Weekly Greeting - March 1, 2024
Dear Bethlehem Family,
As I mentioned in my article last week, United Methodist pastors are required to pursue continuing education courses each year and encouraged to engage in renewal leaves every four years.
I have always found my continuing education courses helpful and I’m looking forward to a month long leave in April. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church describes the nature of clergy renewal leaves in paragraph 351. I will begin my study by participating in a clergy renewal program at Duke Divinity School and finish by attending General Conference as an observer.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve as your pastor and for this time of reflection and renewal. Rev. Dr. Cathey Talley, our Harpeth River District Program Manager, Rev. Don Sensing who once attended Bethlehem, and retired Pastor Denman Frazier will be preaching and leading worship while I am gone.
Rev. Betty Proctor, who serves as the pastor of Hillsboro United Methodist Church in Leiper’s Fork and Rev. Denman Frazier will be available for any pastoral emergencies.
I am excited about what God is doing here at Bethlehem during this Season of Lent leading up to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Know that God will continue to bless us through this new year.
Blessings,
Craig
This Sunday is the third Sunday of Lent. It is also communion Sunday. Our text is John 2:13-22 which records the story of Jesus overturning the tables in the temple of Jerusalem. In John’s gospel, the event occurs at the beginning of Jesus‘s ministry and not at the end of his ministry, as in the synoptic gospels. The scene also takes place immediately following Jesus‘s first miracle. Join us for worship as we explore the significance of this text which seems so puzzling on the surface.