United Christian Ministries requests that we temporarily suspend providing supplies and instead provide monetary donations. Given the current situation with Hurricane Helene’s suppliers, the needs of clients are changing daily. A monetary donation will allow them to purchase specifically what is needed at any point in time. To donate, please drop off a check at 191 Skyland Drive or mail it to PO Box 188, Sylva, NC 28779. Thank you!
Jackson County Youth Chorus
Sign up now to sing in the Jackson County Youth Chorus! This is for singers in grades 3–8. Rehearsals begin on Monday, March 10 and run from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. each Monday. The end-of-semester concert will be on Friday, May 23. Rehearsals will be held at FBC Sylva. For more information or to register, contact Director Sarah Hall at sfhall3@gmail.com or 704.245.2302. Click here to view an event flyer.
Mission Moment 1.15.25
Jeffrey A. Howard
CEO, The Resource Hub; CBF Emmanuel McCall Initiative Consultant
“Don’t ask what the world needs, ask what makes you
come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs
is people who have come alive.” —Howard Thurman
The above quote from Black Christian mystic Howard Thurman resonates with me, capturing what is currently saving my life: my passion for social justice, the deconstruction of white theology and my commitment to a more just world for people of color. This inner fire propels me forward as a Black male in a world that often overlooks me, empowering me to uplift narratives and engage in spaces that affirm my voice.
My journey began with an awakening to the systemic injustices that pervade our society. Witnessing the disparities faced by Black communities in the year of the unrest while pastoring an all-white church, unable to engage in the fight, awakened a conviction within me. This sentiment drives my work, compelling me to confront and dismantle the oppressive structures that seek to silence and marginalize people of color. As I do the personal work of deconstructing white theology, while embracing Black liberation theology, I have reclaimed a faith rooted in the struggle for justice and equality.
In my ministry, I strive to create spaces where Black voices are not only heard, but celebrated. I am dedicated to ensuring that the stories of those who are least, left out and overlooked are brought to the forefront. This mission is not just about speaking out against injustice; it’s about building a community where young Black individuals can see their worth and potential. I want to pave the way for a future where my soon-to-be four-year-old, Hudson the Great, and my soon-to-be eight-year-old, Ladybug, can thrive without apologizing for who they are. I want them to grow up in a world where their voices are valued and their contributions recognized.
Finally, my passion for social justice and dedication to my ministry are what make me come alive. They give me purpose and drive, reminding me that my voice matters. As I navigate spaces that often seek to undermine and dismiss my experiences, I am committed to creating opportunities for myself and others to speak out and be heard. By doing so, I hope to contribute to a world where Black narratives are uplifted, Black engagement is encouraged and every individual has the opportunity to live fully and freely. This is what is saving my life right now, and it is what keeps me moving forward with hope and determination.
Pray, Practice, Ponder
Lord, torment me. Keep before me the faces of the hungry, the lonely, the rejected and the despised. Inflict me with pain for those who hurt, are wounded, are oppressed, are abused and are victims of violence. Lord, give me a burning thirst for justice and righteousness. Give me the hope of Harriet, the writing skills of James Baldwin, and the ability to get into “good trouble” like the Honorable John Lewis. Help me, God, to leave this world a better place and, when I’ve done all that I can do, allow me to hear, well done! Ase and Amen.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study Continues TONIGHT
Our weekly Wednesday evening prayer and study time continues this Wednesday, January 15 at 6:00 p.m. Kaitlyn Cabaniss, our student ministry associate, will continue the youth midweek study that began last week. The Sunday evening college student Bible time will begin on January 26. Help spread the word!
1st Explorers Crochet Program to Begin in January
First Explorers would like to teach our students how to crochet. Counselor Bonnie crochets and we are looking for additional crochet artists this winter to help her teach some of our older students the art form. We are also in need of crochet hooks if you have any at home the students could use, please consider donating.
Mission Moment 1.8.25
Matt and Michelle Norman
CBF Field Personnel, Barcelona, Spain
This year has been a good year. We have had a challenging year filled with change, challenges, anticipation, disappointment and hard work; but we have also enjoyed it. When I reflect on what has made life good, I realize the reality of the full range of human experiences is what makes it all worthwhile—from hard to easy, heavy to light, sad to joyful, angry to calm, painful to comfortable, new to normal. Right now, that’s what’s saving my life.
Our ministry activities in the Barcelona area, as well as in the wider European community, involve nurturing spaces that express the fullness of God’s love—spaces where people can come to recognize both themselves and others as valued creations of God and live out this understanding in practical ways in their everyday lives. So, one might say that hospitality or nurturing hospitality is the core of this ministry. But hospitality can have different meanings and so I want to submit the understanding that Parker Palmer offers, “A learning space needs to be hospitable not to make learning painless but to make the painful things possible, things without which no learning can occur—things like exposing ignorance, testing tentative hypotheses, challenging false or partial information, and mutual criticism of thought.”
