One of our Good Shepherd staffers found this doodling on his young daughter’s bedroom desk:
And then a fellow UMC clergy sent me a note that concluded with this sentence: Thanks for being a . . . disciple who invites all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
From the pen of a 12 year old girl to the keyboard of a young pastor who has never even been to our church on a Sunday morning. Evidently, our inviting all people mission statement resonates with both our church and the larger fellowship of United Methodists.
We say it, write it, think it, and pray it all the time. When we first adopted it in 2011, one of our ministry friends told us, “Just about the time you get sick of saying it is when the people of your church will first start hearing it.”
Well, I’m not sick of saying it yet — probably because I believe in it at the core of my being. I’ve told many of you before that while I am a very disciplined person, before inviting all people I was not a disciplined leader.
Problem solved as statement saturates.