

In this week's sermon Mitchell invites us to re-member, to be stitched together and remain bound in order to do the work we are called to as the Beloved Community. He invites us not only to remember the past, but also remember the present, and remember (to remember) the future as well. These all play a role in our sharing of Holy Communion. 

Sacraments are indeed holy and sacred experiences. We know it is difficult participating in such experiences virtually. This is all so challenging. We would love to know how you are feeling about Church in 2020. Take our latest survey at:

On this day after Sunday Rebecca, Phil, and Mitchell reflect on World Communion Sunday, that sneaky good Sunday.  

We discuss how communion is a process of re-membering - stitching us back together - binding us together to do this work of kingdom building. Rebecca also gives insights on the history of hocus pocus and communion.   

Tune in for the magic (pun totally intended!).

Also, not too late to take our "Church in 2020" survey: