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