St. John's United Methodist Church | Baton Rouge

Author: Mari Walker

  • Faith Stories: Let God Do the Talking

    Faith Stories: Let God Do the Talking

    Faith Stories: Let God Do the Talking

    “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; the Jew first, and also the Greek. For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, but the righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1: 17-18 ASV

    I have never considered myself to be evangelical, as to do so risks confrontation and that is just not in me. 

    Another rule I assigned to simple living is to not engage in conversation with anyone seated next to me on a long flight. Why chance it? Some people don’t know when to stop conversation. You are captive, and what does it matter anyway with a complete stranger you are not likely to encounter again? 

    For some reason, I have never been very good at following this rule and possibly a few others. In the process, I have met some of the most fascinating people, from a Frank Sinatra impersonator to the CFO of a major hotel chain. I was even invited to stay as a VIP Guest in his 4-star hotel on future business travels. The one passenger I recall with total clarity 30 years later is the self-proclaimed atheist traveling alone.

    She boarded the plane late, and the door closed immediately behind her. The center seat was open, and I had the window seat as usual. She politely asked if she may sit next to me as she fastened her seat belt, still breathing heavily from her run to catch a nearly missed flight. 

    She introduced herself as Ruth Rosenstein; I was merely David, no need to disclose more than that. She said, “I’m Jewish. I guess that is why I worry about everything. I was so worried about making my flight and I almost missed it anyway!” 

    Ms. Rosenstein was on her way home from a Mothers Against Drunk Drivers Convention. She had been a keynote speaker as she often was. She told me about the fateful night her son was heading home from college, following his girlfriend, when she got a flat tire. He stopped to change her tire and was struck and killed by a drunk driver. Her pain was raw and real, and she wept as if it had happened yesterday, but it had been years. I wondered how many times she had told this story. How many times she had re-lived this pain in such detail?

    As I do, I searched for words to comfort her, but clearly I had none. I mentioned God and faith, and it sounded like a canned platitude coming from a young man who knew little of either at the time. 

    She bristled and said, “I am an atheist. I don’t believe in God!” 

    Out of nowhere, not of me, I proclaim with certainty, “YES YOU DO!” 

    She angrily said, “No I don’t. Why would you say that when I just told you that I am an atheist and don’t believe in God?” 

    I said, “Well, you sat down next to me and within 30 seconds you were telling me that you are Jewish. I don’t know any Jews who do not believe in God. So which is it?” 

    She sobbed and told me that she did believe in God, but she was just so lost and angry. I told her that was okay, and she spoke of her pain as I listened. Our plane gently touched down. She looked into my eyes and we were both tearful but smiling. She hugged me and thanked me. I was certain she heard what she needed to hear as I said nothing further. 

    It was not of me, but through me. It doesn’t matter if we don’t know what to say. Sometimes it is okay if we just listen and let God do the talking.

    David Henson

  • The Wesley Challenge

    21 Days to a More Authentic Faith

    Join St. John’s United Methodist Church for The Wesley Challenge, built around 21 questions that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, encouraged the first Methodists to ask one another. Through weekly sermons, small groups, and daily devotional readings, we will explore how we can develop the spiritual habits, practices and actions that can lead to a thriving Christian life.

    Download Week 1 Devotionals
    Download Week 2 Devotionals
    Download Week 3 Devotionals

    Sermon Series, beginning Sunday January 6

    The three sermons, starting January 6, will introduce the upcoming week’s questions and will encourage you to work through the questions at home.

    Sunday January 6

    Relationship with God – An Upward Focus
    Acts 17:26-28
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

    Sunday January 13

    Relationship with Self – An Inward Focus
    Romans 12:1-2
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

    Sunday January 20

    Relationship with Others – An Outward Focus
    Romans 12: 3-18
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

    Join others in the 21-Day Challenge!

    On Tuesday, January 8, we will start a 4-week study led by Margaret and Phil Sprunger that explores the 21 questions and applies them to our modern-day lives. The study will meet on Tuesdays in January, (8, 15, 22 and 29), at 6:30 p.m. (Childcare will be available upon request.) Study books cost $15 (put Wesley study in memo line).

