Matthew's Message - September 21, 2023

Megan and I just returned from a week away celebrating a family member’s 80th birthday. While gathered together we often met around tables. These were the tables of the rental we were sharing and the tables of homes and restaurants. At these tables, family that loves each other met. Although I am not familiar with any details, I am also sure that at these tables people reconnected. 

This Sunday we will be discussing how gathering around the Communion table is a means of grace. This is an idea that is widely shared that the table of Holy Communion offers a unique way to experience God’s grace. The way that simple elements are transformed into the presence of Jesus reminds us of how God’s grace is poured out upon us. The way that we are called to state together, “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again” gives a clue to the way that God continues to act in our lives. 

It is my prayer that the table that we gather around is one that offers opportunities for reconnecting. After all, it is God’s table not ours. 

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Berry Leadership - September 14, 2023

Berry Leadership Team Retreat Update

What’s Berry’s Leadership Team focused on these days?  While your Board has been evaluating the Albany Park Ministry Center opportunity, we’re also looking at the bigger picture as part of the Board’s primary purpose of making ministry possible.

On Saturday, September 9, Berry’s Leadership Team participated in a half-day retreat to look holistically at Berry’s ministry in three key areas:

• Goals – the Board set measurable goals for Berry’s programming for the remainder of this and next year in areas such as consistency, growth, ministry, and visibility and outreach. We developed three screens to evaluate future activities:

• Is this activity consistent with our mission, vision and values?

• Are there people excited to do this with you?

• What support does this activity need from the congregation to make it successful?

• Simplified Accountable Structure – as many of you know, in 2023, Berry’s adopted a new model that enabled the Leadership Board to focus on the UMC’s mission – To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. At the retreat, we examined what we are doing well, and what we need to do differently as a team and individuals. This discussion led to our third outcome -

• Communications Plan –the Board is developing a Communications Plan which will include our schedule of quarterly Berry Church Town Halls to keep you up to date and reflect together on what we are doing well and where we may need to adjust. Our next Town Hall is scheduled for Sunday, October 15, after the service.

Berry’s Leadership Team welcomes your ideas on our ministry. Please share your thinking with the Board including Pastor Matthew, Lay Leader Martha Lundgren, Karen Syverson, Cheryl Dykstra or Jim Motzer.

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - August 31, 2023

There is something about gathering around tables that builds connections. Maybe it is because we are reminded that we are all human. Maybe it is because we are able to host and to be hosted. I’m not sure what it is exactly. What I do know is that tables are an important part of relationships.

Our world often wants to dictate who is allowed to gather around the table. People talk about wanting to have a seat at the table. I believe that our faith is constantly pointing to ways to extend the table. Ways to invite more people to the feast. Ways to convey that all are loved. All are welcome. God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it.

I pray that you can find a way to join us this Sunday as we continue our sermon series “Come to the Table.” We will celebrate Communion together and gather at the table of love.

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - August 24, 2023

On Sunday, when the people of Berry United Methodist Church and the people of First Vietnamese United Methodist Church gathered at the communion table together, Pastor Mai and I shared in the liturgy. I appreciated that Pastor Mai spoke Vietnamese when she consecrated the elements. It was a great opportunity to be reminded both of the mystery of Christ’s presence in bread and juice, and of the commonalities that bind us together as followers of Jesus Christ around one table.

This week we begin a new series, “Come to the Table.” I love the fact that one of the central images to our faith is also the central image to many homes. We gather together around tables when we meet with friends. We gather together around tables on holidays with family. Our congregation has used the table centered ministry of Brunch Church for years to connect us to God’s unfolding story in our world. It is my hope that you know that you are welcome at our table. Not matter who you are.

On Sunday following worship we will engage in a time of prayerful reflection on our conversations of discernment with Pastor Hope and the First Vietnamese congregation. No commitments will be made at this meeting, and I do hope to get an idea of how people are feeling. We will continue to have conversations in the coming weeks. Please find a way to be a part of those. 

I am reminded of the words that are often shared around communion tables in the United Methodist Church. The communion table is not mine as the pastor. Nor is it our church’s or even our denomination’s. The table that we gather around is Christ’s. For that reason, all are invited. 

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - August 17, 2023

Every so often when I am stressed out about something going on in my leadership of this church Megan will look at me and ask, “Are you doing your best?” I am keenly aware that no awards are given out for doing your best. I also know that my own capabilities have limitations. 

Elaine Heath in her book God Unbound: Wisdom from Galatians for the Anxious Church offers a clue into how discernment is done.

1. Show up to God, ourselves, our neighbors, and our world.

2. Pay attention to what is there, what is going on inside and outside ourselves.

3. Cooperate with God as God invites, instructs, corrects, or encourages in the situation at hand.

4. Release the outcome of cooperation with God. Consciously let go of the outcome, recognizing that God is God and we are not.

That last step is a doozy. Instead of trying to stay a few moves ahead, she encourages us to be in the moment. 

This Sunday we will engage in a time of discernment. We will do so with Rev. Hope Chernich as our leader, and with First Vietnamese United Methodist Church as our partner in discernment. If you choose to be a part of that conversation, I invite you to come and try your best. Show up. Be you. After all, you are pretty great.

