What's Happening
The Osceola United Methodist Church is open for In-Person Sunday Worship Services beginning at 10am following Covid precautions. We also are live streamed via the Facebook page and can be viewed later on our YouTube Channel. Our Last Wednesday Meals are now back. The next meal will be on February 28th from 5:30-6:30pm. Peace Lutheran Church will be the host. The church is following CDC Guidelines for Covid precautions and is continuously monitoring for any changes.
A few years ago, while I was serving a different church, our family faced one of its deepest challenges – our daughter’s battle with addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. A lot of memories came flooding back as I attended our district gathering and its focus on recovery ministry last month.
And Lent seems like a great time to share about our own brokenness – so here goes.
In the midst of that time Cheryl and I shared with the church some of what we were going through. That’s a hard thing to do for a whole bunch of reasons: anxiety about how revelations of the problems of the pastor’s family will go over in the church and community, concerns about privacy and confidentiality, well, you can probably imagine.
We shared that we had been privileged to be a part of a family program at Hazelden in Center City and how we had met an amazing group of family members and other loved ones of people seeking to overcome their addictions.
We joked about it being a little bit like camp. What a mix we were - parents of addicts, children of alcoholics, spouses of those who were battling what are called co-occurring disorders (addiction and mental illness), one brother of a guy who was in treatment for his 3rd time and a few of the patients of the facility. We spent a lot of time together and got to know one another. Much of that happened in small discussion groups. Most of us in the group had never been in such a group before. But they were game and open. I learned about hopes and fears held by others in the group, worries about their own abilities to cope - even though for most of them I never learned what they did for a living or where they came from. Normally that’s one of the first things we learn about others. But here – there were other things much more important.
Some of us thought we were there to learn about addiction - and we did. But that wasn’t the point. We learned that were there to achieve our own healing – or at least to get a start on it, just the way our loved ones were getting a start on their healing.
When you take a friend or loved one to the hospital for a procedure – you wait in the family waiting room. And even though everyone in that room has a few worries and fears, the waiting room is the place for those who are well. Those who aren’t are in the operating room down the hall.
That’s wasn’t quite true here. We realized that there was as much healing needed in this room as that one.
One of the counseling rooms where we had small group meetings had a mobile hanging by the window. A family is kind of like a mobile - an interconnected system. You touch one part of it and the whole thing is affected – it keeps trying to find its balance. The crisis that had affected our loved ones had thrown us all off balance. And so, a family looks to reestablish that balance together.
The power that comes from doing it in community is surprising but unmistakable. We had a sense of that power as this group of strangers was drawn together by our shared pain and struggle. And we only had four days together.
I discovered that power when I came back home too. When we shared about our struggle, I got a deeper sense of the real power of a church. I learned that many of our own church family have had some form of addiction and mental illness in their families. I learned about people having their own bouts with alcohol, drugs, depression and other mental illnesses. I got used to having friends stop me to share about their own journeys through the struggle.
Sometimes we sell our church short, but often it is the very messiness of it that gives it power.
I have turned to the reflections of author and pastor Henri Nouwen before in my life. In his most quoted book, The Wounded Healer, he shares about his own battle with depression and suggests that the best healers are those who have experienced healing themselves.
Our own experience with loneliness, depression, and fear can become a gift for others, especially when we have received good care. As long as our wounds are open and bleeding, we scare others away. But after someone has carefully tended to our wounds, they no longer frighten us or others. When we experience the healing presence of another person, we can discover our own gifts of healing. Then our wounds allow us to enter into a deep solidarity with our wounded brothers and sisters.
That’s what happened in that church. I will always love those folks for it. And that’s what Jesus did. He who was God entered into the pain, sorrow and brokenness of humanity – because that is how he would heal it.
See Philippians 2:6-8
And isn’t it amazing. Jesus continues to use the hurting people of his fellowship to join him in that pain and sorrow to bring healing to one another. Whatever our own messiness, we all have a ministry with one another. Thank you for being open to his call.
Blessings,
- Jack
And Lent seems like a great time to share about our own brokenness – so here goes.
In the midst of that time Cheryl and I shared with the church some of what we were going through. That’s a hard thing to do for a whole bunch of reasons: anxiety about how revelations of the problems of the pastor’s family will go over in the church and community, concerns about privacy and confidentiality, well, you can probably imagine.
We shared that we had been privileged to be a part of a family program at Hazelden in Center City and how we had met an amazing group of family members and other loved ones of people seeking to overcome their addictions.
