A message from our Pastor
With the congregation of The First United Methodist Church of Melrose, I welcome you to our web site! If you are searching for ways to strengthen your connection to God and Jesus Christ, if you are hungering for a deeper and richer spiritual life, I hope that you will come to visit our church. We are easy to find in the center of the city of Melrose, on Main Street between Upham and East Emerson Streets across the street from Melrose Co-Operative Bank. Ours is a warm, welcoming, and friendly congregation. We are always overjoyed to welcome visitors to our uplifting and inspiring Sunday morning Worship Services, and our many opportunities for service, fellowship, study and learning . . . and fun!
Some information about our Worship and Sunday School – from September through June, we generally schedule two Sunday morning Services: a 9:00 a.m. Service in our little Chapel, which offers a more intimate, informal setting for worship; and a 10:30 Sanctuary Service, designed for a larger congregation, with a rich variety of sacred music. Our Sanctuary Service also includes a Children’s Worship segment, after which our Sunday School is dismissed for classes. Our Sunday School facilities provide a warm, bright, and happy environment for children and youth. We employ a trained Nursery coordinator for the “littlest” disciples, and celebrate their presence with the same joyful spirit in which Jesus welcomed and encouraged all children. I encourage families with children to “visit” our Sunday School and youth pages on this web site. During the high, holy seasons of the church year, Advent/Christmas and Lent/Holy Week, we schedule many special services and fellowship activities. Again, I invite you to visit our Calendar and Special events page(s) on this web site.
Here at First UMC, Melrose, we consider it an honor and a joy to strive always to be true and faithful to the advertising “motto” of the United Methodist Church – we share our spiritual life as a congregation of Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors. We celebrate diversity in all its richness: theological, cultural, political, gender and gender-orientation. All are welcomed here!
We are very proud of our beautiful facilities. Those who enter our magnificent sanctuary bejeweled with glorious stained-glass windows, a majestic pipe organ, and splendid altar and sanctuary appointments, feel the presence of God. Whether you enter to sit alone and pray, or come to join in the fullness of congregational worship, when you pass through our doors, which we open to you with love, you will surely feel that this is a holy and sacred place.
As you move among this congregation and share the loving and caring embrace of the people of God, you will likewise experience God’s presence in the people who grace this church with their presence – their faith, hope, and love.
As a congregation, we seek to be open to God’s holy presence and guidance as we strive together in the joyful task of being, making, and growing disciples of Jesus Christ. And we are a growing church! We are striving with new resolve and energy to open our doors wider – not only to our local community to love and serve where we are – but also to our global community, as we endeavor to build a new and exciting and expanded world-missional program. Please take the time to “wander” around in the “halls” of our web site. View the delightful and inspiring photos, read about our worship, study, service, and fellowship opportunities – and consider those places that might be calling you into a richer, fuller life of faith and discipleship.
Thank you for visiting us here – and please come to visit us in person, for by your presence here, both you, and we, will be blessed!
Pastor Chuck Hartman
The Pastor's Message: January 2011
Many people approach the door to the future, the threshold of a New Year, with memories of the past which make them very cautious. They face their future with little hope, and with much "fear and trembling." We often hesitate when facing brand new challenges and opportunities, because we remember past disappointments, past hurts, and maybe even past failures. So we want to linger for a while in familiar territory, in a state of suspended animation. We look back, and sometimes what we see from our past may paralyze us, if we allow it to.
Despite the hesitation we feel about new adventures in our living, the door of our future will be opened for us, for God speaks both the judgment and the promise: "Behold, I set before you this day an open door, which no one will be able to shut." While God allows us to look back upon our past, our Creator will not have us linger too long in the comfort-station of nostalgia. God calls us to pick ourselves up, to listen to the gentle bidding of the Spirit, and venture forward into the unknown, where God is always found, and where God calls us to be. In God our past is received and forgiven, our present is affirmed and empowered, and our future is opened up to us. Our future is always open, because the heart of God is open.
Surely what lies in store for us does, in some way, depend upon the manner in which we receive and interpret the experiences of the past. There is much gone by of which we must "let go," and much in our past to which we must still cling; and we must carry our lessons from ex- perience into this New Year, 2012. It is an individual, private decision each of us must make as to what has held us back, and what has helped us to grow. No one else can choose for us. I hope that some part of New Year celebrations will include prayerful reflection upon what has been, and what is yet to be.
But, as we look to the future and whatever fortune or loss it may bring, let us use our spiritual vision, and see everything through the eyes of faith. The door is open. As we wonder about what it is that lies on the other side of that door, let us remember the promise of our Lord: "Behold, I go on before you, and I prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also."
I wish for all the friends of our parish a spiritually rewarding, and adventurous New Year!
With Much Hope & Love, Pastor Chuck
A NOTE OF THANKS
Dear Church Family:
Once again Anona and I would like to express our thanks to our parish for the many beautiful cards, messages, and goodies that were given to us during this Christmas season. It means the world to us to know that we are surrounded by such a loving, caring, and supportive church family.
With deepest appreciation, Anona and Chuck Hartman
