Alka's Angle

I have been having trouble with the faucet in my kitchen lately. The faucet is leaking! No, let me clarify. Every time I turn the faucet off -- it leaks. And I know I am the only one who is having this problem because I don’t see it leaking when I am turning it on. It leaks, only, when I turn it off! Strange, right? I thought so too!

We have been talking about the state of the United Methodist Church for months now, but the reality is that most churches are experiencing this decline in membership. I know in this situation it is normal for regular church goers to feel depleted, disappointed and spent.

Beloveds, last Sunday we meditated on the “Beatitudes” of Jesus and I have not been able to forget the fact that Jesus was preparing his disciples to be called names and insulted and rejected when they will do what Jesus was preparing them to do -- to feed the hungry, to care for the needy, to tend to the sick, to speak against the injustices of the empire and to stand with the least, the last, and the forgotten.

Beloveds, I am slowly getting into the rhythm of things and am catching up with emails and phone messages and texts, even as I continue to prepare for the upcoming 2020 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. While I have been trying to keep you informed with all that is happening, I feel it is also important that we, as a congregation, also have our own conversations and think of where we would want to be as a congregation and who would we want to align with, post May 2020.

As we welcome the year 2020, I am reminded of the roller coaster of emotions the year 2019 has been- some of brought a smile to our faces but many were challenging, that have had a toll on our lives -- as individuals and as a church.