Dear New McKendree Church Family,

Although we’re still sweltering our way through the dog days of summer, parents, kids, teens, and college students are already preparing for the cooler fall months. And, just as moms and dads are gearing up students for the new school year and households for the hectic school year routine, your church staff, lay leadership, and I have been ramping up for the Autumn months as well.

August…A Month of Celebration

Aug. 3   — Celebrating 50+ year marriages

Aug. 10 — Celebrating our 90+ year old Matriarchs and Patriarchs

Aug. 17 — Blessing of the backpacks, celebrating our educators, administrators, and school staff members

Aug. 17 — All-Church Picnic…Noon @ South Campus

Aug. 24 — Celebrating our church family’s 50+ year members

Aug. 31 — Spirit Sunday…wear something that represents your school colors, favorite sports team, or music group

But we’re not going to let the summer fade away. Instead, as you’ve heard from Pastor Charles and Paige during recent worship announcements, we’re going to put the Summer of 2025 to bed with a month of celebrations.

An overview of the August celebrations is listed above. For more details, consult the newsletter, a bulletin insert from the last two services in July, or call the church office. You’ll notice that right in the middle of our celebration month is our Adult and Family Ministries-sponsored All- Church Picnic. Not only is our picnic a celebration of the first anniversary of our United Discipleship Hour, but it also provides an opportunity to share upcoming discipleship opportunities within the church. As we enter this new season, we encourage everyone to find a place within our church family where you can connect and grow spiritually.

In addition to our August celebrations, Paige, Tylor, and I are collaborating on an August Worship series that aligns with the youth and children’s August Discipleship Hour curriculum. In both our worship services and our classrooms, we’ll be exploring four spiritual habits: spending time with God, sharing our stories, spending time with others, and using our gifts. Since adults and kids alike will be covering the same Scripture and subject matter, this is an excellent opportunity for more in-depth family discussions at home around the dinner table.

And then, beginning on September 13/14, we’ll start a six-week series entitled “The Wesleyan Way of Salvation.” Through this series, we’ll dig into the biblical basis of our distinctive Wesleyan heritage. Whether a Methodist who has been steeped in Wesleyan theology their whole life, someone who, like me, came to Methodism later in life, or someone new to all of it, together we’ll discover or rediscover the practical, common-sense genius of John Wesley and the movement he began nearly 300 years ago.

That’s just a sample of what’s coming up in the weeks and months ahead. We’re a busy church family, and I thank God for it. May God continue to lead us, and may we together follow His lead obediently!

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Bryan Wendling