This understanding helps one imagine the fullness of hospitality. It also helps one awaken to the fact that in any given space, the host and those hosted can at any moment change places. Indeed, when one shifts from being a host to being hosted, or vice versa, this is often a lifesaving moment.
This year, I have been saved by simple actions like asking a new friend how they see God working in their life and being asked the same question; like being invited into homes to share a meal; listening to pastors and church leaders share what they are learning and, in their stories, seeing God in a new way; like crying with mothers as they seek a better life for themselves and their children; like watching refugee kids run and play while shouting out loud in broken English, “Happy, happy, happy, happy!” These experiences and so many like them are moments of transformation in my life, where God is nurturing new life. And isn’t that what salvation is?
Pray, Practice, Ponder
Ponder a time when you recently gave or received “the fullness of hospitality.” It may be a small or simple moment, like the ones listed above. Share this moment with a friend, or hold it in your heart and mind today, allowing God to use it to nurture within you the fullness of God’s love.
Pray...Give...Go.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study Commences TONIGHT
Wednesday evening prayer and study time commences TONIGHT, January 8 at 6:00 p.m. It's with excitement that we announce that Kaitlyn Cabaniss, our student ministry associate, is beginning a youth midweek study that same night. And guess what? She is also beginning a college student Bible time on Sunday evenings in our church, beginning January 26. Help spread the word!
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries requests that we temporarily suspend providing supplies and instead provide monetary donations. Given the current situation with Hurricane Helene’s suppliers, the needs of clients are changing daily. A monetary donation will allow them to purchase specifically what is needed at any point in time. To donate, please drop off a check at 191 Skyland Drive or mail it to PO Box 188, Sylva, NC 28779. Thank you!
Mission Moment 1.1.25
When first asked to respond to the question, “What is saving your life right now?” I thought about all the things I’ve been doing to improve my health.
First, I spent a good bit of time on doctor appointments and tests, and did research to improve my physical health. Then, new medications, supplements, physical therapy and exercise goals. And finally, a dramatic change in my diet—eliminating added fat, cutting out meat and giving up caffeine!
My doctors, research and choices have led me to a significant lifestyle change—one focused on whole health. I’ve returned to guided breathing and other relaxation techniques and added calmness and a mindfulness app to my watch. I’ve endeavored to better organize my work with a system of binders and list making. I’ve started spending more time with family and friends and less time watching the news.
That also has been a boon for my spiritual health. I’ve realized I don’t need to see all the details in order to ask for God’s intervention, to pray for justice and mercy. I’ve also tried to be present in my home church more often, including Wednesday evening for corporate prayer. And giving more attention to prayer with my family.
Ironically, for years, I’ve been telling the young adults that I serve that God cares about all aspects of their lives—mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. I believe God wants us to be healthy in every possible way so that we may enjoy the fullest of lives.
Over several months, I had been making real progress, and I felt good about it. That’s what’s saving my life right now, I thought. I began writing.
But then, I got a phone call from a friend in crisis. I spent the next several hours encouraging my friend not to end their life. All the while, the first line of an old hymn I could barely remember kept running through my mind. “Oh Love that will not let me go.”
Later, when I returned to finish writing, I had a new perspective. All the things I had been doing to improve my life may very well extend my life, but ultimately, none of them will save it.
So, what is saving my life right now? Love.
Yes, that’s Love with a capital L.
The Divine Love that permeates the whole of Scripture.
Love that creates us. Love that redeems us. Love that sustains us.
Love that will not let us go!
Scottish minister George Matheson lost his eyesight as a young man. By his own account, at age 40, when he composed the hymn “Oh Love that Will Not Let Me Go” in 1862, he “was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was the fruit of pain.”
Like Matheson, my friend also lost much in his youth and has sometimes suffered extreme mental distress. Thankfully, he has realized that Love—with a capital L—is saving his life right now as well, and Love will not let him go.
Pray, Practice, Ponder
Read the lyrics of the beloved hymn, Oh Love that Will Not Let Me Go, below. As you do, ponder what God is stirring in you about the nature of Love, how we care for ourselves, and for those around us
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.
Get Ready!
Our holiday-influenced calendar is about to regain steady footing beginning this coming Sunday, January 5. Wednesday evening prayer and study time commences on the 8th at 6:00 p.m. It's with excitement that we announce that Kaitlyn Cabaniss, our student ministry associate, is beginning a youth midweek study that same night. And guess what? She is also beginning a college student Bible time on Sunday evenings in our church, beginning January 26. Help spread the word!