Allen Bingham's reflections from the front porch

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I am spending times these days wondering and praying and dreaming and pondering about our life together. I celebrated with God our hospitality as we welcomed the Association of Congregations for Holy Week worship here – I am ready to do that again tomorrow! I marveled at Jacob Mewborn’s creativity as he led his time in preparing worship celebrations for us throughout Lent and Easter. I prayed for Sammy Hudson as he has led us in worship for the past 2 years and now prepares for a full summer of ministry at The Refuge. I keep being surprised by Bridges Baker and our kids … we had 11 children in the nursery the Sunday after Easter! I prayed for the communion of saints as their number was increased by the addition of our brother David Callaway and sister Louise Burkett. I prayed for the continued ministry of our Congregational Care team after we dedicated them for ministry among us last month. I dreamed of our kids at Southeast Elementary School becoming the best of who God intends them to be and live according to God’s purposes for their lives. And I wondered … and I prayed … and I dreamt … and I pondered …

Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street? I am convinced that we are the people to lead this community into God’s preferred future. I am clear that God’s vision for us is to seek the welfare of the city where we live and trust that God will provide for our welfare as part of that broader prosperity. I am committed to seeing that the next steps are taken to lead God’s people forward, even if it is a land filled with giants as well as milk and honey. Yet I come back to that question, “Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street?”

This summer we will need to spend some time reorganizing our lives. When we move back into in our renovated spaces we will need to spend several days together moving equipment from one space to another. We have things scattered about the church that need to be reorganized and stored in new spaces. We have spaces that were formerly children’s spaces that now need to be repainted as adult and/or dual use spaces. For me all of this is a sign that God is also inviting us this summer to relook, rethink, reevaluate, reorganize, and retool ourselves for ministry together on Queen Street. So I come back to the question, “Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street?”

So I ask you to join with me in praying, “Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street?” I know that God is at work on Queen Street and in the midst of the servants I have come to hold so dear in our life together. Our leadership team is working on ways for us to spend this summer in wondering, praying, dreaming and pondering together as we seek to answer this question. My hope for you is that you will join us in this prayerful work and find your place for ministry among the saints and sinners who worship together on Queen Street.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of the Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord!

In the coming week we will pause to remember the most important week of our Lord’s life, the week of his passion or death. It is easy for us to forget the dizzying effect this week had on Jesus’ first disciples. One moment they were looking out over the holy city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, then they scrambled to find a donkey and led Jesus through the city in a victorious parade and later he shared a special meal with his closest followers that reinterpreted the meaning of the ancient ritual of Passover. Then Jesus was arrested by the Jewish authorities, prosecuted before the Roman governor, and crucified and left for dead outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Some of his closest and bravest followers recovered his body and prepared it for a proper burial. Then the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob intervened in a way never anticipated by his followers – God raised Jesus from the dead!

As you prepare to join Christians around the world in celebrating this Holy Week, I encourage you not to leap to the resurrection without first passing through the joy of the palms, the breaking of the bread, sharing in the cup, and the pain of the nails. To do so misses the experience of Jesus being fully alive in our midst, even in his “obedience unto death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). When we remember his life among and “the baptism of suffering, death and resurrection “we come to realize how much God loves us. This is the hope in which we stand unto this day: “Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, that proves God’s love toward us” (see Romans 5:8).

During Holy Week we are hosting the Association of Congregations of Kinston and Lenoir County worship services during the lunch hour on Monday through Thursday. Each day we will worship from 12:00 to 12:30 PM and then have lunch together from 12:30 to 1:00 PM. I trust you will present to extend hospitality to our community as together we remember the week of Jesus’ passion. As we do this, let us hold fast to these words from the writer of Hebrews:

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 11:23-25).

In the week after Easter our contractor will be making a big push to complete several portions of our renovation project. I know you join me in praying for their continued good work and safety as they work on our behalf to prepare a great space for our children. Thanks for all you do to support the ministry of the people called Methodist on Queen Street.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

The new year continues to reveal itself for us at Queen Street Church. This month I invite you to attend the choir’s musical dinner theatre event . This will be a opportunity to enjoy the gifted musicians who lead our worship in a different venue. Bring a loved one or just a good friend for dinner and a show.

This month we will also be focusing on the gift of Christian fellowship. We invite you to join us on Wednesday evenings for a meal and table conversation. Often times we feel rushed to push the plates aside for an evening program, but for this month we just want to enjoy each other’s company. In the coming months we will add opportunities for bible study or small group devotion in addition to the fellowship. If you are ready to join a small group right now, I encourage you to join Jeff and Shannon Nelson in their home on Tuesdays evenings. I am sure that the flame of Christian relationships will burn warmly in their home.

