Skyland United Methodist Church - my thoughts

So this morning we ventured out early (for us) to Skyland United Methodist Church. My friend, Glenda had told me that Keith Turman is the new pastor there. If you are familiar with Covenant Community Church then you will remember that Keith was the interim after Buzz left. They have an 8:30 am "Contemporary Service" that we wanted to check out.

Keith has been there for about six months filling in for the pastor that got sick. The pastor had to go on disability and Keith's district job was going to end this July, so he was appointed to Skyland full time.

I felt a little under dressed as most women did have on dresses (maybe because of Easter). I did shy away from jeans and wore my dress pants and a jacket. Mike wore his usual polo with khaki's. Most men did have on ties and jackets. It was more formal than I thought it would be for a contemporary service. The worship leader did have on jeans.

The greeters were very friendly and welcomed everyone with a "Happy Easter". We were made to feel very welcome. It was awkward during the greet your neighbor time as no one had sat in the row in front of us or directly behind us. Since Jeff, Ben, Andy & Ed joined us for the service we took up a whole row. They passed out bulletins, Honorarium & Memorial booklet, a newsletter and a song sheet.

The worship leader started with the song "Thief" by Third Day. He did an awesome job. A few people (including me) clapped during Lord, I Life Your Name on High. The other two songs were out of the Methodist Hymnal and were not quite as contemporary.

Keith's Sermon, "When Hope Appears" was really good. He did a great job of making an old story relevant. He used history, quotes, stories, scripture, humor and humanity to make his point. I only looked at my watch right at the very end which means he didn't lose my attention (that is rare for me as I have a short attention span - which is probably why I like Children's Ministry since nothing lasts more than about 5 minutes)

The last song was my favorite song. I love "It is Well with My Soul" I did not know the history behind this song, but Keith shared it during the sermon. I like the song now even more than before.

We had an opportunity to chat with Keith a little after the service. He seems genuinely passionate about the way the church is headed and about adding some traditional and some very contemporary aspects. He mentioned the possibility for a 5:00 pm Contemporary Service (versus the basically blended service that we attended).

I see the church growing under his leadership. Having worked for Keith for a few weeks before Claude came to Covenant I know that he is a dynamic leader. That church is blessed to have Keith and I hope they will be open to using his knowledge to grow.

We probably will visit some more. It's a little too traditional for me, but could be a good place for us to grow for a while and heal. We don't have any other places that have been recommended for us to check out. We've been invited to Biltmore Baptist and we might visit there (Brooklyn was also invited by one of her girlfriends that she takes swimming with - isn't that awesome that they were discussing God in the locker room at the Y?)

We will keep praying as a family and God will lead us!