    Even if you are unable to attend the study, you can order a book if you would like to participate on your own. Reserve your book by contacting Pastor Deirdré by phone (939-1425) or email.

    Sunday School classes and other small groups may want to use this book as a study during the month of January. The three sermons (preached on January 6, 13 and 20) will introduce the upcoming week’s theme and questions. The small group study is intended to be used after each week is experienced, therefore, to follow along most closely to the sermon series, your class would want to start reading the week of January 6 and have your first class session on January 13.

  • Let Heaven & Nature Sing

    From the psalms that implored the earth to make a joyful noise to the very first Christmas where choirs of angels sang, music has told the story of God’s glory, greatness and unending love. This season we will let familiar Christmas carols guide our Advent journey as we implore all creation to sing the glory of Christ’s light, shining even in the midst of the darkness.

    Pre-Advent
    November 25

    Hanging of the Greens, both services

    Advent 1: Hope
    December 2, 2018

    Luke 1:8-20, 57-64– Zechariah’s Song
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

    Advent 2: Peace
    December 9, 2018

    Luke 1:39-56 – Mary’s Song
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

    Advent 3: Joy
    December 16, 2018

    Christmas Cantata: I Hear the Prophet Callin’

    December 21, 2018

    The Longest Night Service

    Advent 4: Love
    December 23, 2018

    Luke 2:8-20 – The Angel’s Song
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

    Christmas Eve: Christ Candle
    December 24, 2018

    4 p.m. – Family-friendly 
    7 p.m. – Traditional

    Christmas 1
    December 30, 2018

    Luke 2:25-35 – Simeon’s Song
    Rev. Deirdré Halliburton, associate pastor
    View sermon

  • Faith Stories: Communion with a Cat

    Faith Stories: Communion with a Cat

    In the summer of 2016, it began to rain in south Louisiana. We are a land of swamps and streams, a place all too familiar with tides and floods. 2016 was a disaster of Noahic proportions, but no one had built an ark. An unnamed weather system sucked water from the Gulf of Mexico and spewed it continuously across an unsuspecting flat landscape. Waters accumulated and sought outlets, then backed into neighborhoods and made streams out of roadbeds. There was flooding where even high water had been unseen for a hundred years.

    One of my wife Susie’s friends, fleeing the surging waters, was loading souvenirs and necessities of life into her van, attempting to escape the waters already in view in adjoining fields. A feral cat, resident of the neighboring forest and moocher of local human delicacies, watched the loading process but refused to get aboard our friend’s version of the ark. Flood waters were now on the driveway; the van/ark had to go, reluctantly leaving the cat.

    When the van arrived at its temporarily high ground and its owners were unloading its cargo, a litter of kittens was discovered, apparently brought into the van by a mother that recognized impending danger and sent her young to safety while choosing familiar surroundings for herself.

    We adopted one of those kittens about two weeks later. We named her “Sister,” a companion to our 4-year-old dog, “Gabby.” Sister’s food dish was placed on the laundry room floor, near Gabby’s dish in the kitchen.

    In the summer 2017, a small tan dog followed Gabby and Susie home from a walk one day. Thinking the little dog’s owners would show up soon, we started calling the new resident “Little Boy.” Little Boy apparently liked his new bed, regular meals, dog and cat companions, and Susie’s lap; but his owners never showed up. He is still with us and shows no sign of leaving.

    Little Boy likes cat food, so Sister’s food bowl was relocated to the top of the clothes dryer in the laundry room. To be sure she found her food in its new location, I picked her up and placed her on the dryer the first few times. Thus began our new routine.

    Sister spends most of every day outside, coming inside three or four times for food or a nap. She will sit near the back door or rub against my ankles, meowing softly until I let her into the house. She will then lead me or walk beside me to the dryer and wait for me to pick her up and place her on the dryer near her food.

    I began to think of this as “Communion.” Sister can easily jump to the top of the dryer, but she quietly requests that I help her and that I include a treat. I usually talk to her, calling her my “pretty kitty.” She seems to like that.