In our youth ministry we are working with Betty Blaine Worthington on Sunday mornings and with our youth team on Sunday evenings on opportunities to grow in our connections with each other and with Jesus. I will begin a confirmation class for the middle school youth on Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM beginning on February 8.

We anticipate seeing signs of construction in February, so begin your urgent prayers for our patience, perseverance, and safety during this time. As always, join me in praying and seeking for the welfare and prosperity of Kinston.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

As I start the new year I am resolved to return to a different rhythm in my life. The melody to this rhythm is found in a hymn written by Joseph Brackett, an eighteenth century elder of the Shaker community in Maine, who penned these words in 1848:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

At some point along the way, the word was that this was a melody to work by, but other historians suggest that this was a dancing tune. This latter theme was picked up when Sidney Carter wrote the words of “The Lord of the Dance” found in our most recent hymnal. Let me suggest that in this melody is the primary work of this new year for Queen Street Church, the work of finding true simplicity.

We love to make life difficult. Have you noticed that we seem to enjoy complexity. When you ask me to do something I come up with a list of why I cannot respond at this time. When I ask you to do something the list is different, but the outcome is the same. Yet Jesus said “let you ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no‘ be ‘no.’” When we look at the calendar for the new year we immediately pencil in everything we did last year and then start adding new events to the schedule. Pretty soon I will have our staff in charge of producing 104 special Sundays a year and wondering why they can only accomplish 52! So let’s stop being complicated and seeking true simplicity this year.

I suggest first that we consider simplifying the way we talk about our faith. I want you to have you personal connection to Jesus Christ, but I want you to understand that following Jesus among the tribe called United Methodists is pretty simple! Bishop Rueben Job suggests that John Wesley’s rules for living together in Christian community can be reduced to three challenges:

• Do No Harm,
• Do Good,
• Stay in Love with God

Is that simple enough for us? I think so. So my pledge to you in the coming year is that I will be asking us to consider all the simple things we can do to further God’s soon-coming kingdom. I will be asking us to uncomplicated our lives and our calendars by throwing out the complicated things that get in the way of true simplicity. And then I want us to dance in God’s simplicity … “’tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free, ‘tis a gift to come down …”

Grace and Peace, Allen

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Joy to the world the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King:
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

Isaac Watts’ “Joy to the World” eighteenth century hymn continues to reverberate across the world. As I think about the people, places, and times that this hymn has been lifted, I marvel at the ability of the human spirit to triumph over whatever the current circumstances may be. Whether it be world wars or local peace, rumors of wars or hints of prosperity, famine or plenty, recessions or boom times, the word that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem continues to best the best news ever!

Recent months have brought a new uncertainty to many of our minds. I cannot remember moments like these, and yet for some of us this brings to mind memories that we thought had disappeared forever. As we finish this year fraught with ambiguity I remind us that we know that the source of our joy is Jesus Christ. In moments like these it helps to lean back into the everlasting arms of our God and remember that the promises of love, joy, and peace are ours through Jesus.

This month we will have opportunities to celebrate the birth of Christ with our Christmas concerts scheduled on December 13 and 14. Later, our children will have a birthday party for Jesus on Sunday December 21st during the worship celebrations. Finally, on Christmas Eve we will have two worship celebrations: one at 5:00 p.m. will be a kid friendly and adult savvy family celebration, the other will be a “midnight” communion service at 11:00 p.m. Both services will feature the reading of the familiar lessons, the singing of our favorite carols, and the lighting of candles to celebrate the birth of the King!

Prepare your heart this month to receive the Jesus once again. This year and every year the news that Jesus Christ was born is worth shouting from the mountaintops.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ
– the One Who Is, the One Who Was, and the One Who Is to Come!

Two phrase have stuck in my spirit over the past few weeks. One is “the answer to how is yes” and the other is “let the little children come to me.” The first statement I heard when I attended a conference in Atlanta and referred to a book written by Peter Block by the same title. Block’s book invites us to consider whether we too often ask the wrong question when we seek to accomplish something important in our lives. We too often ask “How?” which focuses on how we will get the job done and reveals our desire to control of people, time, and cost. Instead, we need to focus on “Why?” We need to pay attention to what really matters to us personally, from heart-felt commitments in our private lives to the creation of projects in the workplace. To be able to act on what matters, explains Block, we must reclaim our idealism.

As I was considering this phase I was pondering the stained-glass window in our sanctuary that depicts the scene just after Jesus says to his disciples, “let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14). Jesus goes on to say, “and do not stop them; for it is to such as these belongs the kingdom of heaven.” How many of us have heard a plea from a Sunday School teacher or a preacher for us to have a more childlike faith? As I pondered the two phrases I remember how children are always asking the “Why” questions and never seem to be bothered by “How” questions. In that moment I sensed in my spirit where we stand as a church.

In the face of needing to pay attention to our children’s spaces, deal with sanctuary renovations, and provide staffing for an emerging generations I find myself bogged down in the “How” questions: How will we pay for this? How will we find new members? How will we …? What Block’s title reminded me was that we need to return to the childlike wonder of the “Why” questions: Why do we exist as a church? Why care about children? Why pay attention to worship or Sunday School? Why, because Jesus has entered our lives and he invites us in big and small ways to beckon others to join us on the journey.

This month we will be asking you to join us for an open house for the Queen Street Academy. You will have a chance to see the kid’s art work, roam the space a little, and spend some time with Bridges and me in conversation about the why questions for the present and future needs for our children’s programs. The following week we will join forces with Stop Hunger Now to provide thousands of meals for starving persons across the world. During this month we will also take time to invite you to commit your resources in the coming year.

I know that asking you to plan your future giving in the midst of current financial stresses is difficult. I invite you to consider two thoughts as you pray about how to utilize your resources in the coming year: First, I invite you to consider the “why” of your gifts and leave the “how” to God, for this is what children do best! Second, if you stand with me in knowing that introducing children to Jesus is crucial, then I invite you to make a deeper commitment to our children and to the renovation of the spaces for the next generation to play and learn.

I give thanks every day that the people of Queen Street Church continue to find a way to say “YES” to God’s future for our life together. I hope you will join me in saying thanks be to God for the saints, sinners, and ministry of the people called Methodist on Queen Street!

Grace and Peace, Allen

Sisters and Brothers in Christ!

“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Paul wrote these words when he was asked about how worship was to be conducted within the Christian community in Corinth. Every worship service contained moments of hymn singing, scripture sharing, truth-telling prophecy, and even tongue-speaking … all with no rhyme or reason. The people were confused and Paul said, “step back and take a moment to get organized. Everybody needs to come together ready a moment to share, but then organize your efforts. Everything will come in due course.”

So it is with Queen Street Church this month. We are “disordered!” The worshipping space of our Sanctuary is being refurbished with a renewing of our floors and pews. While that is going on, we are worshipping in our Fellowship Hall and the space is small and we cannot see around columns or over the heads of others. Sometimes the words are “disordered” on the screen and we cannot always hear or see what is going on. In the midst of this I give Gods thanks that we have been a people of peace! Thank you for bearing with us as we begin a season of renovations to our facilities.

We anticipate moving back into the sanctuary in early November and then we will begin renovations of our children’s space on the main floor of the education building. Already you can see signs of the education renovations as carpets are being removed and floors being exposed so that our architect and contractor can help us discern the next steps for our renovation. As events unfold in the coming months I encourage you to remain a people who serve a “God not of disorder but of peace.”

Within this newsletter you will find news of events for young and old alike throughout October. In November and December we anticipate several worship celebrations that will highlight our renewed spaces. We will do our best to keep you apprised of these events as we nail down the dates. Above all else, we know that God is with us to bring peace in the midst of the disorder of our worship space, the disorder of a new Kinston being birthed, and even the disorder of our current economic mess. God is with us – we are not alone – let us give thanks to our Father in heaven!

Grace and Peace, Allen

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ
The One Who Is, the One Who Was, and the One Who Is to Come!

There comes a time when our hearts turn from summer living (and loving) to back to school sales and fall football games. As we make this turn at Queen Street Church we are starting on some new adventures. In the coming weeks you will see signs of the times as our Queen Street Academy launches its fall after-school program, the renovation begins on the main floor of the education building, and the organ begins being reinstalled in the sanctuary. Pay attention in the coming weeks for a congregational meeting on Sunday September 7th to discuss several changes that the organ committee is proposing for our sanctuary as the organ is being reinstalled.

