Podcasts about central umc

Singing Our Faith: Go Down, CUMC Scripture: Exodus 5:1–6:8 (CEB)This week in our Singing Our Faith worship series, Central UMC welcomed guest preacher Rev. Lemuel Pearsall, Jr. to reflect on the story of Moses, Pharaoh, and God's unshakable promises. Standing before Pharaoh, Moses demanded freedom for God's people, only to see their burdens grow heavier — bricks without straw, beatings without mercy, despair without relief. Pharaoh's arrogance, the Israelites' frustration, and even Moses' own doubt all reveal how unbelief takes root in the face of suffering.Yet God's response is steadfast: I will bring you out. I will deliver you. I will redeem you. I will take you as my people. I will be your God. Seven promises of covenant love, each later fulfilled in Christ. Rev. Pearsall reminded us that faith is not the absence of questions, but where we bring them. Like Moses, we are invited to groan in the right direction — to lay our pain, doubt, and longing before God, who is faithful even when we are not.The legacy of the spiritual “Go Down, Moses” echoes this truth: God stands with the oppressed, delivers the enslaved, and calls us to confront the Pharaohs of our own time. Our hope is not in our strength, but in the God who has already said yes and amen through Christ Jesus.

Singing Our Faith: Tambourine TheologyScripture: Exodus 15:1–21 (CEB)This week at Central UMC, Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen invited us to stand on the shores of the Red Sea with the Israelites, who had just witnessed the impossible. Behind them, the waters closed over Pharaoh's army. Ahead of them stretched wilderness, uncertainty, and freedom. In that liminal moment, the first sound was not a command or a quiet prayer, but music — tambourines and dancing led by Miriam the prophet.Rev. Harrison-McQueen reminded us that throughout history, music has been the language of liberation. From the songs of enslaved Africans in America to the freedom anthems of the Civil Rights Movement, from the rubble of the Berlin Wall to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, rhythm and song have always carried the power to resist oppression and proclaim hope.Miriam's tambourine teaches us that celebration is not frivolous — it is prophetic. Her embodied praise declared that oppression did not have the final word and that God's deliverance was real. Even in the wilderness, the people carried tambourines because they expected to celebrate. This is tambourine theology: a faith that insists on joy, even before the full story of freedom has been written.We are invited to live this same way today. Our worship can be resistance, our joy can be a witness, and our embodied praise can become a proclamation that God is still making a way where there seems to be none.

Singing Our Faith: The Best Is Yet to ComeScripture: Isaiah 43:15–21 (CEB)This week at Central UMC, we welcomed guest preacher Rev. Michelle Holmes Chaney, Director for Leadership and Church Vitality for the Northern Virginia District. Rev. Holmes Chaney reminded us that even in the midst of uncertainty and reflection, God is constantly doing something new—sprouting, emerging, and unfolding in our lives and in the world around us.Through personal stories, memories, and even a Frank Sinatra song, she showed how hope can emerge in both the ordinary and the extraordinary. Like seeds that inevitably sprout when nurtured, God's new things are always at work, even if we cannot yet see the full bloom.Rev. Holmes Chaney encouraged us to pay attention to God's perpetual “now”—a present that is always imminent and filled with possibility. Through trust, faith, and expectation, we are invited to perceive God's transformative work in our lives, in the church, and in the world. The refrain is simple yet profound: The best is yet to come, and the sun has yet to shine its brightest.

Singing Our Faith: Directions for SingingThis week at Central UMC, we welcomed guest preacher Brian Lamb from Wrights Chapel UMC in Ladysmith, VA. A seminary-educated public high school business teacher pursuing ordination, Brian brings a unique vision for ministry in the public schools — serving God and students where faith and daily life meet.Drawing from John Wesley's timeless “Directions for Singing,” Brian invited us to see worship music not as a battleground between “traditional” and “contemporary,” but as a living expression of God's renewing work. Just as the psalmist turned the old story of the Exodus into a new song, God continues to make all things new — even in our music.Through personal stories of worship transitions, seasons of spiritual dryness, and moments when God's presence broke through in unexpected ways, Brian reminded us that styles may change, but God's love remains constant. The question is not whether we prefer the organ or the guitar, the hymn or the praise chorus, but whether we are open to God breaking down the barriers — in music and in life — that keep us from deeper communion with Him.

