Dear Hyde Park Family:

Rejoice always. Pray continually.
Give thanks in every situation
because this is God’s will
for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

As we enter these days of giving thanks with loved ones and friends, consider these words from John Wesley, in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer:
it is almost essentially connected with it.
He that always prays is ever giving praise,
whether in ease or pain,
both for prosperity and for the greatest adversity.

He blesses God for all things,
looks on them as coming from him,
and receives them only for his sake;
not choosing nor refusing,
liking nor disliking, anything,
but only as it is agreeable or disagreeable
to his perfect will.

On behalf of the clergy, staff, and lay leadership of Hyde Park United Methodist Church, I wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving!

Grace and Peace,

THANK YOU FOR COMMITMENT SUNDAY AND SERVE DAY!

Thank you to all who made last Sunday such a joyous day for our congregation! Over 200 of you served under the Hospitality Tent of Metropolitan Ministries, working at every level to distribute food to persons in need. It was a glorious sea of people in red t-shirts, all making God’s love real! To see pictures from the day, check out our Facebook and Instagram pages.

And thank you to those who helped kick off our Commitment Sunday with such a strong start by turning in your estimate of giving card. If you haven’t yet done so, please submit one securely and quickly online at hydeparkumc.org/eog. To see more about our “Love for All” campaign, click here.

November 16, 2023

Dear Hyde Park Family,

Over the past three Wednesday nights, I have had the fun of teaching a class on the Enneagram, a personality type indicator that guides self-discovery, offers awareness of one’s strengths and shadows, and enhances relationships with others. Every time I offer the class, I learn more about each of the nine types, including greater understanding of my own. (Type 6, in case you are familiar with it.)

With Thanksgiving next week, I have been pondering what each of the nine styles would be most grateful for in their lives, in their relationships, and in their faith. So, I wrote the following as a kind of litany that you might find meaningful, whether or not you know your own Enneagram type.

An Enneagram Thanksgiving

Type 1, The Perfectionist: I am grateful for God’s goodness and righteousness, which enables us to live moral and ethical lives. And I am grateful for God’s forgiveness, which redeems me when I go astray.

Type 2, The Helper: I am grateful for God’s love, which enables me to be generous and self-sacrificial in addressing the needs of others. And I am grateful for how that love is unconditional, which shows me how to love myself.

Type 3, The Performer: I am grateful for God’s excellence, which urges me to offer God my very best, in every aspect of my life. And I am grateful for how God’s is teaching me not to avoid failure, but to embrace it as a teacher and guide.

Type 4, The Artist: I am grateful for God’s beauty all around me, which allows me to transform the hurt and suffering within and around me into something that is exceptional, beautiful, and inspirational to others. And I am grateful for how God is showing me humility, through the example of Jesus.

Type 5, The Thinker: I am grateful for God’s wisdom, which enables me to experience the thrill of discovery through intellect and reason. And I am grateful for how God is helping me to embrace mystery and the unknown, so that I can be more connected to God and others.

Type 6, The Loyalist: I am grateful for God’s commandments, which creates order out of chaos, and aligns me and others to live together as God intends. And I am grateful for how God is helping me to embrace my fears, trust my gut, and take a risk whenever necessary.

Type 7, The Adventurer: I am grateful for God’s joy, which addresses the pain and suffering in my life and others, and helps me to savor all the delights and adventures that are around me. And I am grateful for how God is helping me to acknowledge pain, rather than escape or avoid it.

Type 8, The Leader: I am grateful for God’s power, which is made perfect in my weakness, helps me overcome my limitations, and enables me to empower others. And I am grateful for the gift of repentance and humility, which helps me to live in God’s strength, rather than in denial.

Type 9, The Peacemaker: I am grateful for God’s peace, which seeks the wholeness and health of all creation and within my own self. I am thankful for the harmony of the natural world, and for moments when I feel calm and settled. And I am grateful for times of conflict, which push me and others into new understandings and possibilities for growth.

Most of all, I am grateful for Jesus Christ, who is the perfect reflection of all nine dimensions of humanity, and is the full expression of God’s divinity. In him, and through him, we have all that we need.

And for that, let us be thankful.

Grace and Peace,

November 9, 2023

Dear Hyde Park Family,

Years ago, Grace asked me to describe my happiest memories. I told her about the time she and her sister were born, about the day I married their mother, and about the night I was ordained a minister. She agreed that those were good memories and felt satisfied by those answers.

But here’s a thought experiment. What if she had asked me to assign a monetary figure to those memories? What if she had asked, “Daddy, what is the monetary equivalent of those memories? How much money would I need to have in order to feel as happy as any of those events?”

I know; that’s a really odd question. But it’s one that an Australian professor named Paul Fritjers asked back in 2009, as the culmination of a surprising eight-year study. After surveying 10,000 people, he developed dollar value equivalents for the emotional effects of events such as marriage, childbirth, divorce, and home purchases. Positive dollar amounts indicated “psychic benefits,” and negative dollar amounts showed “psychic costs.”

