John

It’s That Time Again

PastorPartridge Blogs , , , , , , , ,

It’s That Time Again

Pastor’s Letter – October Newsletter

It’s Fall, school has started, and most of our church folk have concluded our summer activities though it’s hard to grasp that June, July, and August passed by so quickly. As always, I thought that I would manage to get more done than I did. In any case, this is the time of year that our church begins to make plans for next year. Our fantastic finance team, led by Julie, our treasurer, has already completed a draft of our budget for next year and only needs to finalize budget numbers that are given to us by our Annual Conference. But that means that our Committee on Nominations and Leadership Development (aka the Nominating Committee) has also begun to meet and to consider who will lead our church in 2024.

I admit that this is sometimes tedious. Much like summer, our entire year passes so quickly that it seems as if our committee just finished the last list before we begin on the next one. But, at the same time, our work is sometimes a little exciting. We talk to many of you, imagine how things might change, and preview the new list of leaders before anyone else. Of course, since our church is not bursting at the seams with new members, many members of our committees are “recycled” from last year, and that’s not a bad thing either. As long as many of our experienced and highly capable leaders are willing to continue their work, we’re glad to have them do so. But, at the same time, we understand when they get tired and need to do something different.

But all that introduction leads me to two things that I probably say every year. First, I want to thank everyone who has served in leadership, not just in 2023, but over the 130 plus years of Christ Church (and First Church) in this place. All the time, effort, skill, and experience of all those leaders, as well as the power of the Spirit of God, are the reason that we’re still here and still in ministry to the people of Alliance. Over the past few years, our church has navigated a pandemic and other changes that the church members of the past could hardly have imagined, and we did it with the help of our amazing leadership team. So, again, thank you.

Second, I want to encourage everyone who isn’t currently serving, or who hasn’t ever served on a committee, whether you are a member of Christ Church or not, to consider how you can be a part of leading our church in 2024. While there are some restrictions on what leadership positions that nonmembers can hold, there are a great many that are open to anyone who attends worship and who wants to contribute. Please be in prayer and consider what God might be leading you to do. Your opinion, and your contribution, matter.

Finally, even though our Nominating Committee has only had one meeting (at the time I’m writing this), there are already some exciting developments because of the people who have already said ‘yes.’ I remain convinced that God has big plans for Christ Church, and I hope that you will be a part of it. Please let me, or any member of our Nominating Committee know what it is that you are interested in doing.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Do the Stuff

PastorPartridge Blogs , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do the Stuff

August 28, 2023

by John Partridge

This isn’t a particularly religious idea, but it’s one that has grown on me over the years and one that I frequently repeated this summer. In the early 1990’s Patti and I were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at a camp Patti had worked at during college, and which we often visited. What was unusual was that on this visit, my parents stopped to visit us and see the camp because they were also in the area. As it happened, had made a stop in Frankenmuth at Bronner’s the year-round Christmas store and were (I think) heading across the Canadian border to ride the train through the Agawa Canyon which Dad had read about for years in Model Railroader magazine.

That part makes sense. The part that never made sense to me was that later, when I asked them what they thought of the train ride… they didn’t go. They drove all the way to the Upper Peninsula, crossed the border into Canada, and… decided that the train ride was too expensive. They had a good time, I guess, but they didn’t do the thing. They didn’t do the thing that Dad had read about, and probably dreamed about, for years, all because the train tickets cost as much as a night in a hotel (they still cost around $100 CDN per person). I couldn’t get over it. It bugged me then, and it still bugs me now. There is a time to save money, but there are times when you just… do the stuff.

When Patti and I first went into ministry, we didn’t have much money and we did our best to squeeze what we could out of every penny. When we went to Annual Conference at Lakeside, we slept in a tent at the campground because that’s what we could afford. But we still would buy ice cream with the kids at least once during the week and play putt-putt golf and do other things with the kids just because we were there. There are times when you can make memories and there are other times when you can save money. Sometimes, you just… do the stuff.

