A note from Pastor Travis 10/2/25

One of the first things I learned about the Methodist tradition as a young child, was that Methodist are a singing people. Now, no one told me this directly (at least not at that young age). Rather, I learned it through experience. I remember the power of the hymns of the church and the volume of the congregation singing. I remember going to Sunday School and singing songs of the faith before heading to my lesson. I remember, the old brown Cokesbury songbook used at less formal services and, as a teenager, our church buying “The Songs of Zion” songbook from Disciple Ministries. It was filled with wonderful hymns from the African-American tradition, many of which I had never heard before. Now, many of them are among my favorite hymns.

Methodist are shaped by our hymns. As I got older, I learned that many of the hymns I love were written by Charles Wesley. I discovered that my faith and my theology were shaped by those Methodist hymns as much as they were shaped by my Sunday School lessons, my youth group studies, and the preaching of my pastor. Not only are Methodist a singing people, but our faith is shaped as we sing. 

First United Methodist Church is grounded in its music ministry. It is foundational for this church. This is one of the first things I learned when I got here. We love our music ministry, and our life together and our missional outlook are rooted in worship with powerful music.

Our church pianos have served us well, but they need to be replaced. We have purchased a refurbished Steinway baby grand. Rachel has played it and it is a beautiful instrument. We got a great deal on it. We got the piano, bench, a specialized heating cover and heating system, a humidity balancing system, delivery, and its first tuning for $19,900. In order to pay for it, we borrowed money from the endowment, which we will need to pay back. There will be fundraising opportunities in the future, so that you will have the opportunity to contribute to the purchase of it. 

The piano will be delivered in a few weeks, and I look forward to hearing it played during worship. I invite you to join us in-person for worship so that you, too, can hear this beautiful instrument for yourself. It will enrich our worship and add to our life together for many years to come. Methodists are a singing people, after all. 

Blessings,

Pastor Travis 

This fall, there are many opportunities for us to deepen our faith. Continue to read below to discover a few of them. 

Blessing of the Animals This Sunday – October 5 1pm Bring you pets as we bless these important members of our family. Share this news with family and friends, so that they can have their animals blessed too! 

MAAV Walk – Sunday, October 5 4pm-6pm

It is not too late to join us! We are meeting at the Middle School at 3:50. It will be a lot of fun and make an important witness to our community. 

Les Miserable Study 

Join us as we explore the many religious themes in the powerful story of Les Miserable. The study will be on Wednesday evenings at 7pm, October 15-November 19, and will be hybrid–both in person and on Zoom. The study material we will be using is written by the same author of The Redemption of Scrooge that we studied last Advent, which was a lot of fun and well received.

If you are unfamiliar with the story or would like a refresher, we are going to show a movie version of Les Misérables on Sunday October 12, following worship. Join us for the movie and the class for a fun study and great fellowship.