Kansas Bishop Scott Jones had this to say in his most recent blog entry:
"I love the title of Eugene Peterson’s commentary on the Psalms, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.” I value that and aspire to it."I think this is an important word for us to hear in the midst of our current struggles, in the midst of our attempts to reach out to younger people, in our ongoing efforts to better connect with technology. While it is dangerous to get so caught up in the past that we cannot see the future nor act in the present, to neglect and forget the past is to risk losing the knowledge of who we were and to lose the knowledge of who we were is to risk forgetting who we are. The first Methodists were established in Coffeyville by a circuit rider, W. T. Selby in 1870. We have been here a long time. Let us draw courage from the example of those who came before us and continue “a long obedience in the same direction.”
"The last two Sundays I have worshipped in a chapel at a state park. It is led by United Methodist people, and sometimes people from the nearby congregations come to worship there. But there are always people who attend while they are camping or vacationing at the park. It gave me great pride that this lay woman and a lay speaker were faithfully leading worship every Sunday so that God could be praised and God’s word be preached. It is a quiet story, but one that is replicated all over Kansas."
"We sometimes give attention to our largest churches or the ones that can connect technologically. It is true—they are important. But we must not lose sight of the faithful pastors and laity who are serving God in our small towns and have been doing it for generations. The lay speaker spoke of her father, a Korean War veteran who died last winter. This Memorial Day he would have been playing taps at the local cemetery, and she was missing that fact. He had played taps there every Memorial Day for 50 consecutive years. A long obedience in the same direction."
"Thank God for faithful servants."
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