 A few years ago, a friend of ours gave Kathy and me a Thanksgiving cactus. It was a very young, very small plant. We loved what it was and what it could be, so we took care of it and it grew a few sizes and got repotted into another and then another container. It was an impressive Schlumbergera truncata specimen. However, though it had grown to a mature size and was a healthy plant, I could not get it to bloom very much. For a couple of years, it would put forth less than a dozen blooms and then quit.
So, I went down to Raleigh Road Nursery with my problem. I talked to Tim who told me first, and with a smile, that I needed to remember that “the Good Lord didn’t make any indoor plants.” He encouraged me to take my plant outside in the spring when temperatures were above 50 degrees and leave it there all summer. It could take full sun, but not too much. And, feed it. Then, in the fall, when temperatures begin to drop, bring it inside, he said, and it will bloom its heart out for you sometime in October or November. I did what he said, and he was exactly right. The first November, it bloomed prolifically, and again, the next year. However, though I did everything I was supposed to do again the third year, it bloomed rather half-heartedly. Again, this year, not so many blooms. I have not yet been back to get more information and instruction from Tim. And, I don’t have a degree in agricultural or biological engineering from NC State. So, I’m left to figure this out with what I do have, which is a theological degree in one hand, and in the other hand a fist-full of dirt. So, I’ve concluded on my own that the lesson here is this: you can’t control everything. Weather and humidity, and soil quality, and air quality, and plant physiology, and photosynthesis, and the “Good Lord” all have a hand in what happens to even the finest plants during the blooming season. I’m learning to be good with that this Thanksgiving, whether there are five blooms or fifty. It dawned on me this week that this is also a good lesson for Advent. Advent is a season of preparation when we do the hard work of tending to the soil of our faith life. We dig into the scripture. We consider what our ancestors went through. We reflect on the words of the prophets. We read again the accounts of the lives of Elizabeth and Mary, Zachariah and Joseph. And, after all that, we are better prepared to testify to – bloom, if you will – this Jesus who was born into our world and who brings to us – and to all – new life. But there are no guarantees. We can’t control everything. We do the work of preparation. We fortify ourselves. We hope. We long for the coming of the Kin-dom. But it is not we who bring it to fruition. Once again, it is the Good Lord. We have some long nights ahead of us still. The Winter Solstice is on December 21. Until then, the days will get shorter and the nights will continue to lengthen. For a while, more than half of each day will be drenched in darkness. And, during that time, we prepare. We wait, we hope, we long for something more. Our cactus has finished blooming for the year. Now, it is just sitting there on the plant stand by the window, just being a cactus. In the spring, it’s going back outside. And, we will see. Grace and peace and Miracle Grow, Morgan
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 I was pleased recently to learn the history of the shepherd’s staff in the Minister’s office. I have it on good authority that a skilled craftsperson made it in Ohio. Specifically, it is an Amish, handcrafted, red oak, steam bent, shepherd’s staff. I love that an Amish artisan hand-crafted the staff that will remind me every day of the essence of my role at First Christian Church. I have long revered the Amish community – since I visited the community in Pennsylvania when I was in high school – as a group that has enviable core values, works hard, keeps the faith, and creates things that last.