    “Do this in remembrance of Me,” said Christ. We come together, asking Christ and our fellow worshipers to join us. We even ask God for a treat-the presence of Holy Spirit. We ask Him to lift us to a higher plane, praying quietly in His Presence. Communion, either with a cat or fellow Christians, is about remembering how He saved us from certain disaster and lifted us to a higher plane, fed us with His manna, delivered us from the floods of this world’s evil and brought us Home to a secure place.

    Ron Newton

  • Faith Stories: Stewardship Sunday 2019

    Faith Stories: Stewardship Sunday 2019

    2 Corinthians 9:7 says “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Giving softens the heart and frees the soul from dependence on money. Giving comes in many forms including prayers, presence, gifts and service…and I have seen that lived out here at St. John’s in many ways.

    Each of you have your own spiritual journey and what led you here to St. John’s. Mine started almost six years ago and includes three or the four top stressors for most people: Divorce, a Move and a New Job. 

    When I first arrived in Baton Rouge, I was suddenly single for the first time in 27 years and had just re-joined Capital One, after a 6 year absence. My former husband and I had been separated for just a few months when he had the opportunity to move to Baton Rouge. Being a United Methodist minister, we knew that was a possibility, but the timing was not ideal. I needed my support system more than ever during this time and a move was not part of the “healing” process for anyone. After much prayer, I made the decision to move to Baton Rouge to ensure our children had both parents in the same city. 

    I remember feeling so lost that first year, as I tried to acclimate to my new surroundings, without the foundation of my family and friends. At Capital One, I had the blessing of becoming friends with Carol Gordon, who after hearing some of the struggles I was having with finding a new church home, invited me to St. John’s. Russ and I had begun dating and we were actively visiting churches together. Carol also told us about the Genesis Sunday School class and agreed to escort us that first Sunday. Being “new” in a church is tough and wow, was I nervous! I don’t know if she knows what a blessing that was to us to have her by our side during those early visits! And what a blessing this church and our Sunday School class has been to us since. 

    Our pastor at the time was Juan, which many of you may remember, and he was so instrumental to Russ and I, as we began our new lives here in Baton Rouge. He helped us sort through our feelings of the breakup of our long-term marriages, the worries we had about our children and helped us to embrace the joys of newfound happiness. I will never forget meeting with Juan in one of our counseling sessions and telling him that Russ and I were wanting to get married, but didn’t have a minister. We had asked my Mom’s minister, but he had turned us down because we were both divorced. Neither one of us ever thought we would find ourselves in this situation, but here we were in a strange city and brand new members at St. John’s. “Any advice?” I asked. With no hesitation, he looked at us and said “You are loved and children of God, and God wants to prosper you. I’ll marry you guys and I have a really good track record.” That was God’s grace lived out through Juan at a time when we needed to feel it most. 

    Fast forward six years, and a lot has changed. We are a beautifully blended family of six, with our first grandbaby on the way. While those were tough times, I know that the reason I am where I am today is because of God’s Grace, God’s Gratitude and God’s Generosity. 

    I spent a lot of time in prayer and remained disciplined financially, hoping and believing that at some point I would begin to reap God’s blessings. What I now realize is that I had them all along and just couldn’t see at times because I was blinded by my own situation. 

    St. John’s people and ministries were a BIG part of my journey. Russ and I have been immeasurably blessed by having the opportunity to volunteer for The Shepherd’s Market, the annual Great Turkey Giveaway, Mission Fairs and Opening Doors…just to name a few. We continue to be amazed by how St. John’s LIVES out its mission through ACTION and not just words.  

    Please prayerfully consider your own journey here at St. John’s and how you can give back a portion of all that God has given you, as we move into the conclusion of our Stewardship campaign next Sunday. 

    I will leave you with the words from Casting Crown’s song, “Who Am I”…”Not because of who I am, But because of what you’ve done, Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who YOU are, I am yours.” 

    Debbie Nolan

    Watch Debbie’s Faith Story as Presented Sunday October 21

    Faith Stories: Stewardship Sunday from St. John’s UMC Baton Rouge on Vimeo.

