Church in the Windshield

Church in the Windshield

Mizpah United Methodist Church

October 13, 2019

 

Some of America’s finest churches are found on back roads; little churches, thriving, caring and witnessing to their church families. The Mizpah United Methodist Church is one of those wonderful churches. This church is located twelve miles south of Clay Center, Kansas on Highway 15 and a quarter of a mile east on sixth road. The church, sitting on the hilltop can be seen from the highway. This little church has weathered physical storms and given spiritual hope to its community since its establishment in 1905.

The Biblical meaning of Mizpah in Hebrew is “watchtower.” The mission of the church is to love God, help others and help others love God.

We arrived about thirty minutes ahead of the service so that we could take some pictures as per usual for us. Except for a car or two, the parking lot was empty but the sun shining on the eastern

side of building, the white fence and the winding ramp caught our attention. Here was a church that was well maintained and seemed to say “come on in.” In a little while, cars began entering the parking lot and parked along the white fence. We observed a good mix of young people, middle aged and “sun-setters” like ourselves. It was obvious that the Mizpah Church was a family church and everyone was a part of the family, including us.

Most of the congregation entered the church by way of a side door instead of the front door; perhaps it was because of the steps. We chose to climb the steps so we could get a straight in view of the sanctuary.

Our first view of the sanctuary revealed a nicely remodeled place of worship . . . warm, friendly and inviting. People greeted us with cheerful “good morning” and introduced themselves. Two of our cousins’ also members of the church saw us; came and gave us greeting. It was good to see them. There were more greetings, welcomes and pleasantries.

We found a pew near the front of the church and sat down. Pastors, even retired ones, often sit near the front of the church; guess it is because those seats are usually the vacant ones.

As we waited for the church service to start, my mind wondered back to earlier conversations with two of my aunts. Both of them related that they had attended the Mizpah Church early in their lives and I wondered how many years ago that had been. Before I could figure it out, the service started and jerked my thoughts back to the present day worship.

The service started with a Prelude, Welcome, Announcements and Greetings. That was followed by traditional worship including Songs, Prayers, Collects, and Affirmations. Pastor Debra read her scripture text from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 17 and Verses 11-19. Ten lepers, outcasts of the community, quarantined and forced to live within boundaries were healed from the dreaded contagious disease of leprosy. Jesus healed them and said to them, “Get up and Go . . . show yourselves to the priest.” And there were boundaries, even in the midst of good. Pastor Debra Tompsett-Welch did an excellent job focusing her congregation on the importance of boundaries. She framed the scripture with a keen refreshing new insight that differed from the well-worn perception of ten healed, and only one gave thanks. I must say that Sheron and I were very impressed and listened to every word spoken that morning. It’s amazing how we can read familiar passages of scripture many times throughout our lives and with each reading find a golden nugget of spiritual inspiration. Amen and Amen.

It was such a joy to experience first-hand the enthusiasm of people excited about fellowshipping together. “Come and join us,” they invited. We joined them and had a delightful time of CD&C (Coffee, Donuts and Conversation). Two adult Sunday school classes met in the educational wing of the church. One class was a young married peoples’ class and the other class was . . . well more nearly our age. Both classes were large especially for a country church and both classes warmly invited us to visit. On this day, we visited the “been married a long time” class. My cousin Dianna taught the class and did a beautiful job.

During our travels, we have found that each church has a custom or tradition that is special for that church. A special tradition for the Mizpah church is a closing exercise that is held in the sanctuary following Sunday school. Everybody gathers in the sanctuary and waits for other Sunday school classes to adjourn and join them. When everyone is together, announcements are made; sometimes a song is sung and people have encouraging words to lift up Jesus throughout the coming week.  In our view, this church really has it together . . . it’s a great church and they will be glad to have you.  Services start at 9:00 a.m. each Sunday.

Until next time, share the nuggets of faith and encourage each other.

Ron & Sheron, Drivers behind the Windshield