This summer in Israel, our group made a choice of whether we wanted to stop for lunch each day, or just carry snacks in our backpacks and keep going so that we could see more archeological sites and spend more time at others. The choice for all of us was easy. We paid a lot of money to take this class, and to travel to Israel, to see and to learn… not to eat nice, sit-down lunches. In other words, we just wanted to… do the stuff.  On at least one evening, after we had been touring and hiking all day, and were already tired, we had the option of walking into downtown Bethlehem to do a little shopping and to get some falafel from a local vendor. I was already tired, but… my choice was to do the stuff.

At the National Scout Jamboree in July, there were also several times when I had the chance to walk less, to stay out of the heat and out of the sun instead of hiking an extra three or five miles… but sitting in the shade wasn’t why I was there. I made the extra effort because I wanted to do the stuff. I gave this same advice to several people during the Jamboree as they struggled with decisions about what they wanted to do with their day. I gave this advice because I knew, from watching my dad thirty years ago, that sometimes you only get one chance to do the stuff. Years from now no one will remember the time that you sat in the shade, but you will almost certainly remember climbing the rock wall, riding mountain bikes, or whatever else that you were daydreaming about.

This is also a part of the reason why I went back to school at a time when Patti and I are thinking seriously about our retirement. I always wondered if I had what it takes to earn an advanced degree. It was the stuff of daydreams, but could I do it? And a part of me said… do the stuff. I do not want to spend my retirement wondering if I could have done it. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it’s time-consuming. Yes, at times it’s a giant pain in the keister. But I decided to try, and so every day I just… do the stuff.

One step at a time.

But, in the end, this does have an application to our spiritual life. As we move through our church year, especially as Christ Church sets goals for next year and considers a strategic plan and a new vision for our future, we will almost certainly arrive at moments when we must decide whether to continue doing what we’ve always done, or to do something different.

Sometimes rather than wondering how we might draw closer to God, or how we might find God’s purpose for our lives, or whether it might help to join a Bible study, have a daily devotion time, get back into the habit of reading scripture, attend church more regularly, join a Sunday school class, or do something entirely new and unexpected, what we ought to be thinking is whether we will regret NOT doing them later. Sometimes the best way out of our indecision, is simply to decide to just…

…do the stuff.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

Beersheba Unexpected

PastorPartridge Blogs , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
An overview of most of the remains of ancient Beersheba

Beersheba Unexpected

Each day, as we rode on our tour bus toward a new destination, our class took turns preparing a short biblical history lesson of what had happened in that place. Sometimes these were recorded in the Old or New Testaments but sometimes the events of interest to us were to be found in the writings of Josephus, or in rediscovered texts from Egypt, Mesopotamia, or other archeological explorations. And so, on our way to Be’er Sheva (biblical Beersheba) we were reminded of the many biblical references, which are entirely in the Old Testament for reasons that I will explain shortly.

The first reference to Beersheba comes as early Genesis 21 when Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away and they “wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.” Just a few verses later, Abraham makes an oath (which amounts to a modern treaty) with Abimelech and exchange seven lambs as a part of the agreement. The name “Beersheba” therefore is said to stem from that event either because the word Beersheba is similar to the Hebrew root of “made an oath,” or because it is similar to the root word of “seven” (or possibly both).

The well at Beersheba

Later, in Genesis 46, Jacob stops in Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God on his way to Egypt, Elijah stops there while running for his life in 1 Kings 19, and almost all of the other occurrences simply use Beersheba as an expression to say all of Israel from north to south as we see in Judges 20:1 when it says, “Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the Lord in Mizpah.” This expression is used simply because Dan was, for the most part, the farthest north that Israel grew, and Beersheba was its farthest southern extent.  To the north of Dan was the nation of Aram (which is modern day Syria) and to the south was… well, sand.  Beersheba was, and is, at the northern edge of the Negev desert, which scripture often describes as “wilderness” and the Sinai Peninsula. Continuing south brings you to the borders of Egypt. When the Jews returned to Israel after the Babylonian captivity, Nehemiah records that some returned to Beersheba, but, perhaps because there were so few, and because that territory is no longer controlled by Israel, there is no other mention of that place in scripture.

