Going home again

By Todd Outcalt

This summer my family and I traveled to North Carolina on vacation. Our first destination was the Biltmore House near Asheville - a city that holds some memory for me, as I served my first church right there in the mountains when I was a student at Duke Divinity School in Durham. While driving along I-40, we decided to take the Candler exit and search for this little church in the mountains. Much to my surprise, we found it.

My memories of Montmorenci United Methodist Church were many - and included the warm people there, and hiking, rafting and swimming with the youth group. It was a small congregation then and I wondered if the church was still thriving. But pulling into the parking lot, I was thrilled to see the congregation had grown. They had built a very fine family life center onto the old sanctuary (cleverly accomplished with the help of an astute architect), a playground for children and supported a thriving bus ministry to the community. My son and I found a basketball and shot hoops for a while. What else is a Hoosier to do?

It was an interesting experience revisiting this old place. With the passing of time, many of my memories had faded - or more specifically - had actually shrunk. My memory was clouded, not allowing me to take in the new possibilities the congregation had obviously embraced.

Somehow, in that little mountain community, the congregation had discovered a thriving ministry to children and teenagers. Evidence of the young were everywhere and the buses parked on the corner of the property were testimony to a church that was reaching out and going out, rather than waiting for people to come through the doors. The open gates of the playground and the box of basketballs - nothing was locked - bore testimony to the fact that the congregation wanted families to use the equipment and had developed a level of trust and respect. A sign simple read: "Please shut the gate when you leave. Place all balls in the box."

In a sense, our family vacation this summer was like going home again. It was not only going back to reclaim memory, but also an opportunity to look forward too, as we realized our United Methodist Church still has deep roots in many places and among many people. There is ministry everywhere - in the mountains and the valleys. All we have to do is look.

Todd Outcalt serves as senior pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Brownsburg, Ind.

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

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