The Midweek Message

Dear Hyde Park Family, The amazing Diana Butler Bass offers this prayer for Thanksgiving, published in Worship Any Time or Place. (Abingdon Press) It is well worth your reflection, and you may even choose to use all or a portion of it as part of your Thanksgiving...

Dear Hyde Park Family, The following is a pastoral word I had intended to share regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s elections. BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF First, I want to acknowledge what a stressful season of uncertainty this has been for all of us. In our staff...

Dear Hyde Park Family, In his biography of St. Francis, the great theologian and author G. K. Chesterton described the venerable saint as “the mirror of Christ rather as the moon is the mirror of the sun. The moon is much smaller than the sun, but it is also much...

Dear Hyde Park Family, It is with great joy that the Staff-Parish Relations Committee welcomes back the Rev. Bernie Lieving to our staff, beginning August 1. For many in this church, Bernie is no stranger, having served here as an Associate Pastor from 1994 to 2013....

Dear Hyde Park Family, In 1952, Encyclopedia Britannica published one of the most ambitious publishing projects in the 20th Century. It put out a series of 52-volumes called The Great Books of the Western World. Every important work from Western Civilization is in...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Last Sunday we began our new worship series, “Hard to Believe,” which explores essential tenets of the Christian faith that are difficult to fully comprehend. You can watch last week’s sermon here.  My hope is that this series will give you the...

Dear Hyde Park Family, We can freely admit that there are some aspects of the Christian faith that are simply hard to believe. It’s not that we don’t believe them. It’s just hard to fully comprehend them. There is a whole category of essential concepts to the faith...

Dear Hyde Park Family, The greatest Pentecost hymn you may never have heard of was written by Dr. Henry More, an 18th century British theologian and philosopher that one contemporary called “the most holy man he ever knew.” Despite his zealous study and prolific...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Thank you for the prayers and encouragement over these last two weeks as the General Conference of the United Methodist Church gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina. I felt honored to serve as one of the clergy delegates, along with Clarke...

Dear Easter People, We are currently in our worship series “Life’s Highs and Lows,” based on the Psalms. Each week, we explore a different landscape image from a psalm and how it connects to God and the human experience. Last week’s service was about the mountains in...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Less than three weeks from now, 862 United Methodist delegates from around the world will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. It will be the fourteenth time that our denomination has...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, One of the oldest hymns in our hymnal was written in the year 818 A.D., by a man named Theodulf, the Bishop of Orleans. He was a noted poet who wrote a refrain that would become part of our standard Palm Sunday celebrations: All glory, laud and...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, One of the oldest hymns in our hymnal was written in the year 818 A.D., by a man named Theodulf, the Bishop of Orleans. He was a noted poet who wrote a refrain that would become part of our standard Palm Sunday celebrations: All glory, laud and...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, I spent the last several days out of town enjoying Spring Break with my daughters Grace and Maddy. We spent most of our time in Chicago, where Grace is in graduate school for Museum Studies. But last Monday and Tuesday, we made a quick road trip...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, At the start of the year I began using a book titled Being Here: Prayers for Justice, Curiosity, and Love by Padraig O’Tuama. He is an Irish poet, theologian, and conflict mediator whose writings have been very helpful in my spiritual practices....

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, For the past few days, I have been with my clergy covenant group in Atlanta for one of our bi-annual retreats. It is a gathering I always cherish, connecting with my closest friends in ministry for a time of encouragement, learning, and play....

​Dear Lenten Pilgrims, In my journey of living into “savor” as my key word for Lent, I am sharing a prayer I experienced last weekend that I have found to be very meaningful. Last Saturday, I attended an event in Orlando called “Exploration,” which gathered people...

Dear Hyde Park Family,   What are the defining moments of your life? All of us can point to memories that we consider pivotal in shaping who we are today. Perhaps you think of the day you got married, the birth of a child, or the moment you survived a near-death...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Last Sunday night, we had our annual Leadership Gathering of elected committee members and ministry area volunteers. It was a time of connecting with other leaders in the church, learning about our church’s organizational structure, and...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Like many of you, I watched the 80s NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls,” about a group of four elderly women who forged a deep and enduring friendship. You might also remember the opening lines of their theme song: Thank you for being a friend. Travel...

Dear Hyde Park Faithful: As we begin a new year of ministry at the church, we want to say, “Thank you!” Because of your generosity and faithfulness, this church made a profound impact in our community and around the world in 2023. On Christmas Eve, 2,500 worshippers...

Dear Hyde Park Family, We are ten days away from that grand, holy nightWhen we’ll gather for carols and warm candlelight To celebrate Christmas, and Jesus Christ’s birthAnd God’s gift of love given to the whole earth But first there’s this Sunday: Advent Week...

