By Patrick Scriven
When possible, my wife and I like to walk our youngest daughters to school. I’ve noticed that they prefer that we leave them at the corner this year, with less opportunity to embarrass them in front of their friends.
When we stepped outside this morning, it was the first time in a while that I questioned my lack of a jacket. While we technically have 11 days left of Summer, Autumn is starting to make itself known.
The times are also changing for The United Methodist Church, and “it does not yet appear what we shall be.” Reflecting on the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s famous song about change this morning, I found myself unsettled and excited, hopeful and exhausted thinking about the denomination’s future.
As we continue to move through this time of CrossOver, I anticipate that there will be plenty of news about the denomination which I will continue to spotlight in our weekly news digest. Click here to subscribe if you don’t alread!
But I hope you will continue to send me stories of the great work you are doing in the local church as well. Telling these stories is critically important in times like these. While I do the best I can scrolling social media and perusing Google News alerts, your help is critical and appreciated. Send those stories to communications@pnwumc.org.
Dylan’s lyrics evoke those mixed feelings in me because they speak of a time where something was breaking forth, in ways that weren’t appreciated or understood by all. Progress was punctuated by uncertainty, and nothing was inevitable. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
For the times they are a-
Patrick Scriven is a husband who married well, a father of three amazing girls, and a seminary educated layperson working professionally in the church. Scriven serves the Pacific Northwest Conference as Director of Communications and Young People’s Ministries.
