Dear New McKendree Church Family,

By the time you receive this month’s newsletter, we’ll be launching into Holy Week…the final leg of our 40-day journey to the Cross. But the cross isn’t our final destination. Our final destination lies just beyond Calvary’s precipice. An unlikely, ironic place where our death dies and our new life begins. 

For my money, Easter is the greatest irony there ever was or ever will be. Luke says, “…on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb…” Think about it; the Easter story begins, of all places, at a graveyard. Who would’ve thought it? After all, isn’t the graveyard supposed to be the final stop of our earthly journey…the place where our tracks run out? The Easter story seems to indicate otherwise. 

And so, with that in mind, try to put yourself in the place of the women who went to the Tomb on that first Easter morn. Luke says that the women (AKA, morticians) “came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.” In other words, the women went to the tomb that morning expecting nothing more than the kind of “closure” that this death-weary world had conditioned them to expect. But what they found was something radically different. Standing at the tomb, under the dawn’s gray shroud, these women suddenly became the most famous, not to mention the most surprised, morticians the world has ever known! 

What’s more, at the place where the only thing these grieving women expected to find was death, they were posed with the greatest “Q & A” that this gravestone-cluttered world has ever heard: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” And there you have it. In a graveyard—the place where all human stories end—God overcame death with new life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The birthplace of the Good News that we’ve received and profess was none other than a graveyard! Perhaps it was that very Easter irony that God had in mind when, through the Prophet Isaiah, he said that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.”

So, what does that mean for us? For starters, it means that tomorrow, along with all the tomorrows that lie before us, is never just another day. It means that our stories no longer end in death. Christ is risen, and he goes before us through this life into life everlasting. It means, as Easter people, that we can live our lives as if we’ve already won…because we have!

I look forward to celebrating Resurrection Sunday with my New McKendree “Easter People” family, and pray that we will continue to enthusiastically say “yes” to God’s invitation to participate in His kingdom-building work. 

In case you haven’t already heard, on July 1, Kevin Sunday will join our ministry staff as our new Conference-appointed Associate Pastor. Since July 1, 2025, Kevin has been serving as a bi-vocational, part-time pastor at New Salem UMC in Daisy, MO. Under his leadership, the church is flourishing; new ministries are taking root, and worship attendance has doubled. Beginning in July, Kevin will begin his full-time ministry career. He will continue serving New Salem part-time and will additionally serve as our Associate Pastor. While we’re still working out the specifics of the job description and the delegation of pastoral duties, Kevin will work out of his New McKendree office during the week and continue to lead worship at New Salem on Sundays. In addition to his full-time on-the-job training, Kevin will continue his Course of Study training as a Licensed Local Pastor. Kevin is already a member of our church family and will be a great addition to our Ministry Team!

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Bryan Wendling