Singing Our Faith: Ubi Caritas Deus Ibi EstScripture: Psalm 107:1–7, 33–43 (UMH 830)This week at Central UMC, we welcomed guest preacher Rev. Joanna Dietz, a deacon who ministers in the community—often at farmer's markets and public gatherings—where she makes visible the steadfast love of God.Rev. Joanna invited us to reflect on Psalm 107, a rich song of thanksgiving and reversal: deserts become springs, the lowly are lifted up, and the weary are led to a place to dwell. Through the lens of monastic life—from the chants of the Benedictines to the humble service of the Franciscans—we explored the tension and balance between personal holiness and social holiness.We learned how the early monks not only memorized all 150 psalms through chant but also lived out their faith through daily labor, hospitality, and care for the poor. Their monasteries became oases in the wilderness—places of song, prayer, and service.Rev. Joanna reminded us that in today's world of doomscrolling, division, and despair, we are still called to create oases of community and compassion. Like the psalmists, we name the desert places—loneliness, hunger, injustice—and trust in God's transforming love to bring about healing and abundance. Each of us is invited to consider the places we're called to act, speak out, and stand in solidarity with those on the margins.This is the rhythm of grace: worship and justice, prayer and protest, solitude and service. The question is not just How is it with your soul? but also How is it with your neighbor?

Singing Our Faith: The Still Center Scripture: 1 Kings 19:8–16This week at Central UMC, we turned to the story of the prophet Elijah—a man who stood against injustice, called down fire from heaven, and then found himself hiding in a cave, burnt out and afraid. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah flees to Mount Horeb, the same sacred ground where Moses once met God, and there, in the quiet, he encounters the divine—not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but in the sound of sheer silence.Pastor Sarah led us through a powerful reflection on the "still center"—a space of sincere, grounded faith in a noisy and chaotic world. Drawing inspiration from The Swan, a serene musical interlude tucked inside a satirical symphony, we explored how God calls us not to match the noise of the world but to embody grace and stillness within it.In a time of performative religion, relentless news cycles, and spiritual fatigue, we were reminded that God's voice often comes not in spectacle, but in silence. Elijah's story reminds us that we're not alone, that faith is passed from generation to generation, and that God is still speaking—quietly, but powerfully.

The UMC LEAD Conference is an annual gathering of United Methodist leaders from across the US. This conference was modeled around TED style talks about new and creative ways to engage in ministry such as starting new churches, self care, creativity, leadership challenges, lay ministry, urban and rural ministries, and more. The 2023 UMC LEAD Conference was held at Central UMC in Asheville with the Western NC Conference as the host! Check out some of these highlights and interviews from participants of this year's conference!   Connect: https://www.umclead.net/

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

This is an excellent talk in the need for Black Theology and a clear understanding of White Supremacy and what it does to the church. Power understanding of the Black Messiah. The Reverend Dr. Vance P. Ross presently serves as Senior Pastor of the Historic Central United Methodist Church, Atlanta, GA., the “Church at the Heart of the City with the City at Heart.” Prior to his appointment to Central, Ross served as Director of Annual Conference Relationships for Discipleship Ministries, where he connected the agency with the annual conference. Reverend Earle J. Fisher, Ph.D. A Movement and Ministerial leader at the forefront of social justice and black liberation efforts in Memphis, TN, and beyond, As a community organizer, Pastor Earle co-organized the Memphis Grassroots Organizations Coalition in August of 2015. Spearheading initiatives in criminal justice reform, media accountability, the removal of confederate monuments, and voter empowerment, Dr. Fisher formed #UPTheVote901 in November of 2017 to “give more political power to more people” and “increase voter turnout in Memphis and Shelby County.” Dr. Fisher is the 2019-2020 Henry Logan Starks Fellow at Memphis Theological Seminary and the 2020 Political Science Research Fellow at the University of Memphis teaching and studying Political Theology and Radical Black Politics. Most of Dr. Fisher's work focuses on the African American Religious Rhetoric, Contemporary Rhetorical Theory, Black Liberation Theology, and the prophetic persona of Albert Cleage, Jr. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, husband of one wife, Denise, father of one son, Jalen, believer in one God, and friend and mentor to many. His Book Reverend Albert Cleage Jr. and the Black Prophetic Tradition: A Reintroduction of The Black Messiah considers how Albert Cleage Jr., in his groundbreaking book of sermons, The Black Messiah (1969), reconfigures the rules of the game as it relates to Christianity and the social political realities of Black people in Detroit and across the country. Taking a rhetorical approach, this book explores how and what The Black Messiah (1969) has contributed to the broader scope of Black Liberation Theology and Black religious rhetoric. Scholars of rhetoric, communication, religious studies, and African American history will find this book particularly useful. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rev-hooker/support

