11-11 Sunday Being Sunday it is time to get to church! Mom decided she wanted to go to the Methodist church, the one with the big banner in front. I head off and start to drop off at the Mission exit when she asked where I was going? I told her the Methodist church and she announced the one she was talking about was on 10th Street in McAllen. I decided to just go along and see what she was talking about since we had time, so about 8 miles later we were on 10th Street and there is no church. I tried, in my nicest voice, to say I would like to take her to the church I remember had a banner. Pulling up in front of the church she said it was the right one.
Charles Baskin is the pastor there and he was outside greeting those arriving for the service. He was most relaxed and acted as if he had all the time in the world to talk. Having now gone to the Good Shepherd UMC in Charlotte, NC and to the Faith UMC in Elkhart where pastors Talbot and Larry, respectively, both took time to walk around and great people both outside and inside the sanctuary, as did Charlie, we seem to be finding a very nice common thread among Methodist pastors. These are not the only churches where this happened, but they are the three most memorable.
Charlie’s wife Heidi plays the keyboards and leads the singing at the contemporary service. She is also the one who makes pumpkin bread in a mason jar for guests. She prepares the mixture, then puts it into the jar and bakes it there. She seals the jar and puts a Bible verse on as a final touch. Bobbie, the one woman welcome committee who visited us this morning (Monday) to great us says we should enjoy the bread, but bringing the jar back does not equate to a refill – Oh, shucks.
