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Batter Boy: A Pancake Day Reflection

By Rev. Keith Turman | 2023-03-11 | 4 min read

A Pancake Day Reflection I still have batter on my shoes. I’m struggling to find any motivation to clean them, because I want the memories of “awesome” to linger as long as possible. I love my Pancake Day memories. In the days leading up to my very first Pancake Day six years ago, people kept telling me to hold on to...

Lent

By Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes | 2023-02-25 | 2 min read

LENT Reverend Steve Garnaas-Holmes Lent is when we go downstairs, down into the basement of our souls, into the dark, dingy, dirty places, and clear out the junk we need to get rid of. In Lent we don’t need to beat ourselves up. We need to lighten our load, bag up those fears and desires that are leaking all over everything, take our guilt and shame out to the...

Another Name. Another Pledge

By Rev. Keith Turman | 2023-02-11 | 4 min read

Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” A newcomer walks into my office. I feel excited—knowing that I’m on the cusp of new friendship. I also feel proud—knowing that I’m on the verge of...

Who Are We?

By Rev. Keith Turman | 2023-01-26 | 4 min read

A Response to Questions About Disaffiliation The United Methodist Church is splintering. We had hoped our great denomination would stay together—that we could be a place for all people in spite of our differences. Our hope is—and always has been—that anyone searching for God, anyone curious about faith, anyone needing a friend or a place to belong—that they could find a...

The Prayer Box

By Rev. Keith Turman | 2023-01-09 | 3 min read

In 1997, Bishop Charlene Kammerer appointed Chan and me to the intersection of highways 801 and 158. No land, no building, no people—only a dream. My pastor friends thought I was nuts, but the thought of starting a new United Methodist Church in Davie County—something that hadn’t happened in eighty years—totally fired me up. It also freaked me out. So...