For example, here are some of his conclusions:

• A man getting married feels like he just received $32,000. To women, it only feels like $16,000.
• Divorce feels like a $110,000 loss to a man, but only $9,000 to a woman.
• The death of a spouse or a child feels like minus -$130,900 to a woman, and a whopping -$627,300 deficit to a man.
• And moving into a new home? A positive $2,600 for a woman, and a negative -$16,000 to a man.

Frijters suggested that the study’s value might be in assisting insurance companies and lawyers in assigning dollar compensations for certain life events. He summarizes his study with this statement: “Losing or gaining money can offset the effect of other life events quite well, and that is what we are formally looking at – the amount needed to offset an event or keep someone happiness-neutral.”

Oof. I don’t know about you, but the word outlandish comes to mind.

You know as well as I do: you cannot quantify your feelings with dollar signs, and you cannot put a price tag on life’s most significant moments. Yet that is a message embedded in our natural urge to accumulate more material goods and earthly treasure. The only solution to this kind of wayward thinking is to align our finances around the biblical principles of generosity. It’s captured in Jesus’ words to his disciples:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 6:19-21)

This Sunday, we continue in our Generosity Campaign “Love for All” with an exploration of Paul’s teachings on money, contentment, and generosity in 1 Timothy 6. We’ll hear more stories of transformation through the work of this church, especially at our downtown Portico location. And, we will lift up a reminder for you to prayerfully fill out your estimate of giving card by Commitment Sunday, November 19, so that the Finance Committee can responsibly plan for all the exciting ministries and programs for 2024.

By God’s grace, may we experience true joy, through contentment and generosity.

Grace and Peace,

November 2, 2023

Dear Hyde Park Family,

This Sunday will be an especially poignant All Saints’ worship service for me. Over the past year, several influential people in my life have died, people who were formative to my Christian journey and my ministerial calling. There is my high school Bible teacher Bruce Strickland, my high school administrator Rita Smith, and my lifelong mentor and senior pastor Jack Stroman. I have written and preached about each of these people over the last several months.

One other person I will be remembering is C. Frederick Harrison, or “Mr. Fred,” who was the longtime Director of Music Ministries at Pasadena Community Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, my home church. Mr. Fred had a remarkable ministry, directing choirs of all ages, including the youth choir in which I sang when I was in the youth group. Every fall, we would have a Music Ministries Sunday, when all of our groups and ensembles would perform in worship, and we would celebrate the fact that the number of volunteer musicians and vocalists under Mr. Fred’s care was larger than the membership in most congregations in the Florida Annual Conference.

In the 1980s, Mr. Fred developed a close friendship with a well-known composer named Natalie Sleeth, who had become famous for her moving anthems and hymns. In the spring of 1985, Pasadena Community Church hosted a music festival honoring Mrs. Sleeth, performing many of her best-known works.

Mr. Fred requested that Mrs. Sleeth compose a special anthem for that festival, for his Chancel Choir to perform as a debut in her honor. Mrs. Sleeth obliged, and she wrote what would become one of our most beloved hymns.

It is titled “Hymn of Promise,” which she composed in honor of her husband Rev. Dr. Ronald Sleeth, who had been diagnosed with cancer. Just weeks after the hymn’s debut at Pasadena, he died. Read the deep and profound lyrics below, and watch it performed here.   

“Hymn of Promise”

Natalie Sleeth

In the bulb, there is a flower
In the seed, an apple tree
In cocoons, a hidden promise
Butterflies will soon be free

In the cold and snow of winter
There’s a spring that waits to be
Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see

There’s a song in every silence
Seeking word and melody
There’s a dawn in every darkness
Bringing hope to you and me

From the past will come the future
What it holds, a mystery
Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see

In our end is our beginning
In our time, infinity
In our doubt, there is believing
In our life, eternity

In our death, a resurrection
At the last, a victory

Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see

After its debut in our church in 1985, its popularity soared. It became a fixture in worship at Pasadena; my dad says it is his favorite hymn. When The United Methodist Hymnal was revised in 1989, Hymn of Promise was included, just four years after its debut. To this day, it is a favorite feature of many funeral and memorial services.

This Sunday, I will join you in remembering those persons who have played an influential role in your life. I will remember Bruce, Rita, Jack, and Mr. Fred. And I will join you in remembering all the saints, that “in their death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory.”

“Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.”

Grace and Peace,

ALL SAINTS’ SUNDAY CHORAL CONCERT

Join us this Sunday afternoon at 4pm in the Sanctuary as we honor the saints with the majestic and inspiring composition “Illuminare,” by acclaimed composer Elaine Hagenberg. This concert by our Chancel Choir and orchestra is free and open to the public.

SERVE DAY SIGN UPS BY THIS SUNDAY

We are well on our way of reaching our goal of providing 200 volunteers for our annual SERVE Day, on November 19, when we help Metropolitan Ministries distribute food and supplies to needy families in the area. To date, we only need about 35 more volunteers, but we can accommodate many more! We are hoping to fill all those slots by this Sunday, November 5. To register, please click here.