Dear Advent Pilgrims, This Sunday our attention turns to John the Baptist, a persistent presence every Advent journey. He meets us, whether we are ready for him or not, to echo the challenge by the prophet Isaiah, the original “voice crying from the wilderness:”...

Dear Hyde Park Family, With Advent starting this Sunday, it is the official start of the new Christian liturgical year. We look forward to a fresh arrival of Jesus Christ in our lives, and anticipate all that God will be doing in and through this church throughout the...

Dear Hyde Park Family: Rejoice always. Pray continually.Give thanks in every situationbecause this is God’s willfor 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...

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...

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...

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....

October 19, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Near the start of my ministry 25 years ago, I attended a clergy gathering at the Life Enrichment Center in Leesburg, Florida. The featured speaker was Dr. Paul Chilcote, a professor of Wesley Studies. In that lecture, he spoke...

October 5th, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, How noisy is your life?  Bernie Krause is a noted “soundscape artist,” producing albums of sounds found in nature. He has said that in 1968, in order to get one hour of natural sound - no cars, planes, or machines of any kind -...

September 28, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, But let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24) Years ago, I had a seminary instructor say that no prospective minister should graduate from seminary without being able to fully...

September 21, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Today is the feast day of St. Matthew, the person traditionally credited as the author of the first gospel. Born into the Hebrew tribe of Levi, Matthew was a tax collector who met Jesus, became his disciple, and wrote an...

September 14, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, In case you missed worship last Sunday, we introduced our current fall series “Good and Faithful: Life Well Done.” It is a series that explores Christian character, based on a book by Dr. David Gushee titled: Introducing...

September 7, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts." (Shakespeare’s As You Like It) One of the most joyful parts of living in...

August 24, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Well, here’s an opening to a Midweek Message that I never thought I’d write: “Happy National Waffle Day!” I normally overlook these kinds of special recognitions, likely manufactured by restaurant and food industries to promote...

August 10, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, It is with a sad, but grateful heart that I share the bittersweet news that Rev. Vicki Walker has announced her departure from serving on staff here at Hyde Park United Methodist. As she shares below, she has discerned a new way...

June 22, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, I am extending an invitation for you to join me on a very special trip next year. I have been asked by Educational Opportunities to be the guest lecturer on a 10-day cruise exploring the Journeys of the Apostle Paul, from September...

June 15, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Thank you for your prayers for last week’s gathering of the Florida Annual Conference, themed “Abound in Hope.” It was the 26th one I have attended in my ministry, and, by far, it was the most hope-filled, energizing, and forward...

June 8, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, By the time you read today’s Midweek Message, I will be in Lakeland, Florida for the yearly gathering of the Florida Annual Conference, made up of clergy and lay delegates from every United Methodist congregation in the state. All...

June 1, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Among my leadership roles beyond the local church is that I serve as the chairperson of the Florida Conference Board of Ordained Ministry for the United Methodist Church. We evaluate and recommend persons to serve as clergy in our...

May 18, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, This Sunday is the convergence of two observances, one civic and one liturgical. First, it is Graduation Sunday, in which we will honor the high school seniors in our worship services with a video and a prayer of blessing. It is...

May 11, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, For this final installment of “Why the UMC?” I offer a few of the many reasons why I continue to be drawn to Wesleyan theology and practice, and why we can be excited to be part of the continuing United Methodist Church. United...

May 4, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, The United Methodist Church rescued me from a crisis of faith. I was fresh out of high school, in my freshman year of college, when the tightly wound and insulated world of my fundamentalist faith began to unravel. At first, it was a...

April 27, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Last Monday, I filmed an interview with a clergy colleague who is hosting a series of conversations about the United Methodist Church, and a hopeful vision of its future. If you are interested in watching that interview, let me...

April 20, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Our journey through 1 Corinthians 13 continues this Sunday with an exploration of the phrase “Love is kind.”The lesson of kindness is one that we learned as children, but is one that we tend to ignore today. But even simple acts...

April 6, 2023 Dear Passion Week Pilgrims, “Lenten Communion” by Katharine Tynan (1861-1931)   Rest in a friend’s house, Dear, I pray: The way is long to Good Friday, And very chill and grey the way. No crocus with its shining cup, Nor the gold daffodil is up, –...

March 30, 2023 Dear Lenten Pilgrims, The events of these past days can be marked by three powerful and timely prayers, which speak to needs of our world and our hope in God. I invite you to consider them prayerfully. PRAYER 1: “LORD, DELIVER US” The first is by Rear...

March 23, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Fmaily, There are two sacred observances happening within the next ten days whose juxtaposition rarely gets much attention. The first event is this Saturday, March 25, known as Annunciation Day. It is precisely nine months before...

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, as you may know. Like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day, it is a civic and cultural day rooted in religious history. While many people will be celebrating with all things green (including clothes, shamrocks, and even our...