Are You a Source of Life for Others?
I was struck by two unexpected developments last week.
One was a call to Judith from a colleague at a large suburban church asking how we are doing it. Apparently, we are one of several United Methodist churches that have experienced increases of 5% or more in worship attendance over the last two years (our increases have ranged from 5–9% over that time). This has not been dramatic, but it has been true. Our colleague wanted to know how we are a source of life for a growing number of new people.
The other development was having 23 donors come in to donate blood on Sunday. About 10 of those were walk-ins who saw our marketing for the blood drive. Twenty-two donations came from those gracious people, one of which was from a teenage first-timer. One donation can help up to five people who need what only one human being can give to another—life-giving blood. Out of some 330,000,000 people in the United States, only 3% choose to be this critical source of life for others. Along with most churches within our denomination, FUMC Plano has chosen to be a source of life for others; it’s in our DNA, pairing “personal piety” with “social holiness.”
As of April, our denomination has donated $24 million locally across five major areas of basic human need: agriculture and food insecurity, global health, education, migration, and peace. This initiative has been in direct response to the U.S. government’s cutting of USAID by $32 billion and is consistent with our long-held Social Principles, based on what Jesus directed his disciples to do. It may seem like a drop in the bucket—something like a drop of blood—yet it remains a source of life for others who would not otherwise experience this grace. Every day, we wake up with the power to make a choice: will we be a source of life for others or not? I am proud to be part of a church that has always chosen yes.
This Sunday, we gather together on our knees to receive the “blood of Christ,” given for us, that we might in turn give ourselves for others. See you Sunday in the life-giving place!
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
A Covenant to Be Resident Aliens
One of the more formative books for developing my understanding of the church was written by Duke theologians Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon. Entitled Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, the writers lean into the Book of Acts and other New Testament documents to make the point that, by our baptismal covenant, we vow to be “counter-cultural.” This does not mean “anti-culture,” but rather always a step apart from the culture because our other foot is in the church—the “Christian colony,” the beachhead for the kingdom of God, which we seek to live on earth as it is in heaven.
This stance surveys and measures all cultural norms against the standard of love as Jesus lived it and taught it:
Where the culture encourages distrust, the church encourages trust.
Where the culture encourages meanness, the church encourages kindness.
Where the culture encourages acquisition and hoarding of material and temporal things, the church encourages giving them away.
Where the culture encourages suspicion and fear, the church encourages curiosity and invitation.
Where the culture encourages slogans, the church encourages conversation.
Where the culture encourages despair, the church encourages hope.
That is what we will talk more about this Sunday.
This Sunday, I will also have the privilege of baptizing a baby—one of my greatest joys—into this counter-cultural body called the church. God has already made a covenant with all of us. A parent will make a covenant, and you all will make a covenant—to raise this child within the loving arms of the church and to witness to him how it is, in a complex and dispiriting world, we stand together united as resident aliens, proclaiming Christ’s odd message of unconditional love in a culture that seems so short of the same.
Blessings upon all of us as we, too, take that vow for ourselves.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
Speaking Morally Because Jesus Did
I will leave commentary to others about what qualifies as below the office of those in political positions. Suffice it to say that, as we Christians celebrate a risen savior, “you can’t make this stuff up.”
What is more predictable, thoughtful, and thoroughly grounded biblically are statements made by a Catholic pope—in this case, Pope Leo XIV. The political outcry is misplaced over his statements regarding war, peace, the maimed, the displaced, the poor, and sudden immigrants. He speaks not politically but morally, because Jesus did; and as the Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo is charged to speak as he understands and believes Jesus would have.
This does not play well with many Christians who find imaginative ways to justify war and the killing of others whom they do not like. It might be politically expedient to hold such a position, but it is not a moral one. Historically, faithful popes and pastors have reminded the world of that; it is our calling and duty—not because of any political party position, but because of Christ’s position, who always sided with those otherwise ostracized and oppressed—women, children, the poor, those ethnically different, those dispossessed, those reviled, those with mental health conditions, those with physical conditions, those who were out of sync with popular thought.
As one commentator said about the Pope Leo controversy, “If you think the Pope is woke, wait ‘til you meet his boss.”
