From the Pastor (Page 3)

We are in a season of change in the United Methodist Church. Since our formation in 1968, there has been pressure from an outside group interested in disrupting all of the mainline Christian denominations in the United States. This outside group is named the Institute on Religion and Democracy (the IRD).  It is a group formed and financed by individuals opposed to the social witness of the church in the United States.  The Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, The Presbyterian…

Hey McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! The Holston Annual Conference met at Lake Junaluska June 5-8, 2022. Ann Russell was the Lay Member from McFarland. She and I were there to represent you at this annual meeting (the first one fully together since 2019 due to COVID-19). We met together under the theme, “Pray Together.” And we did. We prayed. We worshipped. We celebrated. And we lamented. We sat under great teaching on prayer from the Reverend Dr. Tom Albin, former…

It was a good week at Lake Junaluska for Annual Conference. The weather was perfect. The prayer studies with Dr. Tom Albin were spirit filled. The preaching of Bishop James Swanson was inspiring (as always) and the non-anxious leadership of Bishop Wallace-Padgett was needed and welcome.  Unfortunately, I came home to a positive test for COVID-19. I talk about this in this video link  https://fb.watch/dAJC-W-VY4/ Be a blessing,Pastor Wayne

Hey McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! Today is May 25, 2022. Charlene and I are taking advantage of a last minute opportunity to take a few vacation days in Cocoa Beach, Florida thanks to some dear friends. It has been a good get-away. The weather is perfect with highs around 90 and lows in the mid 70’s with winds out of the East at 15-20 mph. This afternoon, we had the opportunity to watch a SpaceX launch of a Falcon 9…

Happy Mother’s Day, y’all! On this day we celebrate all of those women who have provided a mothering influence in our lives. We also recognize that this is not a day that everyone wants to celebrate because their experience with their mother may not be positive. Click here to download the Mother’s Day Prayer that we shared this morning in worship. Free Store Needs Our next Free Store will be on Thursday, May 19. We are in need of the…

Hello McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! What a wonderful start we had to Holy Week yesterday with our Palm/Passion Sunday service followed by our first church-wide covered dish dinner since the COVID-19 shutdowns. I’ve received plenty of positive feedback on the service, and, of course, there was plenty of food for the dinner in Fellowship Hall. I want to express my thanks to Louise Hodges, Ann Au, Edwina Gillespie, and Barbara Leonard for their leadership and hard work to prepare the…

Hey McFarland! Pastor Wayne here. We continue our movement through the Season of Lent. This Sunday, March 27, will mark the Fourth Sunday in Lent and our theme is Reconciliation. We continue our investigation of Character and Calling with a look at Luke 15:11b-32, the parable of The Prodigal. Our God seeks reconciliation with us in ways that we cannot even begin to believe. On March 27, we will take our annual UMCOR Sunday offering that covers the administrative costs…

Hey McFarland, Pastor Wayne here with an update for February 21, 2022. Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions, yet it was a day of celebration for different reasons. In the morning worship service, we welcomed Bertie Spradlin’s extended family as we baptized Bertie’s great-granddaughter, Claire Elyse Tindell. Needless to say, it was a pleasure to welcome this family with a long-time connection to McFarland as we celebrated this infant baptism. Claire was a delightful child. When I took  her…

Hey McFarland!Pastor Wayne here! It is hard to believe that we are already into the middle of January of the new year. It is may hope and prayer that 2022 will be a better year for all of us going forward. This weekend marks the true beginning of a new lectionary series entitled, “Love Never Ends: Being the Body of Christ.” For the next seven weeks in this Season after the Epiphany, we will focus on the epistle lessons from…