The shepherd’s staff in our office was first procured by Gary Walling. Gary doesn’t remember exactly what for, but it was probably for a children’s event, perhaps Vacation Bible School, a Christmas play, or something similar. Gary gave it to Jamie when Jamie came as Interim Minister the first time. So, I was delighted last week when a serendipitous turn of events brought Jamie and me and a few others together in the office on Jamie’s last official day as minister here. Theresa Mathis suggested the moment needed a photo, and perhaps one that would depict a “passing of the torch.” Jamie immediately stepped into the office, brought out the shepherd’s staff, and held it out towards me. It could not have been a more fitting gesture, handing me this iconic implement created to accompany travelers, and to be a useful tool for those on a journey. It is a real joy for me to step into this role. First, I am so very grateful for the work Jamie and Renae invested here to shepherd this congregation in the recent months of “in between time.” We have been friends for many years, and to have Jamie be the one to hand over the “keys” to the office is deeply meaningful. Second, Kathy and I have a long relationship with First Christian Church of Wilson. Kathy grew up here, and I have memories that go back to my college days of spaghetti suppers that were provided for the Disciples students at Atlantic Christian College. And, I remember sitting in this office, seeking advice from Gene Wake on how to provide pastoral care in a challenging situation to members of the first church I served out in Black Creek. So, becoming the Minister here is a bit surreal, as well as a little bit like coming home. Over the course of the last couple of months, many of you have convinced me that you are genuinely excited about having me join the congregation as Senior Minister. Please allow me to assure you that I am also excited! I look forward to meeting folks I do not yet know and to growing relationships with many of you whom I have known for a good long while, to learning more about the work that goes on here and finding my place in it. I look forward to being one among many in this congregation that helps to carry our ministry into the Wilson community, and to sharing with interested people about what a treasure this congregation is and why they should come join this faith community. I look forward to sitting with you in worship and in study and discussion groups and wrestling with questions about how we can be Christian people in this time and this place. And, one more thing about the shepherd’s staff. As I understand it, historically the shepherd’s staff had several uses. Shepherds used it as a support to help them navigate the terrain, as a weapon to ward off predators that would threaten the flock they were tending, and as a tool for hooking around members of their flock that had strayed or gotten lost and redirecting them on the right path. (So, any of you who might be thinking that you can take a break now that the new minister has arrived, have been forewarned!) All that is to say simply this. Thank you so very much for this opportunity. I’m in. Let’s go! Grace and peace and walking sticks, Morgan  It’s HOT!!! Almost unbearable for a couple of mountain folks who complain about any temperatures over 83 – so you can imagine that we are melting right now.
So, we’re leaving! Well, hope you haven’t stopped reading yet: Renae and l will be home from July 1 until July 11, returning that afternoon. Barton College Chaplain Alysun Skinner will bring the message on July 6, so don’t play hooky that Sunday! The Elders will be carrying out pastoral duties while we’re gone, so contact them about any needs you may have. They will contact me if anything super-serious happens. During the summer, things tend to slow down a little at churches, especially in eastern NC, it seems. I learned a long time ago not to complain about this: everyone needs a break, and the 1950s are long gone (those of you old enough to remember might recall that because we had larger churches back then, the “outflux” of people heading to the beach or rivers during the summer didn’t impact us quite as much, although there was still an impact!). Church goes on. Every Sunday. Every Monday through Saturday. Every day. From a ministry standpoint, we never quit. Needs in the congregation, in the community, and in the world continue whether we’re gathered together or not. Which means the church never stops. Faith never ends, either. We practice it in different ways on different days of the week and in different situations, perhaps, but if we don’t practice it when we’re not at church, there’s not much at church that is going to make a difference in our faith. Maya Angelou observed, “While Sunday may be the Sabbath day, it takes the other six days of the week to make it holy.” While we’re out vacationing, relaxing, trying to find a little peace in the world, let’s commit to remembering that every day is God’s day, and God is in our lives every moment. I remember someone told me once, “I can worship God anywhere; I don’t have to be in church!” I think it was a teenager. My response was simple: “Then do it! Wherever you are!” - jamie  Mid-Week Lenten Thoughts from Jamie
