January 17th, 2025 | Rev. Dr. Mark Charles

In his 1963 collection of sermons, Strength to Love, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included a sermon entitled: Three Dimensions of a Complete Life, which included these words:

In a sense every day is judgment day, and we, through our deeds and words, our silence and speech, are constantly writing in the Book of Life.

Light has come into the world, and every [woman and] man must decide whether [they] will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s most persistent and urgent question

is, “What are you doing for others?”

I am continuously encouraged by you, the grace-filled family at Memorial, because I see how you live out the calling Christ has given us to serve our community and world. The many ways you do this are well documented and have been highlighted much in my recent sermons – it is important to check in and remember the things we have done and achieved.

One of the quieter ways I see this play out is in the year-round work of leadership that so many individuals in our church family have part in, serving on the leadership teams and committees that keep the wheels turning at Memorial in so many ways. On January 7th, I invited our leaders to attend our annual Leadership Kick Off gathering – more than 60 people gathered that evening, giving of their time and being inspired for the work of service to others they will undertake in the year ahead.

Over the years, I have found that involvement in leadership at any level is a journey of constant learning and development. When we take time to grow together and hone our knowledge and skills, it is good for our church and good for our community and world. So, I want to invite all of you (leaders and those who desire to lead in our life together at Memorial) to consider signing up for the upcoming North East District Leadership Training that will take place in Palm Coast UMC on Saturday, January 25th between 10:00am and 2:00pm. 

Bishop Tom Berlin will be with us and will bring our keynote message, the great work taking place in our District churches will be highlighted, and there will be breakout sessions in the areas of church finance, trustee work, SPR, Church Council leadership, and the work of lay-leaders in our local churches. It would be fantastic to have a healthy representation of our people at this event, not only to learn and grow in leadership, but to be keen leaders and proponents of the work of the North East District of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.

You can sign up to attend here, and I’ll be excited to see you there.

Blessings,

Pastor Charlie

(Registration has been extended to January 21st.)

January 10th, 2025 | Rev. Rachel Williams

Dear Friends,  

Have you hit the ground running in 2025, diving into projects and aspirations? Or are you taking this January at a slow pace, embracing a form of winter hibernation?

While there are times I wish I could stay snuggled up in my bed, especially on these frigid mornings, I know there are too many exciting happenings in the life of our church community to keep me tucked away (that, and I have two small children who don’t know the definition of slow-paced). As we enter into this year, I want to invite you to share in some of that excitement. 

 This past Tuesday, we gathered sixty of our leaders from our various leadership committees together for a Leadership Kickoff event.  During that time, we heard a video message from our Lay Leader, Derrick Scott, reflecting on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians where Paul writes, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). In that message, Derrick posed a question to each participant about the treasures, gifts, that are stored in each of us that we can offer to others, to the church and to the community.

Then, the group heard from our new interim District Superintendent, Reverend June Edwards, about Mary’s “yes” to God. June proposed that as Christians, our first question in faith should not be “why?” but “yes”. In that “yes”, we can then discern how God will work out whatever it is that we’re saying yes to, but we must take that first step of acceptance.

And that is a word to us all. You do not have to be a sitting member on a church committee to be in a role of Christian leadership. In fact, God has gifted us all in ways that calls us to disciple others on their Christian journey, but we have to say “yes”. We have to make the space to grow our own leadership and discipleship.  

One of the ways that you can continue on that journey is by registering for and attending the upcoming Leadership Summit hosted by the Northeast District on Saturday, January 25th at Palm Coast United Methodist Church. At this summit, you will hear from and engage with Bishop Berlin as well as churches throughout the district who are doing good and exciting work throughout Northeast Florida, the Florida Conference and the world. This is a great way to build relationships with other laity and clergy throughout the district to find out how your gifts might be utilized within yourself and here at Memorial and the surrounding Fernandina Beach community. You won’t want to miss this, so be sure to sign up at the link by January 17th. If you feel the $10 registration fee is prohibitive for your attendance, please call the office and let us know, and we will be sure to cover your registration.

We hope to see you there! In the meantime, I encourage you to prayerfully consider the ways in which you might be called to say “yes” in this season of your life. The best part? If you need to, you can do that snugly from your bed!  

With love and peace,  

 Pastor Rachel  

January 3rd, 2025 | Rev. Dr. Mark Charles

Happy New Year, Memorial!

I hope that you have had a wonderful holiday season, and that as you have taken time to reflect on the birth of Christ, you have experienced and carry into 2025 all the hope, peace, joy, light, and love Christ brings us.

What are your hopes, dreams and aspirations for 2025?

Stop reading for a second, close your eyes, and think of your response to that question.

Maybe there is a personal goal you want to reach – it could be a health or fitness goal, a financial or career goal, or a reading goal. Or maybe your hopes and dreams are centered around your family – hoping that your children make it through the school year to the best of their ability, or that your loved ones make good choices and have healthy friendships. Perhaps you have an aspiration in your journey of Christian faith – to read the bible in a year, or to become part of a prayer of connexion group at church, or to serve in a new and different place from those you have served in before.

This is the time of year for naming our hopes and aspirations, for setting them in our hearts, and for making the adjustments we need to make in order to see them become reality. It is that way in our personal lives, and it is that way in our life together as a church, too.

Over the coming weeks at church, I am going to be preaching a short series of sermons that will check in on the state of the church, define our mission, vision, and values as a church, and lay out some aspirations and goals for 2025 that will help us live into our calling to be a place where Christ’s love shows up through our worship, study, connection and service. Consider this Pastor’s note your warm and hearty invitation to not skip worship this Sunday and the following two after it.

2024 was a great year for Memorial, and 2025 is going to be an even greater one as listen for God’s calling voice and support one another to live into our calling to ensure that love shows up in our community and world.

What a great time it is to be part of what God is doing through Memorial United Methodist Church.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Charlie