Rio Texas Summer 2020 Resources for Sermons and Worship

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2020 is halfway gone, but what a year it has already been! Rio Texas pastors and laity have been courageous and creative in their work over these past months, as you’ve faced tremendous challenges together. We have learned unexpected lessons about what is possible and what is necessary, and many of us have welcomed new participants in our churches’ ministry as a result.

As we move through the summer, it will be more important than ever before to ensure that your pastor takes time for rest and restoration. John Thornburg, of Texas Methodist Foundation, shared the notion that traumatic seasons often move through three stages:

  • The Heroic Stage
    People work hard and try new things. They give more than they thought possible and ride an initial surge of energy.

  • The Disillusionment Stage
    This stage is characterized by exhaustion. People realize that while they’ve adapted to a new context, they haven’t really innovated. The reality that the crisis will continue sinks in.

  • The Turning (Toward the New Thing)
    Turning to truly look ahead is dependent on getting rest and some distance from the constant anxiety of the crisis. It’s a time for people who have worked heroically to receive support. This need for rest will certainly apply to laity as well as clergy.

 

So the question is, how will you make sure your pastor and other core workers get the rest they need this summer? In an effort to support your leaders in taking time off, we offer the following suggestions for pre-recorded sermons and worship services:

 

  • Sermon by Greg Hackett, Las Misiones District Superintendent
    “Inside Out” – when one feels like an outsider; Acts 8:26-40
    https://youtu.be/D72h93tZVeg

 

  • Sermon by Robert Lopez, Coastal Bend and El Valle District Superintendent
    “A Word of Encouragement” – the promise of God; Joshua 1:9
    https://youtu.be/eJ7vGL75x08

 

  • Sermon by Andy Smith, Hill Country and West District Superintendent
    “Fear of the Other” – 1 John 4:18 and Luke 10:25-37
    Preached on June 7, 2020 for Wimberley UMC.
    https://youtu.be/529ZTc-m98M

 

  • Sermon by Laura Merrill, Assistant to the Bishop
    “Centering Hagar” – reading Genesis 21:8-21 from the perspective of Hagar, the enslaved Egyptian girl. Linked here. This sermon was preached in the context of worship at Laurel Heights UMC in San Antonio; the full service (traditional) is available at https://www.laurelheights.org/.

 

 

  • United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, KS
    COR has done an excellent job of using virtual tools to produce inspiring worship. See what ideas you might pick up from their website, or invite your church folk to worship online there. Use social media or online small groups to create ways for your church’s leaders to check in with participants. 

            https://cor.org/

 

  • Collaborate with your neighbors – be the connection!
    Approach a neighboring church or one of the larger churches in your community, to see if you can share resources over the course of a few weeks. Cover for each other, plan with each other, or just encourage your church to watch worship from another place. If the other church knows your plans, they could include a welcome to your people in their remarks or even use one of your representatives in their worship. There’s lots of high-quality, faithful work happening every week in Rio Texas churches, and it might be a resource you can continue to tap moving forward. For once, geography is no barrier!

 
We are in this with each other for the long haul, and we all do our best work when our minds and spirits are fresh. While taking such a break is unfortunately not possible for everyone, we hope you can find ways to spell each other, for the sake of your common ministry. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any member of the Cabinet or to colleagues in ministry, as we move through the summertime. May God bless and multiply your efforts and your faithfulness.

 

In Christ,
The Rio Texas Cabinet