In this Week's Update:

HopeSpring Update

Worship This Week

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

Upcoming Small Groups, Classes & Sign-ups

Upper Room Daily Devotional

A Note from Pastor Bill

Dear family in faith,

Pastoral appointments for the Florida Area were announced this week. Bishop Timothy Whitaker has reappointed Beth Farabee-Puckett, Jenn Stiles Williams, LeeAnn Inman and me to full time ministry at St. Luke's for another year. Leah Bergstrom is appointed as a part time pastor at HopeSpring from her home conference of Western Pennsylvania. David Stephens continues with us, but he is not under appointment by the Bishop. Gary Shockley was appointed to a new position with the Path1 national United Methodist church planting initiative. You can read about his work here: http://www.flumc2.org/default.asp.

This is always an opportunity for the congregation to remember how the needs of the local church and the skills of pastors are aligned. Clergy in our system are appointed one year at a time, usually from July to July so that clergy with children can coordinate their moves with the school calendar. Your St. Luke's Committee on Staff-Parish Relations advises the Bishop about the right "fit" between clergy leadership and church mission and vision. Churches and pastors do not have contracts. Pastors are not hired, fired, called, or cast off! An annual review of the needs of all of the churches in the Florida area and consultation with the pastors about their gifts, talents and personal family needs ultimately results in the assignments. All pastors who are appointed to new places move on the same day so that no church is without a pastor and no pastor is without a church. All of us pastors here at St. Luke's are glad we don't have to be calling on "Two Men and a Truck" this summer! Thank you for giving us all a challenging and love-supported place to serve.

Let me tell you what a sense of humor God has. After all of our precautions for health last Sunday, I was the one who got sick! By Sunday evening I had a case of laryngitis that was so bad I could hardly speak. (I know, some of you are saying, "What's so bad about that?") I have just today returned to the office croaking like a frog. I do not have the H1N1 swine flu virus, but it just goes to show you that even if you don't hold hands and hug you can still get a bug!

This coming Sunday we move on to the second half of the first simple rule (Do No Harm) and give thought to how we practice that rule. Already several of you have emailed me with excellent challenging questions about how to be faithful to this rule. I don't think any of us who will be preaching on Sunday will be able to give any definitive answers in that regard, but perhaps—and hopefully—we will help each other think more broadly and deeply about the rule.

Read Galatians 5:13-16a and Matthew 5:38-48 for this week.

With faith, hope, love, and deep gratitude for being able to serve with you another year.

Bill