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

Central UMC, Florence SC

A joint worship service with Central UMC and Arlington Temple UMC. Scriptures readings by the Rev. Allie Rosner Bass, Pastor of Arlington Temple UMC, the Rev. John Conway, Minister of Health and Visitation for Central UMC, and the Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen, Senior Pastor of Central UMC.Apologies for the low audio quality of the recording.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Sermon Talk Back - Luke Lingle & Patrick Neitzey - 12-22-21 by Central UMC

Sermon Talk Back - Luke Lingle & Patrick Neitzey - 12-16-21 by Central UMC

Sermon Talk Back - Dr. Rob Blackburn & Patrick Neitzey - 12-5-21 by Central UMC

Advent 2021 - Sermon Talk Back Has Returned by Central UMC

A joint worship service between Central UMC and the First Vietnamese-American UMC. The sermon is preached in both English and Vietnamese, with the Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen preaching in English and the Rev. Hieu Duc Phan preaching in Vietnamese.Scripture is John 1:1-17.In the beginning was the Word    and the Word was with God    and the Word was God.The Word was with God in the beginning.Everything came into being through the Word,    and without the Word    nothing came into being.What came into being    through the Word was life,    and the life was the light for all people.The light shines in the darkness,    and the darkness doesn't extinguish the light.A man named John was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. He himself wasn't the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light.The true light that shines on all people    was coming into the world.The light was in the world,    and the world came into being through the light,        but the world didn't recognize the light.The light came to his own people,    and his own people didn't welcome him.But those who did welcome him,        those who believed in his name,    he authorized to become God's children,        born not from blood        nor from human desire or passion,        but born from God.The Word became flesh    and made his home among us.We have seen his glory,    glory like that of a father's only son,        full of grace and truth.John testified about him, crying out, “This is the one of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than me because he existed before me.'”From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace;    as the Law was given through Moses,    so grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

A sermon preached for Central UMC on 2020-12-20 by the Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen. Worship series, "Advent Apocalypse." Sermon, "The Unveiling .” Scripture, Romans 16:25-27.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Sounds Of The Season - Selections For Organ - Corey Powell, Organ by Central UMC

A sermon preached for Central UMC on 2020-12-13 by the Rev. Allie Rosner Bass (Pastor of Arlington Temple UMC). Worship series, "Advent Apocalypse." Sermon, "Keep Awake.” Scripture, Mark 13:28-37.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

"Central to Life" - a podcast of Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Central UMC is a community for Christ in the Center of the City. We welcome everyone without exception. Today's sermon is being provided by Reverend Luke Lingle entitled "A Longer Ladder." Scripture Lesson: Genesis 28:10-19a

"Central to Life" - a podcast of Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Central UMC is a community for Christ in the Center of the City. We welcome everyone without exception. Today's sermon is being provided by Reverend Patrick Neitzey entitled "What Are We?" Scripture Lesson: Matthew 13:24‐30

"Central to Life" - a podcast of Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Central UMC is a community for Christ in the Center of the City. We welcome everyone without exception. Today's sermon is being provided by Reverend Dr. Rob Blackburn entitled "Keeping Our Amateur Status." Scripture Lesson: Ephesians 3:14 -21

Sermon Talk Back - Andrew Mochrie & Patrick Neitzey - 7-16-20 by Central UMC

Sermon Talk Back - Hannah Neitzey & Patrick Neitzey - 7-02-20 by Central UMC

Sermon Talk Back - Luke Lingle & Patrick Neitzey - 7-20-20 by Central UMC

Rev. Dr. Jan Davis from Central UMC in Fayetteville, Arkansas brings this message while Pastor Chris is on Vacation.

"Central to Life" - a podcast of Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Central UMC is a community for Christ in the Center of the City. We welcome everyone without exception. Today's sermon is being provided by Reverend Dr. Rob Blackburn entitled "Holy Anger." Scripture Lesson: Ephesians 4:22-29

How Are We Doing - Dr. Rob Blackburn, Pastor Luke Lingle & Dr. Len Cruz - 6 - 28 - 20 by Central UMC

"Central to Life" - a podcast of Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Central UMC is a community for Christ in the Center of the City. We welcome everyone without exception. Today's sermon is being provided by Reverend Joy Moss of Skyland UMC entitled "Practicing the Presence, Centering Our Lives in Christ." Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 18:1-6

Sermon Talk Back - Luke Lingle & Patrick Neitzey - 6 - 10 - 20 by Central UMC