Congregations and Clergy,
It is a wonderful time to be a United Methodist! Here are four exciting opportunities for you:
1. Our Guest Teacher for the 2023 Session of the Annual Conference is Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Come celebrate our connection when we gather in June!
2. Let’s engage Small Groups, Life Groups, and Sunday School classes in a six-week study from Rev. Adam Hamilton, recently released by Abingdon Press: Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws. During Lent, let’s intentionally get to know Jesus as Luke saw him! Would your church study Luke alongside other North Carolina United Methodists?
One of Luke’s major emphases is Jesus’ concern for the “lowly.” On nearly every page, Jesus is ministering with “sinners and tax collectors.” He routinely chooses and uses the outsiders. He welcomes the outcast. And, even from the cross, he is saving the outlaws.
The book is six chapters long, one for each week of Lent, plus a postscript on the resurrection. A daily scripture guide is available to help congregation members read through the entire gospel during Lent. Abingdon has created a leader guide and DVD for adult small groups and Sunday school classes. There are also free youth and children’s leader’s guides available.
What might happen if our North Carolina laity read Luke together for Lent? And pastors, if your Lenten preaching schedule hasn’t come together yet, you could preach through it while small groups and children, youth, and adult Sunday school classes were studying it together.
For help getting this resource, check out our NC Conference Media Center or contact the Media Center librarian, Laura Dallas, at ldallas@nccumc.org. You can also reach out to Caroline Monroe from Cokesbury at cmonroe@cokesbury.com or 615-749-6043. May our Lent in the North Carolina Conference be a powerful time as we draw near to Jesus in unity!
3. Please continue to engage with Pray As You Go each day as we practice prayer in 2023.
4. Check out other Lenten resources through our Media Center and daily devotionals from our North Carolinians!
May we prepare for a Holy Lent!
Gratefully,
Featured image credit: Cokesbury