The Journey is moving to a new church

   Hello Old Friends and New Friends,

   Life with God, like Abraham of old, calls for leaving a familiar place and going where God wants us to go. This is happening to me this summer. Not only and I recovering from surgery, but on July 1 of this year, I'll be assigned by the Bishop to North Bethesda United Methodist Church. When I accepted God's call into the ministry in the United Methodist Church, I agreed to go where the Bishop appoints me. Like many of my brothers and sisters in Scripture, we don't always know why, but we say as Jesus does, "Not my will, but thine be done."

   So to introduce myself to my new congregation, let me tell you a little about myself.

   I was born in Baltimore, and at 5 years of age, my father accepted an invitation to be a missionary in the Belgian Congo. So we moved to Brussels to learn the language and to prepare for the mission field. We served in Kindu in central Congo and returned for a second assignment to Elizabethville n southern Congo. We had to be evacuated because of a war, and returned to the USA in February of 1962 as refugees, with only the clothes we could bring in a suitcase. But God provides, and soon many individuals and churches helped us with housing, and clothes and the household needs. I've learned early on that God takes care of us, especially when we are doing what God wants us to do.

   I made the decision to follow Christ at a Young Life retreat when I was 17. That was followed by an invitation given by E. Stanley Jones to enter the full time ministry. He was preaching at Chevy Chase UMC when I accepted that call. I prepared for the ministry at Western Maryland College in Westminster, now known as Mc Daniel, in the area of Sociology. I attended Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, specializing in worship, including serving as the chair of the worship committee.

   I've served three rural churches along the Pennsylvania line, an inner city church in Baltimore, that my grandmother was a member of. I served a suburban church, and then Ashton UMC. I spent a couple of years at the University UMC in College Park, and the last seven years at Liberty Grove in Burtonsville. I am looking forward to coming to North Bethesda, just down the street from where I went to High School.

   Elaine and I have been married for 15 years. We met on the internet in a Christian Matchmakers site. We have some interesting stories to tell. We were both divorced and I knew finding the right person was going to be tricky. I have two sons from my first marriage, and the oldest and his wife gave us a grandson, who turns seven this summer. Grandchildren are awesome. Elaine has been a real blessing in my life, and I am truly grateful for her love and support.

   I hope this blog can be a way for us to get to know one another. You fill find links to youtube sermons so you can become familiar with my preaching style. I hope this can be an avenue for your questions that might help you get to know me even better. I'll write about once a week to continue to share my story.

   May God bless our journey of faith together.

Pastor Jeff