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Plymouth Clergy Update 06/06/2017
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Update from Mandy Hall:
Gospel Via Emoji's Anyone?

Plymouth Update for June 6, 2017
I am a big fan of the TV show Doctor Who from BBC. In short, it is the story of a very clever and slightly mad man who travels with his companions throughout time and space. The stories tend to be filled with social commentary, and one such episode really struck me this season. The Doctor and his companion Bill travel to the future and discover that the human langue has changed so people primarily communicate in emojis. That’s right, the future of the human langue is a bunch of smiley faces expressing one’s emotions. **Insert eye roll emoji here** This episode got me thinking about how we communicate our faith, especially after hearing a report that using emoji’s in texts can improve relationships and cut down on miscommunication.

On Sunday, we joined Christians around the world in celebrating Pentecost. This is the story of how the church came to be, how the gospel was shared in every langue, the Holy Spirit descended in flames, and how it confused a lot of people. The story of Jesus Christ was translated so that the people could hear the good news and understand. Then Peter stood up and shared his faith so others might understand better. 

For many that was the first time they heard the story of Jesus and it’s meaning. 2000 some years later, we in the church have heard it many times before, yet we often struggle to share the stories of our faith to our children and grandchildren. How might we need to speak the stories so our children can hear them in a meaningful way?

Maybe the writers of Doctor Who are one to something with the importance of emojis. Maybe when we read the Bible, pray together, worship, serve at a mission we need to go deeper than the words and route actions. Perhaps we need to work at expressing something deeper and be vulnerable.

There’s an old saying “people won’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Sharing our emotional connection to our faith and conveying our love of Christ is one of the most meaningful ways we can share our faith with our children. We go to church, not because this is the thing that we’ve always done. Instead we go because we feel… we experience… we sense… How would you complete the sentence “I go to church because…” or “I believe in God because…” It wasn’t until my parents and grandparents began telling me how they feel about God (not what they know about God) that I began to embrace my faith journey. Maybe its time we emote our faith.

Grace and Peace,
Mandy J
 

The Rev. Mandy Hall, 
Director of Christian Formation for Children and Youth

Mandy began her ministry at Plymouth in August of 2014. She is originally from Michigan where she followed her call to ministry to become a Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Her passion is helping young people grow in faith in creative and meaningful ways. She lives in Loveland with her husband, Chris, and their golden retriever, Oberon.

Mandy's educational background:

M.Div. Princeton Theological Seminary

B.A. in Psychology and Religion, Hope College
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