Sullivan UMC—J. Michael Smith

Baby News

Eleanor Hoss is home!  She had a delayed trip through the NIC unit at Carle for a couple days—but is adjusting well and got to come home for the first time this afternoon.

Finance News

The Church Council will receive the following funds summaries tomorrow night at their meeting:  (balances are as of 3/6/2026)

• General Fund:  $52,044  (we need to maintain an average $50,000 balance for cash flow)
• Savings:  $40,749  (we need to maintain an average of $100,000 balance for emergency repairs)
• Youth Missions Fund:  $8,887
• Memorial Fund:  $3,448
• All other designated funds:  $46,758

My Hours in Town this Week

Tuesday all day

Thursday all day

Please note that I will not be in on Wednesday this week as I will be all day with my brother in Springfield while he undergoes serious surgery.

Also remember:  I am always available and welcome your calls, texts, and emails—at any time.  You can reach me direct and most conveniently at 217-898-3148 (text or call) and jms754@gmail.com

Church Council Meeting tomorrow

There will be a “pastor’s presentation” on “meetings” and a trustee update on a potential van sale.  If you have an agenda item, please get it to Bill Workman or myself by the end of today.  Our goal is to make sure that the Church Council deals efficiently with matters that require Council action and delegates everything else to the appropriate committees and boards. 

United Women of Faith Tee-Shirt Order Forms—Along with my Personal Testimony

Unlike Girl Scout Cookie Sales, which I eagerly await every year, the United Women of Faith tee-shirt sale is something new to me.  So, when I was asked to publicize it in today’s post, I had to ask lots of questions.  

Now—a personal note.  There is no organization in the church that I respect more than the United Women of Faith.  No one in the world does more for women and children than United Methodist Women as they band together to raise funds and provide oversight regarding how the world treats women and children.  I admire and respect the UWF.

But as we all know, respect always implies a little bit of fear.  The United Women of Faith used to be called the United Methodist Women, or UMW, causing many people to wonder why every United Methodist Church had a chapter of the United Mine Workers.  It got confusing.  Thus the name change.

While in seminary, on our way to becoming newly minted pastors, we were frequently cautioned about the UMW (United Methodist Women, not the United Mine Workers.)  The caution was the same, year after year:  “Don’t mess with the UMW.” A pastor can survive if not anointed by the miners.  But you will get nowhere if you don’t pass muster with the women.  

I survived more than 50 years in parish ministry by not asking the UMW too many questions.  And while I always did what I was told by them, I was seldom privy to the inner workings of the organization.  

Thus I write to you today as one who was politely invited to post the tee-shirt sale in my daily epistle to you.  While I did find out that the order forms are in the church lobby—on the tall table just outside the office door—I do not know what the shirts cost.  When I asked, someone threw out a dollar amount that is the equivalent of 4 or 5 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies.

I also do not know if you can order your exact size, but assume that you can since they are waiting until after you eat this year’s Girl Scout cookies to see if you happened to “grow” a little since New Years.

I also do not know what colors the shirts are.  But please give me a break.  I have already bugged them with seven questions on this matter and my spidey sense tells me to not keep pressing my luck. 

I did find out that any woman is welcome to purchase one of these shirts—you do not need to be a formal member of the UWF.  The women are eager for other women to support them and identify as a part of a team who do remarkable things for both the church and the people in our community who are the most vulnerable.

I also do not know the deadline for putting in your order, but to paraphrase what they told us in seminary—don’t mess around and miss getting your order in.  I mean—these are serious, serious women.  Don’t mess around.  Vulnerable people depend on them—and they have no time for procrastination or nonsense—yours or mine.  Just get your order in.  

The tee-shirts will have a Bible verse on the back.  I was not told what verse—and am afraid to ask.  But if you get your shirt and don’t understand the meaning of the verse—I will be glad to exegete it for you—as long as you don’t tell anybody I did that.  I am a good Bible scholar, even some UMW members once told me that.  

If you are not yet a formal member of our church’s UWF, I would advise you to order and wear one of these tee-shirts.  I would also advise showing up at their meetings once in a while.  This world of ours is pretty messed up—and these women are our best hope for getting things straightened out.  

As a pastor, I am officially a member of the UWF.  (see Book of Discipline, paragraph 256.5, article four–which makes me an ex officio member–which means I can throw that factoid around–but am not allowed to wear one of their tee-shirts.) But I’m leery of wearing one of these tee-shirts anyway, as women are always complaining that I’m not wearing my clothes in the proper manner, or in the proper combination, or in the proper season, or with proper laundering, or with proper ironing.  After all, I have a wife, three daughters, and three granddaughters—and they are all keenly embarrass-able when my wardrobe is left to the devices and desires of my own heart. No need to drag the UWF into my already troubled history of clothing choices.

Perhaps, however, I’ll buy one for my wife—since I accidently ate the box of Girl Scout cookies I bought for her.  Yeah—I’ll get her a tee shirt.  A genuine UWF tee-shirt.  And since they cost somewhere between 4 and 5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies—someone let Lucy Brettschneider know that I’ll get another four boxes of cookies from her—for myself–if she has any left. Eating more Girl Scout Cookies is the best way I can think of to restore my sense of self-esteem after all this.