John Louk

What do we do when someone dies? Where is heaven? What is our theology? What is our ritual (practice)? I am offering this seminar on death and funerals to look at the funeral liturgy of the United Methodist Church, to read a short paper examining the Christian theology and practice surrounding death and resurrection, and to do some thinking and planning about our own funerals. All materials will be provided. This seminar will be beneficial for everyone regardless of age. It will meet twice. Session 1 will be offered on Wednesday, July 27 at 10:30 am and again on Thursday, July 28 at 6:30 pm. Session 2 will be offered on Wednesday, August 3 at 10:30 am and again on Thursday, August 4 at 6:30 pm. You do not need to attend both Wednesday morning and Thursday evening sessions as they are the same each week. In addition to the group time, I will meet with participants individually to discuss funeral plans, if they wish.

I am starting my fourth year as the pastor of Salem. In many ways it feels like a fresh start. We are past the chaos and destruction of the flood three years ago. We have landed in our new location. We have not only stabilized we are growing. We have a Study Committee doing the foundational research for a future building project. This is an exciting time.   Over the last three years, we have moved forward simply by taking the next step. Now our next step is to form up the church staff. A church staff is a group of people working together to lead the congregation. Three places in the New Testament Paul refers to a “co-worker” in ministry (Romans 16:9; Philippians 2:25; 1 Thessalonians 3:2). The Greek word that’s used is “sunergos,” which means working together. This is where we get our English word, “synergy.” Synergy means the combined activities of a group is greater than the sum of the individual parts. As Ecclesiastes 4:9 says: “Two are better than one, because they have a good...