In the Weeks Ahead

Let me share with you the Sunday morning Worship schedule for the next several weeks in Celebration Service. The weeks ahead include many intriguing topics and fascinating guest speakers that will lead to a powerful worship experience.  

May 19 

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday and I will continue “The Bible” sermon series focusing on the life of King David.  Come and discover how King David and Pentecost are related.  You might be surprised!

May 26

Mary Brooke and I made plans several months ago to spend the Memorial Day weekend in Colorado with family and friends.  Our friends are coming in from other parts of the country and we need to fulfill our obligation with them.  Therefore, Ed Whipple will be preaching in Celebration Service on May 26.  He will continue “The Bible” series with the topic, “The Exile.”

June 2

My last Sunday to preach and last Holy Communion to officiate with you will be June 2. This will be a very holy and memorable day for Mary Brooke and me.

June 9

On Sunday, June 9, Rev. David Lessner will continue the sermon series by moving you into the New Testament.  Put David’s highly kinetic energy together with his favorite topic, The Gospels of Jesus, and get ready for an explosive message of God’s saving grace.

June 16

For Father’s Day, June 16, I have asked Chris Henderson to share the message.  Several months ago Chris, who is one of our Certified Lay Servants (Speakers), introduced me to the writings of Mike Breen, an Anglican clergyman who teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary in California.  He has written several books related to discipleship, among them being Building a Discipling Culture and Launching Missional Communities. I believe Breen’s model for forming disciples of Jesus Christ is worth serious consideration. It involves forming very intentional Huddle Groups whose sole (soul) purpose is to deepen one’s commitment to live out one’s discipleship to Jesus Christ.  Chris has become so intrigued with this model that he is learning to lead a Huddle Group by joining a Huddle Group Training group made up of about 6 to 8 other participants from all over the country.  This group is led by a trained Huddle leader. I know Chris will have several valuable points to make on June 16.

June 23

The Rev. Jodi Smith is the North Texas Conference Treasurer and Director of Connectional Resources.  Some of you know that Jodi received her call to ministry while a member at Stonebridge UMC.  She served several churches in the North Texas Conference before taking her current position.  Jodi will be the preacher in Celebration Hall on June 23.  I was with Jodi this past week and she expressed her excitement about being with you on that day.  She also shared the theme of her sermon which will be based on the Letter to the Hebrews and what it means to be set free from the slavery of death.  This sounds heavy, but her message will delight with surprising grace.

June 30

Then on Sunday, June 30, Rev. Dina Steiner will lead the message in Celebration Hall.  Most of you have heard by now that Dina’s husband, Karl, has been offered the job of directing Microsoft’s Video Game operation in Europe.  By June 30, Karl will already be in London.  Dina is planning to meet him there sometime in August.  So come and support Dina as this will be one of her last sermons to preach at Stonebridge UMC.

In His Service and Yours,

Vic Casad

An Exciting Future

We ran the numbers this week in our Stonebridge UMC database to give us an updated census report for our church.  I thought you might be interested in seeing a snapshot of Stonebridge UMC-by-the-Numbers.

First of all, these numbers come from our total database of names which includes not only members, but also many who regularly affiliate with our church or who are regular visitors but have not officially joined.  In January, we reported that the official membership number for our church is 2,025.  Our database includes 3,292 names.

Based on the database census, let me give you some interesting highlights.  First, the average age of the head of households in our church 49.73, with median age (half younger, half older) is 48.  The average age of all names in the database is 29.52 with the median age being 23.

Here is how our church breaks down by age:  18% percent of our church is under 10 years of age; 46% is under 20; 55% under 30; 66% under 40; 82% under 50; and 92% under 60.  Eight percent of our church family are over 60 year of age.

Close to 76% of our church households have children in the home.  There are 647 married couple households in the database, with 56 households with single mothers and 12 with single fathers.  The average household size with children is 4.04. 

Stonebridge UMC was started in 1995.  There are 112 persons who have been members of the church between 15 to 18 years.  Nineteen percent of our church membership (442) has been members between 10 to 14 years and 35% (795) between 5 to 9 years.

Forty percent or 921 individuals have been members of our church for four years or less.  This is a significant and important number that speaks to the current vitality of our church.

And finally, it is no surprise that 87.45% of our church membership lives in McKinney.  But it is important to know that we have 42 families living in Frisco, 14 families living in Allen, 11 families living in Prosper, and nine families living in Plano.  What is also interesting is that 33 more families live in 23 other communities around us.

At this point I will leave it to you to interpret this data.  Frankly, these numbers are very encouraging and point our church toward a very exciting future.

Getting Ready for Holy Week

I first want to say how excited and pleased I am that Bishop Mike McKee will be appointing Rev. John McLarty as the new Senior Pastor to Stonebridge UMC.  This is a great appointment for both Stonebridge UMC and for the McLarty family.  I know that John will be a very dynamic and visionary leader for this church in the years to come.  It is a wonderful feeling to know that I will be leaving Stonebridge in such, not just capable, but exemplary hands.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday and we will conclude our study of Adam Hamilton’s book,The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. The last chapter is entitled: “The Final Week”, and tells of Jesus’ daily encounters leading to His betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion.   These events take place in the Holy City of Jerusalem.  The chapter concludes with a call to authentic discipleship and what it means to really follow in Jesus’ footsteps, which for each of us means to “take up our cross” and follow Him.  Following the 10:30 services, don’t forget our All Church Picnic and activities.