Looking down into the (deep) well

And so, while Beersheba is well attested in the Bible, compared to many of the other places that we visited, not a lot happened there. And yet, I was struck by the presence of the place in a way that I wasn’t in many of the others. Beersheba may not have had a central role in the stories of scripture, but it was present. The reason that Beersheba was important to Abraham and Isaac was because of the well that was there. Here, at the northern edge of the desert, there isn’t much water other that what flows down the wadi (dry riverbed) during the infrequent rains. And so, this well is very likely the same well that Abraham knew. Moreover, even though it may not often be mentioned by name, anyone who traveled through this region was almost certain to have stopped here.

A model of the Horned Altar found at Beersheba

It is also believed that Beersheba was one of the places of worship that had been built so that people wouldn’t have to travel the many miles north to Jerusalem. If so, this is one of the temples that King Hezekiah ordered torn down in 1 Kings 18. During archaeological digs here, a four-horned altar, often described in scripture, and typically used for sacrifice, was discovered here in secondary use. “Secondary use” means that after the temple here had been torn down, someone reused the stones as a part of wall. The stones from that wall have been moved to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and reassembled into an altar.

Finally, during those times that Israel controlled Beersheba, it was a military outpost. This was the border between Israel and the wilderness, and between Israel and any enemies, such as Egypt, that might come from the south. Duty here was probably far from home, and certainly hot, unforgiving, and generally miserable.

A city street

Still, what is it about Be’er Sheva that unexpectedly struck me? Why does it have a presence that I could feel? For me, it’s because, like just a few other places, this is where it happened. In other places, over the last two thousand years, the places described in scripture have moved, walls have been torn down and rebuilt, whole cities have been destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed again, over and over until the places that we read about are tens of meters below the surface. But wells don’t move. While the stones surrounding this well at the surface may have been replaced many times, this is the place where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, invading Pharaohs, Mesopotamian generals, Roman armies, Israelite kings, and so many others have stood, draw water, and had a moment of rest.

It was unexpected.  I was surprised.

Beersheba city gate

But here, on a smallish hill on the edge of the desert, I felt as if I was in the presence of history.

And, having done so, it is so much easier to imagine what those people were feeling. The panic of Hagar as she is cast out to almost certain death in the desert, the relief of Israeli merchants returning home from Egypt, the apprehension of outpost soldiers knowing that Egypt’s army was on its way towards them, the anticipation of Pharoah as he moved north towards larger, more well-defended outposts and cities, and the courage of those settlers who dared to make this remote place their home.

It is that insight, out ability to imagine what it must have been like, that allows us to better understand, explain, teach, and preach the stories of scripture. Because understanding those people, and their feelings transforms dry words into real people.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

Five Thousand Years of Megiddo

PastorPartridge Blogs , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Five Thousand Years of Megiddo

(and counting)

by John Partridge

A panoramic view from the top of Mount Megiddo

Whether you have read the New or the Old Testaments, you are likely to have encountered a story about the fortress of Megiddo. Its strategic location has already made it a place of importance in 3000 BCE, and long before the arrival of Joshua and the Israelites in 1400 BCE. As most ancient fortresses were, even into the Medieval period, Megiddo lies at the top of a rise that might be a big hill or a small mountain. That alone might not have made Megiddo a good location for a fortress, but its geographic location certainly did.

