November 30

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

My family learned some inspiring news on Thanksgiving Day that involves my mother's side of the family. We had long been told that we were related to John Alden, who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower. Not only was that information confirmed to us on Thanksgiving by a family historian, we learned that we had four more relatives on the ship. That means that out of the102 passengers aboard the Mayflower, five of them were kinfolk. 

It's hard for me to believe that I am related to people who could have endured such hardship. The 102 passengers on the ship were cramped to say the least. Their living area for the two month voyage was only about 20 to 80 feet with a ceiling that was about 5 feet high. The first half of the trip proceeded with calm seas and pleasant skies. The second half was just the opposite - full of storms that threatened the lives of the ship and its passengers. And then after they landed, they faced a harsh Winter that killed half of them.

Why were the Pilgrims willing to go through this? Much of it had to do with religion. The Church of England had become abusive in many ways. The Puritans were a group of people who wanted to reform the Church of England. The Pilgrims, however, decided that was not enough. They were Separatists. They wanted to separate from the Church of England so they could worship freely.

Maybe there is some Pilgrim blood in me after all. After failing to reform the United Methodists from their discriminatory doctrine and actions toward LGBT people, the people of Asbury and Wesley Oak decided to become pilgrims. We embarked on a journey to separate from the denomination — needing to learn to do things differently — and then came a pandemic. But we have endured, and in many ways, we have begun to thrive — especially since our ministry is starting to reach people in areas of the country and world we would have never dreamed of before

We will begin our journey by celebrating Holy Communion together. I hope those who will be worshipping Online will have bread and juice with them so they can participate with us.

Those who will be worshipping with us in person at Asbury will also be receiving a strip of cloth that we are to keep with us through the season of Advent. The cloth represents the Light of Christ. You will have the opportunity to place your strip of cloth in the crib at the altar on the 4th Sunday of Advent.

Join us for fellowship and education at 10:00 a.m. We meet in the social hall (Holliday Hall) at 10:00 a.m., and we'd love for you to join us. Come have a cup of coffee at 9:45 a.m. as we gather together. 

Love,
Billy