We joked about it being a little bit like camp. What a mix we were - parents of addicts, children of alcoholics, spouses of those who were battling what are called co-occurring disorders (addiction and mental illness), one brother of a guy who was in treatment for his 3rd time and a few of the patients of the facility. We spent a lot of time together and got to know one another. Much of that happened in small discussion groups. Most of us in the group had never been in such a group before. But they were game and open. I learned about hopes and fears held by others in the group, worries about their own abilities to cope - even though for most of them I never learned what they did for a living or where they came from. Normally that’s one of the first things we learn about others. But here – there were other things much more important.
Some of us thought we were there to learn about addiction - and we did. But that wasn’t the point. We learned that were there to achieve our own healing – or at least to get a start on it, just the way our loved ones were getting a start on their healing.
When you take a friend or loved one to the hospital for a procedure – you wait in the family waiting room. And even though everyone in that room has a few worries and fears, the waiting room is the place for those who are well. Those who aren’t are in the operating room down the hall.
That’s wasn’t quite true here. We realized that there was as much healing needed in this room as that one.
One of the counseling rooms where we had small group meetings had a mobile hanging by the window. A family is kind of like a mobile - an interconnected system. You touch one part of it and the whole thing is affected – it keeps trying to find its balance. The crisis that had affected our loved ones had thrown us all off balance. And so, a family looks to reestablish that balance together.
The power that comes from doing it in community is surprising but unmistakable. We had a sense of that power as this group of strangers was drawn together by our shared pain and struggle. And we only had four days together.
I discovered that power when I came back home too. When we shared about our struggle, I got a deeper sense of the real power of a church. I learned that many of our own church family have had some form of addiction and mental illness in their families. I learned about people having their own bouts with alcohol, drugs, depression and other mental illnesses. I got used to having friends stop me to share about their own journeys through the struggle.
Sometimes we sell our church short, but often it is the very messiness of it that gives it power.
I have turned to the reflections of author and pastor Henri Nouwen before in my life. In his most quoted book, The Wounded Healer, he shares about his own battle with depression and suggests that the best healers are those who have experienced healing themselves.
Our own experience with loneliness, depression, and fear can become a gift for others, especially when we have received good care. As long as our wounds are open and bleeding, we scare others away. But after someone has carefully tended to our wounds, they no longer frighten us or others. When we experience the healing presence of another person, we can discover our own gifts of healing. Then our wounds allow us to enter into a deep solidarity with our wounded brothers and sisters.
That’s what happened in that church. I will always love those folks for it. And that’s what Jesus did. He who was God entered into the pain, sorrow and brokenness of humanity – because that is how he would heal it.
See Philippians 2:6-8
And isn’t it amazing. Jesus continues to use the hurting people of his fellowship to join him in that pain and sorrow to bring healing to one another. Whatever our own messiness, we all have a ministry with one another. Thank you for being open to his call.
Blessings,
- Jack
ELECTRONIC GIVING
Members and Friends of Osceola United Methodist Church have the opportunity to sign up for an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to better facilitate financially supporting the church's ministry. The Finance Committee is encouraging the Church family to sign up with VANCO, the leading company in the church EFT business.
Some of the benefits to the church and to individual givers include:
The EFT method insures that even if you are unable to attend church on a given Sunday, your offering will still be received by the church.
The church will benefit because the EFT method will allow for better and more consistent budgeting. Regardless of the weather, or people being on vacation, or out-of-town for the weekend, your offerings will be received.
Individuals will maintain control over their giving, ie: you determine a specific day each month on which your contribution will be deposited in the church account. You have the opportunity to support specific mission projects. Your giving remains confidential.
Speak with Mark Koeller… he can answer specific questions and help you if you’re interested in signing up for this service.
Members and Friends of Osceola United Methodist Church have the opportunity to sign up for an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to better facilitate financially supporting the church's ministry. The Finance Committee is encouraging the Church family to sign up with VANCO, the leading company in the church EFT business.
Some of the benefits to the church and to individual givers include:
The EFT method insures that even if you are unable to attend church on a given Sunday, your offering will still be received by the church.
The church will benefit because the EFT method will allow for better and more consistent budgeting. Regardless of the weather, or people being on vacation, or out-of-town for the weekend, your offerings will be received.
Individuals will maintain control over their giving, ie: you determine a specific day each month on which your contribution will be deposited in the church account. You have the opportunity to support specific mission projects. Your giving remains confidential.
Speak with Mark Koeller… he can answer specific questions and help you if you’re interested in signing up for this service.