Iron Age City Gate (built under Solomon or Ahab)

The fortress, or more properly the historic succession of fortresses, overlooks the Jezreel valley, which is not only one of the most fertile plains in the Ancient Near East, but has within it, the Via Maris, the road that connected Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia which was important to many ancient empires including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Israelites, Canaanites, and many others. And not only did Megiddo overlook this important highway, but it did also so in the place where the Via Maris narrowed through the pass at Mount Carmel on its way to the coastal plain along the Mediterranean Sea.

Granary

The archeological digs at Megiddo have unearthed a temple that was built by the early Canaanites, one of the largest structures in the entire Ancient Near East, as early as 3000 BCE. This was the place where Egyptian soldiers of Thutmose III fought between 1450 and 1400 BCE, and then Joshua and the Israelites between 1400 and 1375 BCE as seen in Joshua 12:21. Here, Solomon established one of his great chariot cities to stable his horses (1 Kings 4:12), and it was here that both King Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27) and King Josiah (2 Kings 23:29) met their deaths. Much more recently, this was the place where British troops fought the Ottoman army during World War I and where the apostle John envisioned the great battle of Armageddon in Revelation 16:16 (Armageddon is a mistranslation of what John almost certainly wrote as “Har Megiddo,” meaning mountain, of Megiddo).

“Solomon’s stables”

In my recent trip to Israel, we walked through the ruins of Megiddo and saw the layers of the cities that had been built there over the course of thousands of years.  We saw the monumental city gates built in the Bronze Age by the Egyptians and in the Iron Age by either King Solomon or by King Ahab, the ancient temples, the buildings where Solomon’s horses were stabled (or which might have been warehouses), a granary silo that once stored the city’s supply of wheat, barley, or other grains, a monumental southern palace (once again dating to either Solomon or Ahab), and an amazing tunnel that connected the city to it’s spring outside the gates of city which protected it from invading armies.

Stairs to the spring tunnel
Tunnel to the spring outside the walls

The impressive views of the Jezreel Valley from the walls of Megiddo are amazing. Looking out over the valley, it is easy to imagine the battles that were fought here. One can easily picture invading armies marching along the valley toward this fortress and feel the quiet anticipation, or outright dread, of the soldiers watching from those walls. It is in these places that we not only learn history, but that history comes alive as you touch it and feel it with your hands as well as with your imagination and with your soul. And, having been in this place, having walked the paths of so many biblical figures, seen the walls and buildings where they lived and worked, and easily imagined what they might have looked like so many years ago, my understanding and appreciation of scripture has changed. No longer is Megiddo just a set piece in a story of long ago, but a real and tangible place that will forever change the way that I read history, and how I understand, interpret, and preach the stories of the Bible.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

Where in the World is Pastor John?

PastorPartridge Blogs , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you haven’t already, some of you will certainly be wondering what’s going on by the end of May. I didn’t preach for two Sundays in April and missed (or will miss) three more in May.  

I’m fine… Really.

In April, I was in church for United Women in Faith Sunday, as well as the following week when I asked Pastor Christ to preach so that I could finish my research paper and other work that was due at the end of spring semester. Then, in May, I participated in the Great Day of Music Sunday (but didn’t preach) followed by two more Sundays in which Pastor Chris preached again. On the first of these, I was on a summer semester study trip as our entire class was in Israel to see all the places that we’ve been studying and writing about for the last 30 plus weeks. I returned on a Friday (if I was on schedule) but, again, Pastor Chris was kind enough to preach so that I didn’t have to worry about writing a sermon while I was traveling.

Of course, I’m writing this before I leave for Israel so that Dolores can put it in the newsletter, but by the time you read this, I should be back. I plan to be here through June, but I’ll miss a week or two in July when I will once again be serving as chaplain for the 2023 National Scout Jamboree. After that, I think I will be around for a while. There is a chance that I’ll be out again later in the year to perform a church wedding for our son Jonah and his wife Kylie after their private back yard service this past January.

Other than that, I don’t have any definite plans, but at some point, Patti and I might like to go somewhere… together.