  • Faith Stories: Growing Through Grace

    Faith Stories: Growing Through Grace

    Faith Stories: Growing Through Grace

    When asked to speak on Stewardship, little did I know how the theme would make my head swim. I prayed to God and asked for help on how I should talk about Stewardship based on the theme, “Growing Through Grace.”

    First of all, let’s establish what grace is in Christianity. You know there are many different meanings of the word. The Christian meaning of grace is the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in salvation of sins and the bestowal of blessings. After praying and pondering on the theme, “Growing Through Grace,” I heard God say, “Make it personal.”  

    If a person walks through the doors of St. John’s and does not feel welcomed and loved, they just might be in need of a heart transplant! I walked through those doors about five years ago with my sons Kevin and Devin. The first person I remember greeting us with a big hug and warm smile is Kathleen Adams. (Now mind you there were many others who greeted us that day.) She stands out because on the next Sunday, she remembered all of our names. She didn’t get the boys’ names mixed up. That’s impressive in my book!

    As I continued to grow through grace here at St. John’s, I stumbled into the Seekers Sunday School class while Devin was with Mrs. Marilyn and Mrs. Sarah. They invited me to visit with them until I found a class I felt comfortable, as in, I’m not a visitor anymore! I’m family! That’s right FAMILY. Carol, Don, Mr. Guy, Sally, Buffie, Larry, Fran, John, Pam, Ms. Bev, Daphne, Belinda, David, Achilla, Ms. Grace and Jane are who I go to for advice, prayer and someone to pick Devin up from school. FAMILY!  

    I’ve grown through grace with the choir, thanks to a very talented and loving group of people (Carrie, Terry, Karen, Beleice, Diane, Catherine, Gay, Jimmy, Kathy, Susanna, Sally, Phil, John, Pat, Christine, Molly, Chester, Mr.Tom, Deidre, Ray, Bob (the judge), Mark and Troy). I’ve grown through grace in the puppet ministry. These are the most creative and talented people on the face of the earth! (Mr. Guy, Gay, Daphne, Bob and Jane, Devin and the other Jane) But that’s not all, St. John’s! I’ve grown through grace with my time and my money. As sure as I have grown, many of you have grown through grace too. It’s my prayer that we as a church continue to feed people both spiritually and physically by sharing our gifts through witness and service.

    God bless you,
    Darlene Dickson 

  • Thanks Living

    How do we turn thanksgiving into thanks-LIVING? Join us in this season of thanksgiving as we learn to live lives of gratitude and joy through a 2-part sermon series November 11 and 18, 2018.

    November 11

    Colossians 2:1-7
    “Abounding in Thanksgiving”
    Rev. Deirdre’ Halliburton, associate pastor
    View sermon

    November 18

    Philemon 1:1-7 
    “In Praise and Thanks for Partners”
    Rev. Lane Cotton Winn, lead pastor
    View sermon

  • Faith Stories: Keep Our Vision Growing

    Faith Stories: Keep Our Vision Growing

    Faith Stories: Keep Our Vision Growing

    Last week Kathy King shared some of the key points in the life of St. John’s since it was chartered in 1961. Today we are looking at keeping our vision growing.

    Yes, we remember our past, we look at where we started and where we have come to today. We also do a little dreaming about where it is we want to go into the future.

    Our past is history. We can’t change it. It is where it is. But we shouldn’t dwell upon it. We must remember the good part of it and learn from the bad parts of it. We shouldn’t continue to have things the way they were or are, but to get on with the life of the church in order to serve God’s call upon us.

    So having said that, what does that mean? It means that for some 50+ years, almost 60, we have been doing God’s work here at the corner of Reneé Drive and Highland Road. I think you would agree with me that we have done a really good job of answering the call placed on our hearts in the beginning. By God’s Grace, we have some wonderful foundations from which to build our future.

    And what is God calling us to do today in order to prepare for tomorrow? Our mission statement says that “we are a Christian community called to share our gifts through worship, witness and service so that others will know God and become disciples of Jesus Christ.”

