Week 23 - Orchards United Methodist Church

orchardsumc.org

Orchards United Methodist Church has been a fixture of the Orchards area for many years. Some may remember the old Freedom Tree that was prominently located at the front of their building before being taken down to make way for road improvements. Change is a constant in life, of course, and is true for OUMC as well as they welcomed a new pastor less than a year ago. As we have noticed at other church visits there has been quite a few that experienced pastor turn over in the last year or two. According to research this is pretty typical as the average tenure for a pastor is between three and four years.

OUMC is a modest sized community that holds one service on Sunday mornings with seating for approx 150. This week the service was about two-thirds full. However, their impact in the community extends beyond the traditional Sunday service. They are partnered with Iglesia Centro Pentecostal who provides Hispanic services in the evenings, are a sponsoring church of Friends of the Carpenter, and continue to be an important supporter of F.I.S.H. of Orchards.

We were greeted by several people on the way in and after chatting it up with the folks next to us everyone thought we were their guests. We even ran into a couple of friends from back when our boys were in cub scouts, took a moment for us to remember where we knew each other. During the service there was an extended meet and greet which allowed us the opportunity to visit with several more people. In addition the pastor greeted us before and after the service. While many congregants were on the older end of the age spectrum there were a number of families with young children. 

The auditorium is a traditional setting, as you might expect with the design era of the building, with plenty of lighting including indirect natural light. An overhead projection screen was used for announcements and song lyrics. Music provided by two musician/vocalists was a mix of contemporary praise and classic hymns and the volume was suitable to hear congregants joining in.

Following the offering children were invited forward for a message from the pastor. Since it was near the end of the school year he encouraged them to always have a heart for learning, teaching and praising. He gave the children plenty of opportunities to share their insights as well. In keeping with the theme of teaching all the Sunday School teacher volunteers were brought forward and recognized with a small gift for their faithful service. The pastor closed out this time with an opportunity for people to offer prayer requests and praises. Plenty of time was allowed and many people participated.

The pastor's brief message, based on Mark 12:28-34, was titled Love Trumps All. Drawing from the story of Jesus debating with one of the teachers of the law he shared three key points: 1) All scripture must be put up to the love test. 2) Wisdom is a function of Church-it's when we get together that we can come to a better understanding of God's truth. 3) Love is the irrefutable part of our faith. 

In closing we all joined hands and sang a song to send us on our way. Orchards United Methodist provided a relaxed environment with a nice blend of contemporary and traditional service elements.