I want to say thank you to all of you for allowing me the flexibility to go to school and serve in ministry in other capacities such as scouting and missions.  I also want to say thank you to Pastor Chris and Susan Haddox who almost always say ‘yes” when I need to be somewhere else. And of course, I want to say thank you to my wife, Patti, for putting up with all my travel (and other shenanigans).

Blessings,

Pastor John

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

Few. Many. You.

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Click here to listen to the podcast.

Click here to watch the sermon: https://youtu.be/eoRDMYyNQEU

Few. Many. You.

April 09, 2023*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:1-18              Acts 10:34-43             Colossians 3:1-4

In 1984, the Faberge company hired popular actress and model, Heather Locklear to star in a commercial for their new line of Faberge Organics shampoo.  In that commercial, Heather Locklear says that she was so impressed by the results of using this new shampoo, that she told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.  And with each repletion of those words, the image of Heather Locklear doubles, and continues to multiply.  Many of us remember that commercial. 

But whether we remember seeing it or not, it is a good representation of what happens when we learn of new products that excite us, or hear juicy gossip, or any other kind of news that gets us excited.  And this is the way that the news of the resurrection happened.  There wasn’t a mobile television news crew from channel eight broadcasting live from Jesus’ tomb, nor were there any newspaper reporters or internet bloggers skulking around looking for a scoop that would sell newspapers or make their blog go viral.  News, even incredibly exciting news, traveled the old fashioned way, one person told their friends, and they told their friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.  And that’s exactly what we see in the story of the resurrection recorded for us by the Apostle John in John 20:1-18.

20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

First, I want to notice that everyone is running.  This isn’t the kind of news that is merely interesting and you think to yourself that you’ll need to tell someone the next time you see them.  This is earth-shaking, life or death, call 911 and start CPR, kind of news.  First, Mary Magdalene finds the empty tomb, then Simon Peter and John run to join her and see for themselves.  Then the disciples leave and Mary is left alone, only to be joined buy two angels, and then by Jesus.  But, after Jesus leaves, Mary runs to the place where the disciples are staying so that she can tell as many people as possible. 

The message of the resurrection began with only one, and then to only a few, but it didn’t end there or none of us would be here this morning.  Not too long after the resurrection of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, Peter and the disciples were still in Jerusalem.  But now, instead of hiding, they shared the good news of Jesus’ resurrection with a crowd of many people as we hear in the story of Acts 10:34-43.

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Rather than sharing the news with two friends, who can share with two more friends, Peter speaks to a crowd of people from every nation to which Jews had migrated.  Being one of the required feasts, pilgrims from everywhere had come to Jerusalem and there, Peter and the disciples shared with them the story of Jesus and the news of his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection.  The reason that this story is good news is that it is not limited to one group of friends, to one group of people, or to one nation.  Peter preaches that he now knows that “God does not show favoritism” so the people who had come there from Africa, and Asia, and everywhere, are just as known, and just as loved, by God as the people who live in Jerusalem.  God’s love, grace, and forgiveness are not limited by ethnicity or geography, but are now available to everyone who believes.

But that wasn’t the end of the story either.  Decades later, when Paul wrote his letter to the church that he had founded in the city of Colossae, in what is now the nation of Turkey, he says this in Colossians 3:1-4:

3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene discovered that she was the only one who knew the truth, but then she told two friends, and those friends told more friends, and eventually announced the good news to many, and soon that news was traveling all over the known world.  And here, in the worlds of Paul, we find God’s call to us. “Since you” (that’s us) “have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above.  Set your minds on things above and not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ with God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  Like Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, and like the disciples at Pentecost, we are witnesses.  We have received, and we are the carriers of the greatest pieces of good news ever shared from one human to another.  Like Mary, and the disciples, and legions of people since then, we are still called to share the good news that we have received.  Although millennia have passed, this news is so good, far better than the discovery of a new organic shampoo, that we are still called to tell our friends and our neighbors what we have seen, and what we have heard.  And, like always, when we tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on, then our good news will find its way… to everyone.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Eulogy and Obituary for Paul R. Cope