    We now have an expanded worship facility with the recent addition of the Narthex. This is a beautiful space to welcome visitors and new members to St. John’s. We have also remodeled the gymnasium and added air conditioning making a wonderful and useful Family Life Center. This gives more space to have church family functions and community events. It also adds to our mission of feeding the people by giving us more space to serve our clients at The Shepherd’s Market.

    We also need to be good stewards of these new and expanded facilities, as well as the older parts of our campus, in order to represent God’s message of loving all who come into our midst. We must present a clean, well-kept location to all those who pass by our property. Being good stewards of all these facilities and keeping them in good repair must be a priority.

    God calls us to serve and love our neighbors. We need to continue to service all of our missions and grow the opportunities to serve. We do a good job today of serving our various communities, and last Sunday we saw the many missions we are involved in at our Missions Fair. We do a lot to serve God, the surrounding community and the world at large.

    All in all, God wants us to give our best, be our best as we present His word and be His disciples here in South Baton Rouge. To do that at the present time and to look into the future, we must continue to support the financial needs to prepare for tomorrow. God has called us here to South Baton Rouge. This is a fertile area, and there is a bountiful crop to be harvested, to grow His kingdom. We must put forth our best effort to have success.

    We still have a debt to service and support, so this year we are asking for second-mile giving in addition to our regular annual budget appeal. By freeing up our debt, it gives us more opportunities to serve God in more and different ways.

    I must admit that when we first started talking about raising $1.5 million, I was scared to death. In fact, I stood in front of you and admitted just that. I didn’t have much faith that we could come close to this goal. You could say I was a nay sayer. But I embraced the challenge and prayed fervently that God would provide as He has done in the first 50 plus years of our life. Thanks to our friends and members we met about two-thirds of that challenge in the three years of the pledge campaign. We walked by faith and not be sight.

    So I urge us to pray earnestly and sincerely and ask for God’s help as we come into this time of commitment. By the Grace of God let us be the best disciples for Jesus Christ that we can be, next year and the years after, right here in South Baton Rouge. Remember, when we walk by faith and not by sight God will and does provide.

    Mike Allen

  • Faith Stories: For Which We are Thankful

    Faith Stories: For Which We are Thankful

    Faith Stories: For Which We are Thankful

    As Lane suggested in her sermon, we would like to share some of our history and the things for which we are thankful.

    When we first joined St. John’s more than 45 years ago, the sanctuary building was already here because of the faith and generosity of its early members. You may not know that there used to be walls between the posts on each side. This formed Sunday School classrooms and offices for the minister and secretary and there was a small kitchen back there. We felt the need for a preschool for the community so the St. John’s Children’s Center was formed in 1966. We worshiped in the small sanctuary on folding chairs. We would rearrange them and add tables for covered dish dinners and other events.

    A pipe organ was given for the sanctuary, and much later pews replaced the folding chairs. We continued to grow and more space was needed. We purchased a white wooden building from University Presbyterian for one dollar and had it moved to our campus behind our sanctuary. This added space enabled us to sponsor Boy and Girl Scout troops, have more Sunday School rooms, and of course a nicer place, with a kitchen, for covered-dish dinners and Boy Scout Courts of Honor.

    Because of the faith and generosity of St. John’s members, we were able to build the gym behind the white building in 1980. This opened up more opportunities for mission. The preschool expanded, we had basketball games, exercise classes, boy and girl scout troops, and more classroom especially for our growing number of adult Sunday School classes, and a much larger area for covered dish dinners.

    The white building was removed and the Education Building was built in 1987. Its new office space allowed the minister and secretary to move out of the small offices in the back of the sanctuary. We had more space for our growing Sunday School classes, Bible Studies and community events. The beautiful parlor was designed so we could hold small meetings and receptions with food, of course. The gym with its classrooms was still important to our mission efforts. 

    Eventually the preschool was closed, and God sent us a new mission. He called Theresa Sandifer to “feed my sheep.” That led to St. John’s opening The Shepherd’s Market food pantry in 2012. We even provide meals for the pantry clients as they await their turn — just another way we feed people. 

