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Covid Update from the Bishop & Cabinet July 26, 2022   We have begun to get updates from local churches reporting Covid outbreaks after an event or worship service.  Even though the current variant, Omicron BA.5, generally causes less severe disease than infection with prior variants, it does spread more easily. Currently, 50 of the 100 counties in North Carolina are at high risk for Covid infections and the resulting strains on the health care system.  Current transmission rates are high ...

A Season of Transitions “To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…”  Ecclesiastes 3:1 Move week is a bittersweet season for United Methodists.  After all these years of service, I find myself a bit wistful in the last week of June. I will miss those who are moving and am eager to embrace those are arriving. (I also count myself grateful to be staying in place. It is a joy to serve with you.) We will miss our dear colleagues who are being appointed to new places,...

Annual Conference 2022 Lake Junaluska June 16-19, 2022 Can you hear it…the gleeful greetings…the soothing music of favorite hymns? Can you see it…the serene lakeshore…the majestic mountains surrounded by lofty clouds…the faces of beloved friends!  Can you feel it…the cool breezes…the warmth of long-awaited embraces…the excitement of friends, colleagues, and leaders of our cherished church gathered once again?    Ahhh…Annual Conference time at beautiful Lake Junaluska.  At last, we can gather ...

So Many Ways of Caring “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it…”  -Psalm 24:1 My Sundays in May have been spent in preaching and making presentations. On May 29 I had the privilege of presenting The Green Church Award to West Market Street UMC in Greensboro. The church is our first to be designated a “Green Church,” having incorporated covenantal acts of creation care in the areas of worship, discipleship, stewardship, mission, and evangelism.  I am ...

A Resource for Worship: Caring for God’s Children … and all Who Love Them Hi Friends, I believe you will have access to many worship resources right now that relate to our collective grief and our activism as United Methodist Christians, but I wanted to share the litany below for use in your congregations. Perhaps you might find it useful during the upcoming season of Pentecost. I urge you to spend sacred time in worship this weekend both praying for the comfort of all who mourn, but also ...

Caring for God’s Children … and all Who Love Them   …let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 1 John 3:18 As you must be, I am stunned by more gun violence in this country. I am stunned. I wish I could say I am surprised, but I have honestly come to wince each time I open the news. I just wonder, “who is next?” What setting, what community? Online hate groups are indoctrinating impressionable people and encouraging and endorsing violence against the innocent. Like you, I am ...

Making the Church a Safe Place Again   How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!                                                                                                  -Luke 13:34b   I pass a fire station on the way to and from my office each day. It’s “my” fire station, I like to think, because persons from that station would most likely be the ones to come and help me at my home in a time of need....

Reminder to Northern Piedmont Clergy Required Attendance at Annual Conference WNC clergy who are in full connection, provisional members, associate members, and local pastors are required to attend the Western North Carolina Annual Conference meeting, June 16-19, 2022. Annual Conference will be live-streamed for at-home viewing, but registration and full participation (including voting) is only possible in person. If you are not able to attend in person, please request an excused absence. You ...

To Northern Piedmont District Clergy: Shared today by WESPATH: Have Student Loans? Learn Whether They Can Be Forgiven at an Upcoming Webinar Clergy and employees of not-for-profit organizations engaged in faith-based work may now qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. However, time is of the essence. More favorable temporary rules expire October 31. Wespath is hosting a webinar that will provide more information about who qualifies, the application process, upcoming ...

Dear Friends, As we move towards a likely Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in November, and a new date for General Conference in 2024, a few of you have reached out to ask if there is anything your church needs to do at this time. The Cabinet has produced an Expanded Profile for both churches and clergy to complete over the next few years to ensure that good communication and consultation takes place for all the churches in our continuing United Methodist Church. As you know, we are a ...

The Day of Easter                           Sunday, April 17   A Song of Victory When We Get To That Safe Place   Read: Psalm 118 (The Psalm for Easter Sunday 2022)   A Song of Victory   1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;     his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say,     “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say,     “His steadfast love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say,     “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5 Out of my ...

Day Forty                Holy Saturday, April 16                                     The Last Day of the Lenten Season                                  The Night of the Easter Vigil   The Death of the Great One   Read: Deuteronomy 34:1-8   Moses Dies and Is Buried in the Land of Moab   34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and ...

Day Thirty-Nine                              Good Friday, April 15     The Foretelling of the Death of Moses   Read: Deuteronomy 32:48-52   Moses’ Death Foretold   48 On that very day the Lord addressed Moses as follows: 49 “Ascend this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites for a possession; 50 you shall die there on the mountain that you ascend and shall be gathered to your kin, ...

Day Thirty-Eight                             Maundy Thursday, April 14   Reading the Law Aloud Every Seventh Year   Read: Deuteronomy 31:9-13 (The Law to be Read Every Seventh Year)   The Law to Be Read Every Seventh Year   9 Then Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them: “Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of remission, during the festival of booths,...

Day Thirty-Seven                            Wednesday of Holy Week, April 13                         Called to Choose Life   Read: Deuteronomy 30:11-20   Exhortation to Choose Life 11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to ...