PastorPartridge Eulogy , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Eulogy for Paul Cope

March 31, 2023

by John Partridge

(Note: You can find the live stream of this memorial service here: https://youtube.com/live/X8K5O0xwOwY?feature=share )

Paul Cope was born in Alliance, Ohio on August 31st, 1926, to Paul and Mabel Cope.  He graduated from Alliance High School, and although he was not mechanically inclined, started driving a city bus in Alliance when he was only 16 years old.  Paul served in the Navy for two and a half years during World War II, first at the Great Lakes Naval Station, our nation’s largest Navy base, and the basic training facility for every sailor we’ve trained since 1911 and then was stationed not far away at the Glenview Naval Air Station outside Chicago, which, until 1995 was a naval aircraft training facility. Paul eventually rose to the rank of Seaman First Class.  After the war, Paul got back to work.  He was married to Kathryn and then widowed with two children when she died suddenly at the age of 24.  Not long after that, Paul met Shirley at her place of employment, which was possibly the electric company.  Shirley said that her first impression of Paul, was that his ears made him look “like a taxicab with both doors open.”  That may not be the most positive first impression, but they were married in September of 1951.  Shirley immediately took over the care of Paul’s children, who were then 3 and 5, and eight or nine months later, added Cindi. 

Paul was always busy.  As the president of Cope Furniture, Paul consistently worked 12 hours a day, every day, except Sunday, where you can be sure that you’d find him at Christ Church.  And, after church, you would find him having a Sunday lunch with his grandparents followed by a game of UNO.  That tradition of making Sunday a family day still runs in the family because of Paul’s inspiration and guidance, but with everyone’s busy schedules, it’s gotten harder to do.

In the few years that I’ve known him, I knew that Paul was kind of quiet guy, but his family told me that he’s never really talked much because Shirley always did it for him.  One day last year, Paul surprised Cindi and Andy when the normally quiet Paul suddenly announced from the backseat, “You know, men and women don’t think alike.”  No one is sure what inspired such an announcement, but clearly, he was thinking about something profound.  Paul was always a bit of a ladies’ man, and although he settled down and was faithful to one woman, he still liked to look at pretty girls and did not apologize for it. 

As a family, they often went camping in the summer or they went to Florida together.  Amy remembers spending Spring Break with her grandparents at Jensen Beach in Florida and Paul could almost always be found relaxing during the popular neighborhood cocktail hour holding a martini with one green olive.  At home, despite Shirley being unable to swim, Paul had a boat and  often took the whole family water-skiing on Berlin Lake.  At one time, Paul also had an automatic shift motorcycle with matching gold helmets for he and Shirley.  I’m told that, whenever Paul wanted something, he would pursue it, relentlessly, until Shirley, or Cindi, or whomever, gave in and he got it.  This is how he got his motorcycle, his motor-home, his boat, new cars, assorted toys, and even a leaf blower when he already lived at Copeland Oaks that has its own groundskeepers.

There is also the story of Paul’s riding lawn mower.  Paul liked mowing his yard, I think, but one day, before the advent of safety interlocks, he got off of his mower to pick up some sticks, with the mower still running, and managed to mow a toe or two.  With blood streaming from his foot, Paul calmly walked into the kitchen and, Cindi tells me, this image of her father is why, to this day, that she does not care for the sight of blood.

Paul was always a part of his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren’s lives.  When Shirley worked at Cutty’s Paul changed diapers and babysat his great-grandchildren.  The funny thing is, that before his grandchildren were born, and maybe before his great-grandchildren were born, Paul had never one changed a diaper.  And so, on his first try, and Cindi never quite figured out how, while he got it on, it was on completely backwards.  Paul was supportive of his family at every activity that he could and he had season tickets to their football games just so that he could watch the band at half-time at all the home games.