I pray that you will be able to participate in all of our upcoming Holy Week services.

Thursday, March 28, 7 p.m. in The Bridge will be the traditional Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, communion service commemorating Jesus’ last supper with His disciples.  Rev. David Lessner will officiate this service, revealing through music and descriptions of the disciples, how Jesus introduced through bread and wine His life-giving covenant to them and ultimately to us.  Our youth band will be the featured musicians on Holy Thursday.

The next night, Friday, March 29, 7 p.m. in Celebration Hall our Good Friday service will take us through the fourteen stations Jesus passed on his way to His crucifixion.  This program, The Way of the Cross, will dramatize these events through scripture readings and special music presentations.

Remember, this year we are introducing our Sunrise Easter Service, 7:15 a.m. at Adriatica Village in Stonebridge Ranch.  Sponsored by our Student Ministries, this service will include a communion service.  Please come and bring your blankets or lawn chairs.

Sinners, Outcasts and the Poor

We are now in our fifth week of our Lenten project working through Adam Hamilton’s book, The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus.  Chapter 5 is entitled, “Sinners, Outcasts, and the Poor”.  This chapter focuses on the disenfranchised people that Jesus met along The Way, lepers, tax collectors, Samaritans and other outliers.

Speaking of outliers, I think it is somewhat timely that this week while we are reading this chapter, we are also learning about the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.  The 76 year old Argentinian archbishop, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has chosen for his pontifical name, Francis.  Although he has yet to publicly state why he chose that name, most of the media buzz has assumed it is for St. Francis of Assisi, Italy who in 1205 receive a vision from Christ telling him to “rebuild my house.”  Francis understood this as rebuilding the old crumbling church he was in at the time, but also to redeem the Roman Catholic Church that was seething in scandal and corruption.   St. Francis of Assisi was known for his simple life style, choosing a voluntary life of poverty and for his deep piety.  From all reports I’ve read, this is the description of the new Pope.  In Argentina, he chose to live in a simple apartment rather than an archbishop’s manse, he cooked his own meals, and did away with diocese limousine and driver taking public transportation everywhere.  That sounds pretty Franciscan to me.

It is also reported that he is a Jesuit, a member of the order of The Society of Jesus.  Jesuits have been called “God’s Marines” since they take vows of almost militaristic devotion and discipline, being deployed anywhere in the world and willing to endure any hardship for the sake of evangelizing the gospel of Christ.  St. Francis Xavier was one of the founders along with Ignatius of Loyola of the Jesuit order in 1534. News reports from Argentina have verified the new Pope’s proclivity for strong advocacy for justice with the poor and for the evangelism of the faith.  Maybe Pope Francis, the first to be named such, the first to be elected outside of Europe, the first Jesuit, following the first pope to resign in 600 years, might just have intentionally chosen the name to honor both saints.  Thus far, I am sensing a very refreshing spirit not just in the Roman Catholic Church but in the universal Church of Jesus Christ within which all of the baptized belong.

Soon after Pope Francis’ election, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, the current president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, who offices in Germany made this statement:

"We, the people of the United Methodist Church, are ready to continue the journey with the Roman Catholic Church, praying for one another, staying in a respectful dialogue with one another, knowing of the differences but believing that Christ united us.”

In His Service and Yours,

Vic Casad

Special Message from Bishop McKee that Directly Affects Stonebridge UMC

Today Bishop Michael McKee issued this statement which affects Stonebridge UMC:

Bishop Michael McKee has appointed Dr. Vic Casad as the District Superintendent of the East District (officed in Sulphur Springs). The appointment is effective July 1.

“As a long-time member of the North Texas Conference, Dr. Casad brings a wealth of experience as a local church pastor to his new role as a district superintendent. I am grateful that he has accepted my invitation to become a valuable member of the leadership team for the North Texas Conference,” said Bishop McKee.

I feel very humbled and privileged to have been asked to serve with Bishop McKee by being a part of his administrative team.  This was not something I was pursuing or even hoped might be a possibility.  But at this time in my ministry career I believe this to be a very positive move for me and Mary Brooke as well as for Stonebridge UMC.  This change will not take place until July 1.

In the mean time, our Staff Parish Relationship Team, under the leadership of Carol Ann Ward, is meeting with our District Superintendent, Frank Alegria, to prepare for the coming of Stonebridge UMC’s new senior pastor on July 1.  This person should be named within the next few weeks.

It is a true blessing to serve Stonebridge UMC and to share the ministry of God’s grace and abundant joy together with a tremendous staff and deeply dedicated lay leaders.   Our future is in God’s hands, and so we all move on in confidence knowing that God is with us continually blessing us all along the way.

In His Service and Yours,

Vic Casad