Day Thirty-Six                                 Tuesday of Holy Week, April 12   Blessings and Curses   Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-8   Blessings for Obedience   28 If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; 2 all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God: 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you ...

Palm Sunday                    Sunday, April 10   The Sundays of Lent are not considered in the count of the season’s 40 days. Sundays are for celebrating the resurrection on each phase of life’s journey. During Lent we have several “Little Easters” to refresh us along our way. Today we read the Psalm for Palm Sunday.   Our Times are in God’s Hand   Read: Psalm 31:9-16   Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;     my eye wastes away from grief,     my soul and body also. 10 For my ...

Day Thirty-Five                   Monday of Holy Week, April 11                         On Tithing   Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-11   First Fruits and Tithes 26 When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord ...

Day Thirty-Four                              Saturday, April 9   Duties to your Brother’s Wife     Read: Deuteronomy 25:5-10   Levirate Marriage   5 When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her, 6 and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased ...

Day Thirty-Three                            Friday, April 8   Fair Agricultural Practices                         Read: Deuteronomy 24:19-22   19 When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. 20 When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. 21 ...

Day Thirty-Two                               Thursday, April 7   Wages Must Be Paid Promptly   Read: Deuteronomy 24:14-15   14 You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. 15 You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.   Today’s Word from the Weary ...

Day Thirty-One                   Wednesday, April 6   You Cannot Have Financial Gain at the Expense of Someone’s Daily Needs   Read: Deuteronomy 24:10-13      10 When you make your neighbor a loan of any kind, you shall not go into the house to take the pledge. 11 You shall wait outside, while the person to whom you are making the loan brings the pledge out to you. 12 If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the garment given you as[a] the pledge. 13 You shall give the pledge back by ...

Day Thirty                                        Tuesday, April 5   Honeymooners Can’t be Drafted   Read: Deuteronomy 24:5   Miscellaneous Laws   5 When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married.   Today’s Word from the Weary Wilderness: He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife he has married. (Deuteronomy 24:5b)   Reflection: Did you know ...

Day Twenty-Nine                           Monday, April 4                         Regarding Divorce or Remarriage   Read: Deuteronomy 24:1-4   Laws concerning Marriage and Divorce 24 Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house 2 and goes off to become another man’s wife. 3 Then suppose ...

The Fifth Sunday in Lent              Sunday, April 3   The Sundays of Lent are not considered in the count of the season’s 40 days. Sundays are for celebrating the resurrection on each phase of life’s journey. During Lent we have several “Little Easters” to refresh us along our way. We will read the Psalm appointed for each Sunday in Lent in 2022.   Our Fifth Little Easter   Read: Psalm 126   A Harvest of Joy   A Song of Ascents. 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,     we were like...

Day Twenty-Eight                               Saturday, April 2   When We Wear the Wrong Clothes                         Read: Deuteronomy 22:5   5 A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.   Today’s Word from the Weary Wilderness: …whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)   Reflection: This one seems trivial, as Jesus himself even encouraged us in the ...

Day Twenty-Seven             Friday, April 1   When our Children are Rebellious or Addicted                      Read: Deuteronomy 21:18-21   Rebellious Children   18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. 20 They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is ...

Day Twenty-Six                               Thursday, March 31    Disputes, Assaults, and Other Troubles   Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-17 21 If, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess, a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck the person down, 2 then your elders and your judges shall come out to measure the distances to the towns that are near the body. 3 The elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked, one that...

Day Twenty-Five - Wednesday, March 30   When We Take Allegiance to Another                         Read: Deuteronomy 17:2-7 (See also Luke 14:26)   2 If there is found among you, in one of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and transgresses his covenant 3 by going to serve other gods and worshiping them—whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden— 4 and if it is reported to...

Day Twenty-Four - Tuesday, March 29                           When We Are Tempted to Worship Another   Read: Deuteronomy 13:6-10   6 If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, “Let us go worship other gods,” whom neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 any of the gods of the peoples that are around you, whether near you or far away from you, ...

Day Twenty-Three - Monday, March 28   When Women Make Vows   Read: Numbers 30:1-16   Vows Made by Women   30 Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites: This is what the Lord has commanded. 2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.   3 When a woman makes a vow to the Lord, or binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house, in her ...

The Fourth Sunday in Lent - Sunday, March 27       Our Fourth Little Easter The Sundays of Lent are not considered in the count of the season’s 40 days. Sundays are for celebrating the resurrection on each phase of life’s journey. During Lent we have several “Little Easters” to refresh us along our way. We will read the Psalm appointed for each Sunday in Lent in 2022.   Read: Psalm 32 The Joy of Forgiveness Of David. A Maskil. 1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,     whose sin ...

Day Twenty-Two - Saturday, March 26   You are Dirty When You Touch the Dead   Read: Numbers 19:11-22   11 Those who touch the dead body of any human being shall be unclean seven days. 12 They shall purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if they do not purify themselves on the third day and on the seventh day, they will not become clean. 13 All who touch a corpse, the body of a human being who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile ...