In the last few months there were many changes to Paul’s life.  He wasn’t too happy about giving up his car and despite the explicit orders of his doctor, he complained about it and insisted that we go ask Bobbi Wright because, Paul said, “She will tell you that I’m a good driver.”  And, shortly before this most recent decline, Craig asked Paul if he was okay with moving from his villa to an apartment in the assisted living building.  Paul answered that he knew that it was coming, and probably should have happened sooner.

In the end, Paul was a man who loved his life, who lived it well, and had fun doing it.  He loved his family and would do almost anything for them.  He knew what he wanted, he worked hard at whatever he did, and was faithful to his wife, to his family, to his friends, to his Jesus, and to his church.  The old joke is that you should live your life so that the preacher doesn’t have to lie at your funeral, and Paul Cope did that and more.  We often say that the mission of the church is to change the world, and if those of us who remember Paul can live our lives as faithfully as he lived his, we will do exactly that.  Paul Cope was just one man, he could not change the world by himself, but he definitely changed his corner of it and made the world a better place for everyone who knew him.

Memories of my Dad

(by Marsha Miller)

My Dad was one of a kind! Without him and Mom, I would be what I am today. 

They took very good care of me, Cindi, and Howard.  They taught us how to be obedient to everyone, no matter what.  They taught us how to respect and treat everyone as we wanted to be treated!

We always had food on the table to eat and you had better eat it or go hungry!  Mom always made sure we not only had clean clothes to wear and that we had clothes to wear.

Dad was a great grandfather and a great great-grandfather. The all loved him very much.

Paul R. Cope

“A Sweet and Gentle Spirit”

March 31, 2023

by Rev. L. Chris Martin

Dear friends in Christ:

We gather here in this sacred and familiar place to worship the God of the ages in loving memory of Paul R. Cope. As I have thought about Paul’s life since his passing into eternal life a little over two weeks ago, I realize that what stands out as most memorable about this kindhearted and considerate man, over the fourteen years I have known him, was his sweet and gentle spirit. Paul was almost always the first person to arrive for the Searcher’s Class, the adult class I have been privileged to teach for the past twelve years. Paul was a man of few words so that when he did have something to say, we all listened. It was a true delight to share the classroom with him.

.

Paul was a reliable and predictable sort of guy, the kind of person one could count on to do whatever he agreed to do and to follow through on whatever responsibility he knew was his. Having served as a Seaman First Class in the United States Navy in World War II surely helped to teach Paul the need of completing the tasks before him in an efficient and reliable manner. It was a lesson that he never forgot through his long and fruitful life.

Paul had been married to the love of his life, Shirley, for 59 years at the time of her passing in March of two-thousand eleven. Shirley was so full of life, living each moment of each day fully, and loving and caring for every member of her family in ways that cause the precious memories they have of her to this day. Paul’s memories of the years of their married life sustained him through the last twelve years of his life where Paul lived each day remembering the happiness of the years he spent with his beloved Shirley. Paul thoroughly enjoyed his two daughters and their extended families, and his son, Paul Howard, who preceded him into eternal life.

In addition to what I have shared to this point about Paul and the life he lived, Paul was also a treasured child of God, loved by God with an unconditional love. Just a few days before he passed into eternal life, Paul said to me while he was hospitalized in Alliance, “I really don’t understand why I am here, I’m not sick.” That was a day that Paul seemed to rally, after which his health began to fail. I am convinced beyond any doubt that Paul realized in those last few days of his life that it was time to go home to God, where he could be reunited with his treasured Shirley and the others that preceded him into eternal life.

One of the songs that sustained Paul and the members of his family in recent days was a song first written by John Newton in 1779. The song is “Amazing Grace.”  In 2006, Chris Tomlin wrote an addition to the original song. After the second verse, that reads: “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.”  Tomlin added these words: “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, My God, My Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood his mercy reigns. Unending love, amazing grace.”