Jesus always starts not from a political position but from a moral one, asking the question: what is truly loving in this instance? Because love is the essential and whole nature of God. It’s where every faithful Christian—not just popes—should begin every moment of every day. It is the moral question and stance of love that challenges and holds accountable all political positions.
We should be unafraid to do so because it is what our Savior did, both before and after his resurrection. It is this moral stance that made it so hard on Peter when Christ asked him three times, “Peter, do you love me?” (John 21:15–19), after Peter’s threefold denial earlier, and then charged him (and all who are called to take care of flocks), “Feed my sheep.”
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
Easter Was Not a Quick Fix
You do not need this reminder to know that it is true in your own experience. “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!” we said. So what now, when Monday’s challenges after Easter Sunday look a lot like they did on Saturday? This is where Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to the disciples and the famous “doubting Thomas” is helpful in John 20.
Thomas resists believing that Jesus is risen until the risen Christ invites him: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side” (John 20:27). There is an intimacy and careful consideration here by both Thomas and Jesus. Out of Fr. Richard Rohr’s devotional of April 8 (see cac.org), womanist theologian Yolanda Pierce reminds us that “by sharing his wounds, Jesus reveals that our wounds are places for God’s healing presence and love.”
She goes on to say: “This is a theology for the wounded, for those who are still healing, and even for those who aren’t quite ready for healing. The risen Savior insistently welcomes the doubting, the uncertain, and the grieving to touch and see that he is real and present and here for us. As wounded people encased in the frailties of human flesh, can we, too, summon enough grace and kindness to acknowledge that our own very human wounds need time to heal?”
I was so grateful to celebrate Holy Communion on Easter—with my son and wife, but also with you as the body of Christ. I could not stop smiling, seeing us all there with God and there with one another, on our knees, side by side, communing with Christ and one another in all our woundedness, knowing anew that there is strength in weakness and indeed a resurrection that prevails. Hallelujah!
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
When Does It Happen to You?
By “it,” I mean the unexpected moment when the Spirit of the living Christ breaks through all of the well-rehearsed Easter prescriptions, all of the day’s family plans, all of the preparation, all of the expected components and messages that we already know. When does it happen that you feel yourself moved in a way you didn’t see coming? When, in the course of this Holy Week, does Jesus’ death and resurrection move beyond the well-known story we observe and move within you? The answer, of course, is different for each person.
For all of the Easters I have been part of (and I have missed only one since collecting eggs in a basket at age 5 in a little suit with a clip-on tie), I have been moved in various ways over the years by the pageantry, the sense of togetherness with so many of the same belief, and occasionally by the sermon (I hope this is true for some this year!). But in first place by a long shot for me—when I most feel the risen Christ within me and in our midst—it is through the music. “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” “Easter People, Raise Your Voices,” and “Crown Him with Many Crowns” all make me beam as we stand and sing with one voice. But for me, the climax comes when anyone who wants is invited to take the sheet music and join the Chancel Choir at the end of the 11:00 Traditional Service to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus.” It has become a tradition in our home that my visiting middle sister and I rise upon invitation and join the chorus—her in the soprano section and me in the bass—catching each other’s eyes as we smile, sing, and maybe tear up. That’s when it happens to me. The Spirit of the risen Christ infuses George Frideric Handel’s music with resurrection power. I can feel it and truly know that “He is risen; he is risen indeed!” Not in a vague way, not in a spectator way, but in a deeply personal, transformative way that I know has the power to change the world.
From this annual experience arises within me a renewed and abiding hope that what has happened to me can happen to others—can happen to a world that has lost its way in its madness. This is the possibility that awaits you at tonight’s Maundy Thursday service, tomorrow’s Good Friday service, and on Easter morning, just as it did for Jesus and his followers. Pray that “it” happens to you, perhaps when you least expect it—and then tell me about it (mgaston@fumcplano.org). I would love to hear and rejoice with you: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
What Stance Will You Choose?
This Sunday, we rehearse what the church refers to as Palm or Passion Sunday. The crowds who greet Jesus with such warm welcome and fanfare are also among those who, only a few days later, are shouting, “Crucify him!”
