January Newsletter

Dear Friends,
As the Christmas season is starting to settle and the trees are being taken down and presents are being put away (or returned!), life seems to start to settle back into a routine. There’s a question that John Wesley asked of those “Methodists” who were in small groups. “How is it with your soul?” It’s a question that bears a lot to us daily. “How is it with your soul?”
I usually open my devotions with that question in the morning, but for some time I’ve avoided answering it. To be truthful, my soul is tired and weary. As you read this, I will be working to fix that. I will be on vacation from December 29-January 7th and this is the first real vacation that I have had in several years. I say the first real vacation because it is the first time that I am taking a vacation because I need it and not for another reason like my car being fixed, a convenient time around a meeting, or doing other work for the church. Taking this vacation is a good way to prepare for the coming year and to refresh my soul.
On January 6th, the worship service will be an opportunity for the Sheridan-Norway United Methodist Churches to begin to prepare as well. In the first Sunday of the year, the service will be a prayer service. There will be different opportunities to pray together as the church, a gathered body of believers. This time of prayer will be for many reasons. It will remind us to be in conversation with God, to be listening to God, and to be open to what God is calling us as Sheridan-Norway United Methodist Churches to do and to be.
Over the next year we will have many conversations on what our vision and mission from God is and how we will live into that. Sometimes that means that there will be changes, sometimes things will be done in ways that are not completely comfortable, sometimes there will be people that we had not expected. In the midst of that, we will be faithful to God as God is faithful to us.
Another way to explore our vision and mission will be during the sermon series & study during Lent. We will be working through Pat Nixon’s book I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. This book has been recommended by the Northern Illinois Conference and many pastors across the Dekalb district have already met with the DS to discuss it. Now, as Sheridan & Norway congregations, we will have the opportunity to share and discuss. Please look at the information on this book, class, and opportunity for discussion in this newsletter.
I am looking forward to these conversations and how we can be faithful as God’s servants.
Blessings,
Pastor Melissa