The last verse reads: “The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine. But God, who called me here below, will be forever mine.”  To this verse, Paul would add: “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood his mercy reigns. Unending love, amazing grace.” Paul now lives for all eternity, wrapped in unending love and amazing grace. But his sweet and gentle spirit lives on in our memories.

Amen.

Obituary for Paul R. Cope

August 31, 1926 – March 15, 2023 (age 96)

Paul R. Cope, age 96, passed away on March 15, 2023.

He was born on August 31, 1926, in Alliance, to Paul W. and Mabel (Roath) Cope.

Paul graduated from Alliance High School in 1944. He was the owner and President of the former Cope Furniture. Paul served honorably in the United States Navy as a Seaman First Class in WWII.

Paul was a member of Christ United Methodist Church where he was in the Hallelujah Bell Choir, the church choir and was a member of Searchers Sunday School Class. He also helped make peanut brittle at the church for many years and was a Boy Scout Master of Troop 50 for three years. Paul was a former member of Alliance Rotary Club, Washington Ruritans and BPOE #467.

Those left to cherish his memory are his daughters, Marsha Miller of Arizona, and Cindy (Andy) Magda of Alliance; nine grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren; great-great-grandchildren; a sister, Patricia Ludwig; and two nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Shirley G. Cope, whom he married September 16, 1951, and who passed on March 12, 2011; and his son, Paul Howard.

A celebration of life will be held at Christ United Methodist Church on Friday, March 31st at 11:00 a.m. with a visitation one hour prior. The service will be co-officiated by Pastors John Partridge and Chris Martin.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Christ United Methodist Church Music Department, 470 E Broadway St. Alliance, Ohio 44601, or the Copeland Oaks Foundation, 715 S. Johnson Rd., Sebring, Ohio 44672.

Arrangements are entrusted to Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home 75 South Union Ave Alliance, Ohio 44601.

How Will God Change You?

PastorPartridge Blogs , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ancient Meaning – Modern Application

Easter 2023

For the last several years, I have mentioned in this letter, that “this is an unusual time.”  But, for the most part, we are putting the unusual-ness of the pandemic behind us and accepting what’s left as a new normal.  We are going out to eat, holding church dinners, attending plays and concerts, and doing almost all of the things that we were doing before we first heard the acronym COVID-19.

But why does it matter that we are returning to normal?

It matters because a return to normal means that we can be done focusing only on surviving for the next few months or even for the next year.  Returning to normal means that our focus once again shifts to look farther into the future.  How do we envision Christ Church five years from now, a decade from now, or fifty years from now?  Shifting our focus requires that we imagine how Christ Church might be different and how it might change.  And imagining how Christ Church might change means that we must consider how we might change.  And considering how we might change must include both the plural and the singular, both we collectively, and each of us individually.

But those things are also a part of the message of Lent and Easter.  As we hear the familiar stories from scripture, as we read and listen to the story of Lazarus’ resurrection and his unprecedented second chance, as we hear the wonder in the voices of the crowd of witnesses, of the women who find an empty tomb, of the men walking to Emmaus with Jesus, of Thomas as he puts his hand in the Jesus’s wounds, and of the disciples who witness Jesus appear in a locked room, we must imagine with them, how our lives will be changed.

The resurrection of Jesus changed everything.  It changed the direction of the lives of everyone who knew him.  Peter and the others would never go back to their fishing boats because God had a different future planned for them.  And twenty-one centuries later, the resurrection of Jesus is still transforming lives.  As we celebrate Easter and move into the season of Eastertide, let us once again consider where God is leading us, how God intends to change us and transform us so that we are fit to do the work and the mission of the future that he has planned for us.

We are the disciples of Jesus Christ.

And God is still calling us to do his work.

Let us listen to his voice, consider what we must do, and how we might need to change in order to receive his blessings and arrive at the future that he has planned for us… for our children… for our grandchildren… and beyond.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.