Jesus had not changed, but the people’s hearts had; they felt threatened because what they could control was changing. They could not change their economic situation; they could not control the suffering around them; they had no say in the empire’s decisions. Jesus had given them hope and faith, but their faith had turned to fear—fear of change and fear of unfulfilled expectations—which, in their small, sinful selves, led directly to anger and acting out. Add to this the government’s fear of a Jewish uprising around this gifted rabbi, and the decision was clear to them: get him out of the way.
This is what fear does; it scapegoats others with fear we want to push away from ourselves—on an individual level and then a corporate level.
Jesus’ life, and that of his disciples and church, were a constant swirl of change. It still is. The choice for all of us is whether to see change with fear or opportunity. Jesus still encourages: “In the world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Church’s 2000-year history and our church’s 179-year history bear witness to that truth. The risen Christ and his church persist. The upcoming Palm/Passion Sunday and Holy Week underline and put an exclamation mark on this biblical truth. This week, and in our lives, Jesus is asking us, “Who are we in the crowd, and what stance will we choose?”
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
Keeping the Vigil – for Resurrection
“The disciples, along with Mary and Jesus’ brothers, ‘all joined together constantly in prayer’ while waiting for the Holy Spirit.”
In what I believe is a first for FUMC Plano, we will hold an outdoor Easter Prayer Vigil beginning at 8 p.m. following our Good Friday service and continuing through the weekend until 6 a.m. Easter morning, just before our 6:45 a.m. Sunrise Service. That creates 34 one-hour opportunities for individuals, friends, and families to gather around a firepit on the Cross Lawn, bringing lawn chairs or blankets, and praying for whatever God places on your heart. There’s a lot to choose from! We will provide prayer guides, suggestions, and materials — as well as wood to keep the fire going.
Prayer was a hallmark of the early church; it went hand in hand with every instance in life, from focusing themselves on God (Acts 2:42) to praying amid the injustices of the world (Acts 12:5). They were together all about prayer. With both the joys of our hope and connection, and the concerns of what is now global upheaval, God calls us to be a people of prayer first, before all else. A focused vigil gives us that opportunity as a church family.
Member Joel Allard is our point person for this ministry; you can reach him at jobuya@gmail.com or at 832-752-7029 with your questions. There will be a sign-up table in the Gathering Area these next two Sundays, as well as a sign-up link here. I hope you will sign up and bring someone along with you.
After a Good Friday Service where we will literally nail our confessions to a cross, a time of prayer under the sky is just the space to feel God’s forgiving, healing, and empowering presence. Cammy and I will be signed up for an hour. We hope you will too.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
One Leaves; Another Comes – Prayerfully
“… select among yourselves men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.’ What they (the disciples) said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.”
This story occurs shortly after the birth of the church in Acts 2. Already a discernment process was in place to select new leadership in the nascent church, and the criteria was as it is today: persons of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.
That criteria is what we look for in candidates for ministry who come before our Board of Ordained Ministry for interviews to become ordained pastors. It is the criteria our Bishop’s Cabinet looks for in pastors they prayerfully discern for appointment to another church. It is an apt description for Rev. Ramon (pronounced Ruh-mahn’) Smith, who will become FUMC Plano’s new pastor on July 1.
Ramon is a man of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. I could not be more encouraged for his appointment and for FUMC Plano’s future under his leadership. he and I have communicated several times already and will have the first of several lunch meetings next week as I do my part to equip him with the history, culture, organization, and vision of FUMC Plano. Like me, Ramon majored in a finance-related field in college — International Business, one of his two degrees before answering a call to ministry and enrolling at the Perkins School of Theology at SMU where, like me, he met his wife, Gabrielle, who was enrolled at the Law School. He has a heart for people, a heart for mission, and a heart for his family that includes their two children, RJ (Ramon Jr.) and Isabelle. And he rocks an amazing bow-tie collection!
Our SPRC was all smiles around the table at the end of the introduction and conversation led by our District Superintendent, Rev. Philip Rhodes. Our Lay Leader, David Boatfield, noted the same smiles around our staff table as he was telling us about Ramon — and for good reason. There is a lot to like and to anticipate as we move through this transition of connectional leadership.