Day Twenty-One - Friday, March 25   Why We Must Have Fringes on our Garments   Read: Numbers 15:37-41   Fringes on Garments   37 The Lord said to Moses: 38 Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. 39 You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own ...

Day Twenty - Thursday, March 24   When We Complain on the Weariest Wilderness Days         Read: Numbers 11:1-15 Complaining in the Desert 11 Now when the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled. Then the fire of the Lord burned against them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because the...

Day Nineteen - Wednesday, March 23   When A Woman May Have Gone Astray   Read: Numbers 5:11-31 Concerning an Unfaithful Wife 11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act; 14 if a spirit of jealousy ...

Friends, As we continue on our journey, I want to thank each of you for the ways you have been in dialogue with me and with each other over these long months of the COVID pandemic. We have done some great things together, as we have all waited for many next steps. Below you may find some words from Bishop Ken Carter, who shares some wisdom about the postponement of General Conference. He expresses how we are called to live not just during this middle time, but always. Thank you for your ...

Day Eighteen                                   Tuesday, March 22   Biblical Teachings on Confession and Restitution   Read: Numbers 5:5-10   Confession and Restitution 5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt 7 and shall confess the sin that has been committed. The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding one-fifth to it, and giving it to the one who was wronged. 8 ...

Day Seventeen                                Monday, March 21   When We Confront (Leprous or other) Unclean People   Read: Numbers 5:1-4 Unclean Persons 5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Command the Israelites to put out of the camp everyone who is leprous, or has a discharge, and everyone who is unclean through contact with a corpse; 3 you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp; they must not defile their camp, where I dwell among them. 4 The Israelites did so, ...

The Third Sunday in Lent            Sunday, March 20   Our Third Little Easter The Sundays of Lent are not considered in the count of the season’s 40 days. Sundays are for celebrating the resurrection on each phase of life’s journey. During Lent we have several “Little Easters” to refresh us along our way. We will read the Psalm appointed for each Sunday in Lent in 2022.   Read: Psalm 63:1-8   Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence   A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.  ...

Day Sixteen                          Saturday, March 19   When Our Relatives Have Money Problems               Read: Leviticus 25:35   35 If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you,[a] you shall support them; they shall live with you as though resident aliens.   Today’s Word from the Weary Wilderness: “…you shall support them; they shall live with you…   Reflection: I receive this passage as one of the weariest ones, having had kin who have fallen into difficulty. I am ...

Day Fifteen - Friday, March 18         When Children Curse – The Problem of Shelomith’s Son   Read: Leviticus 24:10-16 10 A man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian came out among the people of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and a certain Israelite began fighting in the camp. 11 The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name in a curse. And they brought him to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan— 12 and they put him ...

Day Fourteen - Thursday, March 17   On Mediums and Seances   Read: Leviticus 20:27 (See also Deuteronomy 13:1-5)   27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.   Deuteronomy 13:1-5 13 If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents, 2 and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, “Let us follow other gods” (whom you have not known) “and let ...

Day Thirteen - Wednesday, March 16   On Affairs, Adultery, and Death    Read: Leviticus 20:10-14 (See also Deuteronomy 22:21-22)   10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. 11 The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed ...

Day Twelve - Tuesday, March 15   The Scriptures Du Jour (of the Day)   Read: Leviticus 18:1-23, Leviticus 20:5-16   Sexual Relations   18 1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. 4 My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall ...

Day Eleven - Monday, March 14      We Must Not Work on the Sabbath   Read: Exodus 31:14-15 (See also Numbers 15:32-36)   14 You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.   Numbers 15:32-36 Penalty for ...

The Second Sunday in Lent - Sunday, March 13   Our Second Little Easter The Sundays of Lent are not considered in the count of the season’s 40 days. Sundays are for celebrating the resurrection on each phase of life’s journey. During Lent we have several “Little Easters” to refresh us along our way. We will read the Psalm appointed for each Sunday in Lent in 2022.   Read: Psalm 27   Triumphant Song of Confidence Of David.   1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;     whom shall I fear? The ...

Day Ten - Saturday, March 12   The Sin of Charging Interest   Read: Exodus 22:25-31 (See also Deuteronomy 23:19)  25 If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; 27 for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will ...

Day Nine - Friday, March 11   Fights Breaking Out All Over Read: Exodus 21:18-27   18 When individuals quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or fist so that the injured party, though not dead, is confined to bed, 19 but recovers and walks around outside with the help of a staff, then the assailant shall be free of liability, except to pay for the loss of time, and to arrange for full recovery. 20 When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies ...

Day Eight - Thursday, March 10   Concerning Kidnapping and Human Trafficking   Read: Exodus 21:16 (see also Deuteronomy 24:7)   16 Whoever kidnaps a person, whether that person has been sold or is still held in possession, shall be put to death.   Deuteronomy 24:7: 7 If someone is caught kidnaping another Israelite, enslaving or selling the Israelite, then that kidnaper shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.   Today’s Word from the Weary Wilderness: “shall be put to death.”  ...