Posts with the category “a-note-from-the-pastor”

As many of you know, Cason was approached by a developer and offered 1.4 million dollars to sell our parsonage.  Via a Called Church Conference, the congregation unanimously voted to accept the offer.  At that same meeting, the church created a Parsonage Committee, charged with locating a new property for a parsonage.The Nominating Committee asked for volunteers to serve on the committee, and afte...  Read More

As we reach the halfway point of 2023, the issue of disaffiliation remains unresolved for many churches throughout The Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church. In April of this year, the Bishop called a Special Session of the Annual Conference, where fifty-five churches were formally approved for conditional disaffiliation from The Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church at tha...  Read More

"I'm tired of the same old worship experience. I feel disconnected from God and am looking for a new way to connect with Him. I'm not comfortable with going into a sanctuary or with organized religion."These are just some of the things I hear when it comes to today's worship services. These sentiments are not limited to Cason but are expressed in churches everywhere. The main problem is that we ha...  Read More

There is an interesting phenomenon in churches: people don't want to talk about money. Correction, people don't want the church talking about giving money to the church. It never fails that when the subject of giving comes up, the immediate reaction of individuals is not introspection; not reflecting on what they give or what they could give. No, inevitably the reaction is "the church needs to wat...  Read More

I wanted to take time this week to talk to you about an upcoming book study that I will be hosting at 6PM, starting March 6th.  We are going to be looking at the book When Helping Hurts, a book by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. This book comes at the right time, as many North American Christians and churches have a growing interest in helping low-income people. The authors do a fantastic job of ...  Read More

Welcome to Ordinary time!  That’s what the liturgical calendar calls the space between epiphany and Ash Wednesday.  Seems pretty anticlimactic after the paramount seasons of Advent and Christmas.  Contrary to what people may believe, Ordinary Time is far from vanilla or insignificant.Ordinary Time isn’t meant to be ordinary at all. Rightly understood, it is a time not only to rest from what has pa...  Read More

Happy 2023! It’s the start of a new year, an opportunity to look at where we were, where we are, and where we’re headed.  I’m sure you all have been making the annual resolutions, or if you’re like me, you might have already broken a few.One of the reasons that it’s hard to keep resolutions is because we’re not fond of change.  As much as we talk about change, and want to change, when it comes rig...  Read More

As we come to the end of our time of preparation and expectantly wait for Jesus to enter the world on Christmas, I’ve been spending some time reflecting on the state of this blessed occasion in our world today. Christmas…it’s a word that for millions brings joy, excitement, and fond memories. The excitement of waking up and finding presents under the tree, of Christmas dinner, and cookies.  But, t...  Read More

Rejoice!  Again I say Rejoice!  I love that word.  As I told you on Sunday, rejoice literally means joy practiced and repeated.  And the definition points to something that we don’t often think about, namely that joy has to be practiced.  God provides for us joy in the form of His son Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.  Yet, it is up to us to accept that joy, to practice living in and through t...  Read More

More than two thousand years ago, a star appeared in the East as a beacon and a guide to the newly arrived Messiah, Jesus. We talked a bit last week about the biblical account of the star. It receives a more central role in Christmas pageants than it got in the Gospel accounts of the Christmas story. But despite its brief biblical appearance, it was a star that led people to Jesus, just as the sta...  Read More

This week during my sermon, I asked how thankful do you think you would have been if you were among the first pilgrims?  They left Europe on creaky wooden ships; bound for a place they had never seen and could only imagine.   The trip was stormy and dangerous.    Not all completed the journey.   They landed in a place where the soil was rocky and hard to till.  They had to hunt for food with muske...  Read More

I woke up today and I realized something: it’s two weeks until Advent.  That doesn’t seem real to me.  Where has the year gone?  I blinked, and we find ourselves at Christmas.  It’s time to break out the decorations, figure out where in the house the tree is going, and don’t forget about Christmas shopping. Yes, it’s Christmas time again.  The beginning of the Church year, the time when we again r...  Read More

I have to say I’m really bummed about having to postpone our First Annual Worship Outside the Walls event.  I began working on this time of family, fellowship and worship shortly after becoming pastor, and now 7 months of work has been ruined because of an impending storm…in November, none the less!! It’s really frustrating to be so close and have to postpone. But the truth is, we all know what it...  Read More

It’s hard to believe, but Pumpkin Patch is over and November is upon us. And if November is upon us, that means it’s Stewardship season.  This Sunday the 2023 Stewardship cards will be available for pickup at the church, and during the next week you will begin to see them in your mail.  What does Stewardship mean to me? What should Stewardship mean to you?  These are questions that have perplexed ...  Read More