Our SPRC Chair, Kristin White, will make this announcement again in worship this Sunday. I hope that as you have curiosity, you will speak with any of our SPRC members and to me.
Ramon is about the same age I was when I was appointed to FUMC Denton (where Gary Mueller had served four years earlier) — a large step up for me at the time. It was a wonderful experience for me and for the church. I believe Ramon and his family will have a similar experience here because, like Denton, FUMC Plano takes pride in welcoming newcomers well and working to make them feel like family.
So, like the church in Acts, be in prayer and have great trust in what the Spirit is doing among us; the Spirit will not disappoint.
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor
A Message from SPRC Chair Kristin White
Dear Church Family,
On behalf of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, I am pleased to share that Bishop Ruben Saenz, Jr. of the Horizon Texas Conference has appointed Rev. Ramon F. Smith to serve as the next Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church Plano, effective July 1, 2026.
Rev. Smith currently serves as Senior Pastor of Saginaw United Methodist Church in Saginaw, Texas, where he has led the congregation since July 2021. A native of Raymond, Mississippi, Rev. Smith is passionate about preaching the gospel, forming disciples, and helping churches align their mission with the needs of their communities.
Rev. Smith holds two undergraduate degrees from Mississippi State University and a Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He was ordained an elder in The United Methodist Church in 2011. Rev. Smith has served in a variety of ministry settings, including an urban new church start, an urban traditional congregation, and cross-racial appointments as an associate pastor in both a large suburban church and a megachurch.
Within the Horizon Texas Conference, Rev. Smith currently serves as Chair of the Commission on Equitable Compensation and Metro West Chair of the Committee on Superintendency. He previously served on the Board of Ordained Ministry and was elected a Jurisdictional Conference Delegate in 2019.
Rev. Smith lives in Fort Worth with his wife of 19 years, Gabrielle, an attorney, and their two children, RJ (13) and Isabelle (10). He enjoys reading, grilling, and proudly supporting his children in their activities as a soccer and dance dad.
Rev. Smith shares that he is grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside the people of First United Methodist Church Plano and looks forward to what God will do through the congregation’s faith, service, and witness as together we seek to connect God and grace to self and community.
We also give thanks for the faithful leadership of Rev. Matt Gaston, who will be retiring on July 1 after ten years of dedicated service to our church. We are grateful for the many ways Matt has guided and strengthened our congregation, and we will celebrate his ministry in the months ahead.
Please join us in praying for Rev. Smith and his family as they prepare for this transition, and for our church as we continue to follow God’s call. We look forward to welcoming Rev. Smith and his family as we begin this new chapter together in ministry.
Grace and peace,
Kristin White
Chair, Staff Parish Relations Committee
First United Methodist Church Plano
A Steady Word in a Season of Change
A Healthy Reminder from Your Director of Communications
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of news: transitions, retirements, and changes in leadership. For some, that feels energizing. For others, it feels unsettling.
For many, it’s simply a lot to take in.
Please know that change does not mean unraveling. It just means preparation for what comes next.
Churches have seasons. Pastors retire. Staff members discern new calls. New leaders step in. Through every season, what holds steady is not a personality – it is our purpose!
For generations, First United Methodist Church Plano has existed to "connect God and grace to ourselves and our community." That vision does not retire. It does not resign. It does not disappear when leadership shifts.
Transitions naturally raise questions about what will change and what comes next. The truth is often simpler than our fears suggest. The Church is larger than any one role, and stronger than any one season. We have a gifted staff, faithful lay leaders, and a congregation deeply rooted in service and worship. That foundation remains.
It’s okay if this season feels fragile. It’s okay if it feels uncertain. But, be rest assured, it is stable.
We will walk this season the same way we’ve walked every other season — together. With prayer. With honesty. With trust in the One who has led this church for nearly 180 years and is not finished yet!
If you have questions, ask them. If you need reassurance, seek it. If you are feeling the weight of change, know that you are not alone.
This is still your church.
This is still our community.
And God is still at work among us.
With faith and gratitude,
Nancy Bryan-Ellison
Director of Communications