A few more thoughts about Bible (a few more thoughts about the March 23, 2025, sermon) The Bible is a library, a written collection of how people understood God’s interaction with them in the world. Much of it is history: even the prophets’ writings reflect what was happening in their world. It’s not all history, though. Stories from the earliest days were handed down from the old to the young, from religious leaders to those who followed the religion. Word of mouth was the conductor of these tales of the earliest parents of our faith, until they began to be collected in writings. Even the books attributed to Moses show signs of being tampered with somewhere along the way, with different linguistic styles and even different names for God (for example, the names for God, Yahweh and Elohim, demonstrate two different strands of origin, one being a bit more “priestly,” and the other being more “folksy,” respectively). When it comes to the Law, or what we call the 613 commandments, we find the basis for many of our laws even today. Called the “Judeo-Christian” tradition, ideas like equity for all people under the law and punishment that fits the crime are both found in these commandments. I don’t believe that there is any such thing as a “biblical literalist.” First, to believe the Bible literally would mean that one would have to have access to the original document(s); then, one would have to read Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic fluently enough to understand them 100% of the time; and one would also have to have a strong working knowledge of the cultures from which the biblical writings emerged. I know there are even more conditions than these, but those are nit-picky compared to these three big ones. Our Jewish parents in faith had a much more flexible understanding of the scriptures. Amy-Jill Levine, a Jewish professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School, argues that rabbis were used to approaching the scriptures from a less literal standpoint, finding explanations for questions in a creative fashion. For instance, how did Adam and Eve’s sons find wives? The rabbis said, “Well, God created this other woman, Lilith, and she gave birth to the daughters.” Of course, the rabbis argued about this, and there were other explanations as well. The thing is, biblical discussions did not hinge on absolute answers. Levine also says, “The Bible teaches us which questions to ask.” You have heard me say many times that I believe the Bible to be a conversation between God and us. Sometimes, the conversation seems irrelevant to our lives; at others, the conversation never takes place at all, because we don’t bother with it, deciding that “the Bible said it, I believe it, that settles it:” and at still others, we wonder if the Bible should be interpreted a little more loosely (or not at all). Two examples of this: Jesus taught that we should “turn the other cheek.” I had a Sunday School teacher who actually said, “Jesus doesn’t expect us to do this.” Yikes! Jesus also taught that divorce was a sin: I still recall how upset my family was over the impending divorce of good friends of theirs, even stating that they would not be able to come back to church (and, as I recall, they didn’t). Yet over the years, because of society’s acceptance of divorce, we have, in our hearts, re-written, if not Jesus’ commandments, at least our understanding of these two sayings. I love the Bible. Being a historian at heart, the stories themselves keep me enthralled. I’ve never been a legalist, so the Law doesn’t interest me. St. Paul says that the Law came to fulfillment in Jesus, and I was taught that he supersedes all laws (I am thankful for this, as I eat shellfish as often as possible – against the Law of Moses – and have been known to eat swordfish as well as escargot). The example of swordfish, by the way, shows how the rabbis changed the Law when it was discovered that swordfish only had scales (scales were what defined “fish,” which were Kosher to eat) when they are young; mature swordfish don’t, which meant changing the Kosher – read “part of the 613 commandments” – to exclude the eating of swordfish. Reading the Bible is never enough. After reading it, we consciously or unconsciously decide how then we are going to live. I believe that God allows us to expand our understanding of how we are to live rather than condemning us Sfor trying to live faithfully within whatever culture we live and work and play.  A few more thoughts about Church
(a few more thoughts about the March 16, 2025, sermon) When I was in college, “church” referred to an institution whose identity and practices were pretty much set in stone. However, for many of my peers and I, “church” should not have been some of the things it had become. When Emperor Constantine made Christianity the legal religion of the Roman Empire in 313 via the Edict of Milan, he set the stage for leaders for centuries to come: the use of Christianity for political purposes. Many scholars find Constantine’s reasons for the legalization suspect; Christians of his own time left the churches in the cities to join monasteries, especially in the north African and Palestinian deserts, because they felt that legalization would “water down” the church and cause it to compromise its more radical beliefs in order to “fit in” with the rest of society. People would become Christians not because of their convictions but because it was the thing to do. One of the things that the church is always called to do is to speak truth to power, no matter who that power is. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and other German ministers stood against Hitler in spite of the danger to their lives. Ministers in the old USSR and communist China lost their freedom and sometimes their lives as they sought to practice faith in spite of their governments’ denial of religious rights. H. Richard Niebuhr’s classic book, Christ and Culture, examines five possible ways that the church has related to culture. I have “adjusted” his definitions because ultimately, “church” stands for Christ in the world. Sorry for it sounding so much like a seminary paper: it was! 1. Church against culture: loyalty to Christ and the church entails a rejection of culture and societal values. The church stands against culture to the extent that it judges it and finds it wanting, offering an alternative in keeping with the teachings of Jesu; thus, monasteries and other communal living styles developed along the lines of the early church depicted in Acts. 2. Church of culture: loyalty to culture trumps loyalty to Christ, to the point the New Testament Jesus gets replaced with an idol that shares his name. The church becomes so ensconced within culture that it creates a completely different religion from that of Jesus of Nazareth. 3. Church above culture: Niebuhr says that this is the dominant voice of church history, in which the problem is between God and humanity rather than God and the world. This is a little confusing. What it basically means is that the church deals with human sin in individuals rather than the sin of the culture and society. The downside to this view is the institutionalization of Church and gospel, as well as the tendency to make absolute what is relative, reduce the infinite to finite form, and materialize what is dynamic. In other words, church shapes itself somewhat to culture rather than standing as a separate entity all the time – there’s a synthesis of church and culture, some of it good, some of it not. 4. Church and Culture in paradox position: humanity is living in sin, but grace comes from God. St. Paul speaks some of this, and Martin Luther and Soren Kierkegaard followed him. The two opposites, sin and grace, are found in tension with each other, although God ultimately wins. But sometimes, the church can almost go back to the “church against culture” model. 5. Church as transformer of culture: all of culture is under the judgment of God, and yet culture is also under God’s sovereign (and benevolent) rule. Emphasizing the goodness of creation, this “conversionist” approach affirms what can be affirmed in culture and seeks to transform what is corrupted by sin and selfishness. I think it’s important to understand that the church exists in the world. How we see our relationship to worldly values depends on where we fall in one of these 5 categories. I have found myself holding almost all of these at one time or another. The church should always be in flux, seeking ways to be faithful in the world while adhering to higher values and standards. Rev. Jamie  Mid-Week Lenten Thoughts from Jamie
A Few More Thoughts about God One of the things I usually say about God is that God is not an old, white man. God is, especially, not Santa Claus in a robe instead of in a red suit. God is not a man or a woman, for that matter. One of the ways that we can think about God in a realistic sense is to go beyond our images of people and try to consider that God is spirit. Of course, that makes God really hard to visualize, but it also frees up our concepts of God to allow them to be bigger and deeper than what we may have considered before! God is love. Even in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), while God is sometimes portrayed in the human style of being angry, there are plenty of references to God’s love for people. God is referred to as a shepherd, for instance; it’s one of the most endearing and attractive pictures of God in the whole Bible! The prophets, admittedly, talk about God’s anger with people’s failure to treat each other with justice, fairness and kindness, but they also portray a deity who is angry because of offered love that is rejected time and again. However, forgiveness is always possible in these depictions of God. I try to remember that God is omniscient, that God knows everything. When we pray, if we can remember that God knows what we are talking about even before we utter anything, perhaps our prayers could look more like a comfortable friendship where not many words are necessary, where just “being with God” is enough. God is more than we can imagine! Theologians have argued for centuries about whether or not God changes. I don’t see what the attraction is to a stagnant being who doesn’t ever change its mind! If God doesn’t change, why do we pray? Don’t most of us at one time or another ask God to change, to ease up on us or those we love, to bring peace to the world, to help the poor? Our understanding of God must grow with us. God is revealing things to us all the time if we are awake and aware. Go stand outside on a clear, starry night and see if you don’t experience some of the hugeness of God. Stand on a mountaintop with waves upon waves of mountains before you and realize just how big God is. Walk on a dark beach at night, with the deafening sound of waves crashing and feel what it is to be in awe of power and might. Our vision of God needs to grow and change. It’s a constant challenge in our spiritual walk. There’s so much more to say about God than you want to read here. This Lent, one thing to give up is a limited understanding of God. If God is doing a new thing, as Isaiah 43: 19 says, then possibly, that new thing is continuing. The old has passed away, St. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians. If God is doing it, we can be part of it!  In my August column, I warned you against giving into the fear being peddled by political parties and candidates ahead of the election on November 4. I promised that my future columns would serve as reminders—do not be afraid.