What a difference a year makes.  It was almost a year ago that Cynthia Weems, our DS, informed me that Pastor Alexis would be moving and that I would become the interim pastor.  It’s been 8 months since the transition, and believe it or not, it’s been 3 months since I was appointed as Senior Pastor.  It seems like forever and yesterday all at the same time. There are many things I’m still learning...  Read More

Church,As you know, we decided to approach our Stewardship Campaign a little different this year. “Stewardship” is such a “church-y” word, but if we look at the definition, it is just responsibly overseeing and protecting something worth caring for and preserving. We have certainly done that because next year, Cason is going into its 120th year of serving the community of Delray. We continue, as t...  Read More

It's finally here! During the next few weeks, thousands of people will pass through our patch. For 27 years, we here at Cason have been in the pumpkin business. Every year we are peddlers of pretty pumpkins, suppliers of the fall gourd and hawkers of orang orbs. Pumpkin Patch originated as a fundraiser for our “Wee Care” program, providing funds that kept the school operating.  Later, after Wee Ca...  Read More

As we find some distance from the “end” of the COVID-19 era (let’s be honest, COVID is going nowhere, we are just understanding how to live with it), we’ve find ourselves facing an unknown time.  The pandemic changed the way the church functions, and we’ve been told by all the “so called experts” that we should never expect to return to the way things were, but instead we need to embrace the “new ...  Read More

There was a lot happening at the church this weekend, and Saturday after the new members class, I was surfing through some blog sites that I read regularly, and something jumped out at me.  It was written by Chad Napier of Crosswalk.com and I think it’s worth sharing with you.“We had high hopes Covid-19 would be eradicated by all the safety precautions and of a return to our normally scheduled liv...  Read More

On December 15, 2020, the church voted to sell the West lawn to Azure Development, with the understanding that the process from agreement to sell to closing would take approximately 18-24 months. As part of that agreement, Azure placed $100,000 in escrow in case of default. After 180 days, that money became nonrefundable and was placed in Cason’s account. The money is part of the purchase price, a...  Read More

Church, This week I have given the space I usually use for my blog to Loreley Hinderling, chair of our Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee. I encourage you to read her article as it will bring you up to date on information related to our staff here at Cason.Pastor DavidGreetings from SPPRC! Over the past year, your Staff/Pastor Parish Committee has been busy reviewing and refreshing the job de...  Read More

Take care of him, and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend… Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:35-37We are called to take care of our neighbors, our friends, those we many not even know. One of the ways that we do that here at Cason is through our Benevolence Fund. However, many don’t know what the Benevolence fund is, or how it is administered. Simply put, the Benevol...  Read More

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. - 2 Timothy 1:6This is where we began our current sermon series, fanning into flame the gift of God that is within each of us. This fanning is not only necessary for us individually, but for the Church as a whole. After all, the church is nothing more than a collection of believers i...  Read More

I'm going to say something that might shock you... You shouldn't tithe! Do I have your attention?   No, this is not click bate - saying something just to get you to click on a link, only to say something totally different after you click.  I'm serious - tithing is an Old Testamentconcept.  As pastor and author Steven J. Cole puts it, "Tithing emphasizes your obligation to God; New Testament giving...  Read More

Our annual Charge Conference will be held on Tuesday, October 25th at 7:00 pm. Rev. Craig Nelson of FUMC Boca Raton will serve as our presiding Elder. I encourage any and all members and constituents of Trinity UMC to attend. It will be a time of information, fellowship, and celebration for Cason United Methodist Church s we review 2022 and look forward to 2023.Attendance is important because it i...  Read More

In February of 2020, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy amid mounting claims of Scouting related sex abuse going back decades, with many allegations involving chartering or sponsoring organizations of Scout troops, including several local United Methodist churches.As a result of that action, On August 16, 2021, an email was sent from Bishop Carter, the Conference Chancellor, and the Co...  Read More

Over the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult to get people to serve on committees, let alone in leadership. The common response is that there are too many meetings and people don’t want to commit. We must acknowledge that part of the issue is our current membership numbers, and while we foresee an increase in the number of congregants over the next year, the truth is the demand on...  Read More

As we all know, the United Methodist Church finds itself less than united currently.  Over the past few years, it has become apparent that the church was headed for an amicable split at best, an acrimonious divorce at worst.While there was aspiration for a grace filled and loving separation, it appears that all hope of that outcome has disappeared.On July 14th, 106 UMC churches in Florida sued the...  Read More