    Because St. John’s family was willing to “walk by faith and not by sight,” the gym was transformed into a Family Life Center. As soon as it was completed, God called us to open it after the 2016 flood to survivors and then disaster relief workers. The Shepherd’s Market, scouts, AA, and many other groups continue to use the FLC. If you visited the Mission Fair this past Sunday, you could see how many mission projects we are involved in. And of course, the Family Life Center gives us a nicer place for shared meals, like the breakfast yesterday to celebrate the completion of The Walk campaign.

    We worshiped in the Family Life Center during the construction of the narthex, bell tower and covered walkway. The renovation of the sanctuary makes this an even more beautiful place in which to worship. 

    We believe St. John’s is fulfilling our vision; we are known for feeding people both spiritually and physically because we are willing to walk by faith and not by sight.

    Joyce & Bill Perry

  • Faith Stories: Looking Back with Gratefulness

    Faith Stories: Looking Back with Gratefulness

    Faith Stories: Looking Back with Gratefulness

    As I prepared this message, I was thankful for being given the opportunity to look back with gratitude on all that St. John’s has meant in my life these past thirty-plus years. I joined St. John’s in the early 80s, and since I was just out of college, it feels like I have grown up here as I navigated adulthood.

    Looking back, not only did I grow up and mature in my life and faith these past few decades as St. John’s nurtured me, we, collectively as a church, have grown in many ways too. I don’t have time to count them all, but here are a few that resonate with me.

    When I walked into this sanctuary for the very first time, it looked a bit different. The sides and back sections were enclosed and held multiple rooms where Sunday School classes met and offices were located. That was the first sanctuary renovation I witnessed – making space for more people to worship! Along the way, the building that used to stand behind us was removed and the Education Building was constructed. We didn’t yet have the beautiful lot on the side where we now enjoy the occasional fun activities. And then, as you know, more recently, renovations and additions created the spaces we now enjoy anew  We have taken our time; we’ve been intentional with our facility changes as we’ve tried to be good stewards of the resources we’ve been blessed with, all the while doing this for the purpose of expanding our ministry to the world.

    I believe we’ve also grown and matured emotionally as a church family. As within our own families, there are ups and downs, turns and twists as we experience life’s positive events and storms together. With God’s help, we’ve come out stronger and better for having weathered the good times and tough times. We have grown and matured together into a strong church family. It doesn’t take long for newcomers to start hearing the word “family” around here. And we are truly joyful about welcoming new people into our family.

    I have seen us grow financially. And I don’t necessarily just mean how our personal giving has expanded over the years to enable us to do more for God’s Kingdom. We have seen the positives our contributions have provided. We are called to reach out to our neighbors, and even the world, through our financial giving.  We have done that!  Also, I feel blessed to be a member of a church family who has used our financial growth to resolve a challenge – to meet a need. I personally put forth one such challenge back in the day when Rev. Donald Avery was our pastor. I challenged our church family that year to give a little extra to meet a budgetary need and this church delivered! There have been other such times when we listened to our call from God to go the extra mile when needed. I believe this is evidence of how we have grown financially, but more importantly, indicates our spiritual growth and the good that comes from listening to God.

    We have grown spiritually in ways too numerous to mention. We’ve studied, we’ve been spiritually nourished in small groups, we’ve attended spiritual renewal retreats, and we’ve stretched ourselves to pray in our neighborhood. One thing stands out the most to me however. We have grown spiritually in a way that allowed us to open our doors to become a place where people are fed. We feed them food to nourish their physical body and we have faith that we have been and will continue to be God’s instruments in feeding souls as well.

    How have we been doing all this? How will we continue to be a place that feeds God’s people spiritually and physically? With God by our side. With God’s call on our hearts. With gratitude for all that God has blessed us with. Just look around. Look at all our blessings. Let’s look with gratitude on our own life’s blessings. We honor God as we gratefully give back a portion to Him so that His purposes may continue to be realized, right here on the corner of Renee and Highland and reaching beyond.

    Kathy King