Matthew 7: 7-11
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

In my grandmother’s house there was a jar. And in that jar there was candy.

That was a fact of life during my childhood. You could count on it. I never once walked into my grandmother’s house and didn’t rush past my grandmother straight to the jar and find within a nice supply of candy. It became for me and my brother a standard ritual that even as adults we maintained. We liked the candy when we were kids. We appreciated the consistency when we were adults. (more…)

Sometimes I like to reduce humanity down to two basic categories. The two categories on my mind today are the “happy-go-lucky” types who never let anything upset them and the “type-A” people who are always stressed out about something. Everyone, it seems, falls in to one of these two camps or at least has a dominating tendency in one direction or the other.

I am a complainer. My brother is not. I envy him. He seems able to roll with the situation and get along with just about whatever comes his way. He is “easy going.” I am nervous and tense. He falls into the “happy-go-lucky” camp. For him, all is well in the world. For me, we are always on the verge of disaster. (more…)

Our Outreach Commission has agreed to support the program of the New York Annual Conference at the Methodist Clinic in Furcy, Haiti. Different churches in the conference will sponsor a doctor for a week (at $200 per week) or more in the Furcy Clinic, which UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief) teams (including ours) have recently built. At our “DOCTOR DAY” on Sunday, Oct. 19, our congregation contributed $400, which together with a matching $200 contribution from our church council, will sponsor a doctor for three weeks at the Clinic… In addition, there are other ways to contribute. We will continue to collect medical supplies, soaps (see lists in Haiti box in hallway), etc., but cash is really the best way to support this project. Help us make this ongoing support really make a difference for our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Acts 2: 37-42
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

One of the most common questions people ask me is “how did you decide to go into ministry?” And I always seem to disappoint people when I don’t supply a really good, dramatic story. Like how my mother contracted a terrible illness right after my birth, and she recovered only after dedicating me to God’s service. Or how I was nearly killed in a car accident, and during a moment when my heart had stopped beating I saw a bright white light and heard a voice speak “Go back, and be a pastor.” Or, perhaps I could have just always had a sense from a very young age that I was somehow destined to be a minster. (more…)

On Saturday, October 11, during the Hartford Marathon, United Methodist runners raised over $15,000 for the Bishop’s Partnership in Mission Fund, which supports United Methodist mission projects around the world. Bishop Park himself, and our own Pastor Bryan Hooper both participated in the 5K run, with our local church pledging more than $400 to the Mission Fund and hosting a dinner for Methodist runners on Saturday evening.

Matthew 22:34-40
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Julia’s sister was dying of a long fight with cancer. You know the routine. First there was the diagnosis. Then the initial discussion about treatments. Then the bouts with chemo. In and out of the hospital. Some good days. Some tough days. And now it was down to palliative care. And Julia was all her sister had left. A moment came when Julia had to decide what to do about her sister’s care. I was with her in the hospital when she said to me, Pastor, what should I do? I don’t know if I can pull the plug. (more…)