Dear friends and members of University UMC:
This week, I have been in Chicago for a Commission on the Status and Role of Women board meeting. I have served on this commission of The United Methodist Church for several years. It is rewarding work, and one of the greatest gifts is connecting with laity and clergy from places as close as Louisiana and as far away as the Philippines; I am grateful to be part of a worldwide, connectional denomination.
On Wednesday, we worshiped at First UMC’s noon service. Housed in a building called The Chicago Temple, the architecture is gorgeous. The face of the wooden altar table pictures in exquisite detail the scene of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. As it reads in Jerusalem 19:41-42a, “As Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!’”
