(In the next couple of months, Pastor Brook is going to be sharing some of the many reasons he loves Bear Creek UMC, in hopes that it will inspire some of you to think and share, with Bear Creek UMC or your home community of faith, why you choose to invest your prayers, presence, gifts, and service in your local United Methodist church.)
One of the things I think that makes Bear Creek UMC a special place is that we offer a different type of church experience than so many others.
This week, after church, we had a Stephen Ministries teaching moment called “The Art of Listening.” In the class we had one unusual guest. Her name was Elise and what made her unusual for this type of class was her age...she was 12 years old! Now you might be asking why a 12-year-old is attending such a class, right? I mean what 12-year-old is interested in learning how to listen better!?! Can this be?
As I observed this phenomenon, I first want to say that Elise was very much interested in the subject. She not only participated in the discussion we were having, but she also asked some wonderful questions. But if you were there at this meeting, you would have also noticed that Elise was much more interested in who she was sitting by! And before you go on imagining that it was a 12-year-old boy, well let me stop you right there. She was interested in an 80-year-old friend of hers...Brook Self. Ever since Vacation Bible School, Brook Self and Elise have become fast friends. And starting the Fall, Elise has insisted on coming to church with Brook! It is so wonderful. And it highlights one of the ways that Bear Creek UMC is different than some other churches.
I think what helped me see this most clearly is a similar experience that happened in our Bear Creek UMC community a couple of years ago, when we had a new family join our church. In one of our classes, I was visiting with the mom of this family, and I asked her why she and her family chose to make Bear Creek UMC their new family. She pointed to her 4th grader and said very honestly,
“It was because of him. To be honest with you, we just kind of brought him to your VBS just to kill a week of time. We needed something for him to do and we saw your Facebook add and thought: ‘perfect!’ But then he’d come home so excited about not only meeting kids his age, but also about meeting some of the adults at VBS. And so, when we were starting to think of going to church again, we thought of Bear Creek UMC and gave you a try. On the first Sunday, during worship, our 4th grade boy got up and sat down with an old guy we had never seen. I mean he was easily in his 80’s! And for the rest of the worship service those two just chatted away like they were old friends. It was crazy. On the way home we asked our 4th grader who that guy was, and he said, ‘Oh, that’s Ted. I met him at VBS. We’re friends.
And that’s why we like to come to Bear Creek UMC. We’ve been to bigger churches where everyone is our age, and there are 50 4th graders all gathered together in one room. I have to say, it’s kind of attractive for most of us. Easy. And all the messages are geared right for us. But, in those places you don’t get to mingle and become friends with such a variety of ages and stories. Going to Bear Creek UMC is like going to a family reunion. You sit next to grandparents and great grandparents and siblings and nieces and nephews. And we sing songs we like, and songs grandma used to like. We just like that cool intergenerational feeling. We truly feel like we are ‘family” here. We also like that Bear Creek is so inclusive. It’s just heartwarming to know that everyone is welcome. And it’s good to see folks who are sometimes ostracized in other churches, come here, and know they are safe and totally welcome. That matters to us and makes us feel safer about having our children grow up here.”
In our Mission Statement here at Bear Creek UMC we start off by saying this: WE ARE A THRIVING, INVITING, INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY...For me, what immediately comes to mind is that at Bear Creek UMC our gatherings are like a big family reunion! A reunion that includes a 4th grade nephew and an 88-year-old great grandfather. It’s a place where we have folks sing the latest in contemporary worship music, and where we lift up the favorite hymn of our grandmother’s. And it’s a place where we open our hands and hearts wide to anyone and everyone who has been left out or pushed away in society and try to show them the way the world ought to be.
And that’s one of the reasons why Cyndy I support Bear Creek with our prayers, our prayers, our gifts, and our service. Being a part of this thriving, inviting, inclusive church has made us better people...more inviting and welcoming. Here at Bear Creek, our hearts have grown 3 sizes bigger! And I believe with all my heart that the world needs more Bear Creek’s!
Your friend, shouting out a song of joy as I witness the Kin-dom of God being realized right here at Bear Creek UMC
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