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - August 10, 2023

“When God closes a door, somewhere God opens a window.” It’s a phrase that was popularized in “The Sound of Music” that carries the sentiment that even things that don’t work out the way that we had planned often end up working out in other ways. Our Sunday worship service in the sanctuary of the Albany Park Ministry Center felt this way for me. Worshipping in that sacred space with a few new friends from Big Shoulders Church provided a glimpse of the possibilities that are before us.  

Over the last few years Berry has engaged in a process of discerning who God is calling us to be in the world. This discernment brought us to the partnership that we now have with the people at Chicago Methodist Senior Services where we will soon celebrate a year of leading. We also have been given the opportunity to partner with First Vietnamese United Methodist Church in Albany Park. 

On August 20 we will participate in a shared worship service with the First Vietnamese congregation. There will be a time of fellowship over a shared meal, and then Rev. Hope Chernich will lead the two congregations through a process of discerning if God is calling us to engage in partnership through a shared space for engaging in ministry. Please plan to be a part of this important opportunity for discussion and prayer. God is indeed opening doors and windows for us at this time.

Peace,

Matthew  

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - August 3, 2023

The Hebrew scriptures are filled with moments when people declared places special. Jacob anointed a stone that served as his pillow. Moses set up twelve stones on Mount Sinai to celebrate the covenant God established with Israel. Joshua erected a “great stone” at Shechem to be a witness of the covenant established with the new generation of Israelites. The bible tells us again and again that place matters.

For many members of our church, having a place that is set aside for worship is an important thing. There are the practical reasons, like the fact that schlepping around a keyboard and sound system takes time and energy. There are also the spiritual reasons, like the intention behind a space. There is also the idea that having a consistent place to worship is grounding.

On Sunday Berry worshipped in the sanctuary at the Albany Park Ministry Center for the first time. While the space is in need of some TLC, one of the things that grabbed my attention was the stained-glass window.

This window was designed by Ralph Weber, a member of the Albany Park United Methodist Church when the congregation merged with Berry. Many of you were friends with Ralph and Anna. It interprets the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in beautiful fashion. Although Ralph and Anna Weber both passed away in recent years, I find the fact that he designed this window to be grounding.

We return to the sanctuary this Sunday at 9:30am. As we experiment with a new time and space, I ask you to approach worship with flexibility. It is in a space of openness that God’s creativity draws us in. I hope that you are able to join with us as we celebrate Holy Communion together.

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - July 27, 2023

The Summer Day

By Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?

Over the last few weeks, we have been examining the ways that God invites us into creativity not through force, but by drawing us in. Creativity, by definition, calls us into being more open to the possibilities that God presents in the world around us.

On Sunday I said that Henri Nouwen wrote that spiritual discipline requires preventing “everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means somewhere you’re not occupied and certainly not preoccupied.” We have to create the space in our lives to allow things to happen that are unplanned. Something that you hadn’t counted on. For this reason, I asked you to set aside twenty-four hours to play.

As we travel together as people of faith, let us not forget to exhibit awe in all that God is doing.

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - July 20, 2023

The Bible is filled with many different directions for how to live our lives. One source that lots of people are familiar with is the Ten Commandments. I wonder, how many of the ten commandments can you remember? Take a moment and try to write them down or tick them off.

If you came up short of recalling all ten of them, please know that most people have trouble with this. A reporter for a paper in Arizona asked clergy and laypeople to name the Ten Commandments. Laypeople averaged four or five and clergy seven or eight.

Here they are for you:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make idols.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

5. Honor your parents.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

There is one of these that, especially in the US, is not really considered a commandment at all. It is number four. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” This Sunday at worship we will continue our series, “Drawn In.” I invite you to join us as we discuss the role that rest plays in the creative process.

I also want to thank everyone who was a part of our discernment conversation last week around where we will worship in the future. Ideas from that conversation will be shared with First Vietnamese United Methodist Church and Church Properties Reimagined to help guide our future conversation with them.

God is still at work.

Peace,

Matthew

A Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - July 13, 2023

Ready, Fire! Aim.

“Ready. Fire! Aim.” It’s something that I learned from a pastor my first year in ministry. Sometimes the process that moves us forward in life is not “Ready. Aim. Fire!” but “Ready. Fire! Aim.” This is because it is easier to steer something when it is already in motion. Sometimes a process has to get going before it can be refined enough to work smoothly. You start and observe, make adjustments, observe some more, make more modifications, and so on until you have it right.

 In our series, “Drawn In,” we have explored the processes of Dreaming, Hovering, Risking, and Listening. This week, we’re looking at the fifth stage: Reintegrating. Reintegrating is the process of taking the information we received from our actual experience and making adjustments until the Dream becomes reality. Ready. Fire! Aim.

 Berry Church has been engaged in trying different things. We have worshipped in different spaces, and we are in a place of discernment around where we will worship in the future. This Sunday we refine our process some more following worship where we will have discussion around the question, “Does partnering together with First Vietnamese in Albany Park allow Berry to do the ministry God is calling us to?”

 I pray that you will choose to join us in this important discussion as we continue to find ways to live out God’s dream for us today.

 Peace,

Matthew