I believe that our faith calls us to be involved politically with our world. Like most of you, I land on candidates and decide on issues when I see that they resonate with my own values. Our values are surely shaped by our faith in Jesus Christ. While I do not feel that the government should be in the business of implementing religion, I would expect that all adherents to our faith want to see it reflected in all aspects of our society. So, we should be politically active. Peddling fear, sadly, is very motivating and very effective. I was told by a well-meaning church member in my past that the only way I could grow a church is to start talking about Hell a lot more. While I was happy to prove him wrong, I understood why he said it. Generally, people are more motivated by the fear of the outcome they don’t want than the positive potential of what could be gained by the outcome they do desire. That’s a sad, faithless way to go through life, isn’t it? I’d be really moved by a candidate who could positively tell me why my life/community/country would be better if they were elected, without ever mentioning their opponent. I’ll be waiting for those ads to run. And if I get too tired of waiting, I’ll just stick with Netflix and Apple TV until they start sneaking in political ads. Keep the faith, my friends. That’s a common expression we hear. Only, I mean it quite literally—in the face of negative fearmongering, keep the faith. Our outcome is in the hands of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and no one else. Peace, Scott Minister’s Corner
Mindfulness Psychology Today describes mindfulness as: “…a state of active, open attention to the present. This state is described as observing one’s thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad.” Mindful.com describes mindfulness as “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” I describe it as the simple ability to pay attention to what you are doing. Often, our family will be sitting around the table and eventually, someone takes out their phone and, without getting up from the table, exits the conversation, and my sister scoldingly says, “BE HERE, NOW.” Point taken. And sooner or later, she reaches for her phone, and everyone repeats her refrain. The truth is, we are distracted all the time. I’m frequently distracted while driving, preaching, eating, even sleeping. Being present to others and to ourselves is a rare gift. Mindfulness is something I’d like to explore with you during Lent. There are a lot of things to be mindful of, an exhaustive list that we won’t cover completely. Lent is a season of repentance, a time when we look ourselves in the mirror and task ourselves and each other with turning back and reorienting ourselves to God. To do that requires mindfulness. Here are the themes I’ve landed on for this mindfulness series: Repentance, Self, Creation, Compassion, Wholeness, Community, and Mercy. If we can walk away from Lent more mindful of these things, I’m convinced we will be better people and a better church. Look for an opportunity to participate in a 40-day mindfulness challenge beginning on Valentine’s Day, which is also Ash Wednesday this year. Peace, Scott Each New Year brings the opportunity to set a resolution to make meaningful, positive changes in your life. Many people are skeptical of resolutions; statistics show that, as you might expect, it's easy to say you're going to make a change than to actually do it.
One thing is for sure—2024 is going to bring meaningful, positive change to my life. For one thing, I'll wake up in the morning of January 1 as a resident of Ohio, and go to sleep that night, God willing, as a resident of North Carolina. On January 2, I begin my work as your pastor, at long last. I'm excited, anxious, and yes, a little scared. These are all new things for me, and though I feel like my heart, mind and body are ready, things are going to be different, and that can be hard. Still, I'm so looking forward to getting started and worshiping with you on January 7 (and 14, and 21, and so on). It's an exciting time, for all of us, I hope. In Advent, we talk about hope, peace, joy, and love. The importance of those themes don't fade just because we hang a new calendar on the wall. I'm looking forward to living into those things, together with you, my First Christian family. It's going to be a Happy New Year! Peace, Scott  Greetings!
Employment in a church is unique in so many ways, not the least of which is the lag in hiring someone and the beginning of the work. The last time you heard from me was October 1—doesn’t that seem like a long time ago? It sure does for me. I’m super excited, not only about starting my full-time employment, but also worshipping with you on December 10 and 24. Since I was with you, I’ve had some bumps in the road, finished out my Interim Ministry in Columbus, gone into contract on a home in Wilson, and started packing. While it seems like October 1 was a long time ago, January 1, my move date, looms over our house. This is our first out-of-state move, and we are learning the ins-and-outs. I’m anticipating it being the last one, at least for a good long time. My wish for you is that this Christmas season will be one filled with joy and peace for you and your loved ones. I get all the ‘feels’ at Christmas—it is a bittersweet season, full of goodness and generosity, but also memories of days and folks gone by. My intention is to always pay attention to how my heart is feeling, and it runs the gamut! It will be a different Christmas for me this year, as I will be moving away from close family members in Ohio in 2024. They have some opinions about that! Through it all, Advent is a season of anticipation and expectation. In a typical Advent, we are anticipating and expecting a Savior to be born among us. While I’m expecting and anticipating that, my biggest anticipation is beginning our shared ministry in January, at last! Peace, Scott |
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UPDATEDDecember 9, 2025
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ABOUT USFirst Christian Church is a part of the larger protestant denomination Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Our denomination emphasizes Christian unity, open communion, and a commitment to justice and inclusion. Disciples value freedom of belief, encouraging individuals to study scripture and follow Christ according to their own conscience. With the motto “A movement for wholeness in a fragmented world,” the denomination seeks to be a welcoming and compassionate presence in both local communities and the wider world. |
CONTACTChurch office: 252-237-4125
Email: [email protected] 207 Tarboro Street North | Wilson, NC Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 9AM-2PM 
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