Listed below are several new opportunities that are emerging this fall:

• The Wednesday Fellowship Meal begins on September 3rd at 6:00 PM
• The Fall Wednesday Night Bible Study begins on September 3rd at 7:00 PM
• King’s Kids will begin on Wednesday September 3rd at 7:00 PM
• United Methodist Youth Fellowship restarts on Sunday September 7th
• The Congregational Care Team begins training on Wednesday September 10th at 10:30 AM
• The Upper Room Coffee House restarts on Friday September 19th at 7:00 PM

Here are the details on the adult studies that begin this fall:

• The Wednesday Night Bible Study is titles “Serving from Your Heart: Finding Your Gifts and Talents for Service.” This study will help you build confidence and commitment as you discover your own unique gifts and talents for service in the church and community. You will explore your gifts, find your passion for service, and then get connected for service. Along the way you will examine your gifts, talents, abilities, resources, personality, dreams, experiences, and strengths. My hope is that each of us will find out something new about who God has created us to be.
• On Wednesday mornings on a bi-weekly basis our Congregational Care Team is going to being trained using the study “Developing a Caring Community: A Course in Pastoral Care Ministry for Laity.” This study will help us learn how to care for each other as God cared for the world. Remember that when the world was in trouble God sent his son to “become flesh and blood and move into our neighborhood.” We will learn to care for each other as members of the church experience brokenness in body, mind, and spirit. Please come learn how to care better for each other on life’s journey.

We are gathering momentum as the body of Christ on Queen Street and I think this fall we will see great signs of God’s hand moving in our midst as “we seek the prosperity and welfare of the city of Kinston.”

Grace and Peace, Allen

Sisters and Brothers in Christ –

Greetings in the Name of the One Who Is, the One Who Was, and the One Who Is to Come!

In the month of June we mark the closing of one year of my ministry with the people called Methodist at Queen Street UMC. It has been a long journey for me. I came with energy to spare and ready to lean into God’s future for Kinston. No sooner than I had arrived and we commending the soul of our sister Teresa Smith to God. My plans were changed. Our plans were changed. Suddenly we had to rely on God’s guidance as we began to move in new directions under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Where are we now? The pastor-parish relations committee hopes to hire a full-time director of our children’s ministry in the coming months. The board of trustees is utilizing the resources from the sale of the house on Margaret Lane to renovate spaces for children and youth ministries. We learned from our Music Academy what a venture into after-school care might look like in our building. So we are now positioned to open, pending renovation and hiring, an after-school program for elementary children this fall. With God’s blessing may it come to pass!

As the summer is now upon us, we are already shifting gears to implement strategies for the fall. As Jacob Mewborn and I reviewed our summer plans, it made sense to us to wait until August for us to launch a worship-filled weekly Bible study on Wednesday evenings. In the meantime we are looking over our calendars to find several times to gather ourselves together to have some fun and fellowship on some Wednesday evenings. We will keep you posted on the progress of our plans.

Sisters and brothers … we stand ready to move. Like many of you, I am excited by recent announcements of jobs coming to Kinston. I am excited about the resurgence I sense in our steps and encourage us to continue seeking for the welfare of the city, for in it we will find our own welfare (see Jeremiah 29:6). Keep praying for strength to lean into God’s vision for his soon-coming and already-arriving kingdom.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the name of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

In our Easter sermon series I have been suggesting that after God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus became a God of motion. He was moving out to the gentile world when he encountered the disciples on the road to Emmaus. After he left them he showed up later in the evening with the disciples gathered in Jerusalem (see Luke 24). Later Jesus showed up to challenge the Thomas in each of us to accept that his wounds were real, his death certain, and his resurrection was the final word (see John 20). He went up Galilee to find disciples who had “gone fishing” and invited them back to the journey (see John 21). On the day of Jesus’ Ascension he took his followers up on the Mount of Olives and commanded them to be his witnesses (the Greek here says martyrs) in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (see Acts 1:8).

In our day, I think our Jerusalem is the folks we know who show their devotion to God by showing up to worship at Queen Street and being a part of the body of Christ in this place. Jesus says we are to faithful witnesses here and so we are. Our Judea is the folks who look like us, act like us, worship the God made known in Jesus like us, and who are already aware of the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Our Samaria are the folks around who do not look like us, do not behave like us, or do not know Jesus Christ and call upon his Name. Finally, we are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ around the world … to whatever end of world God call us to go. As I read the book of Acts I see Jesus leading the church to be a body in motion and I see Queen Street warming to the task of perpetual motion for God as well. Thanks be to God.

I invite you in the month of May to join for the fellowship meal as we explore how we are becoming a body in motion. One night we will discuss our children and youth space and the hiring of a children’s minister, another night we will feed at least 2,500 starving people in an effort with the good ministry of STOP Hunger Now! Another night will remember how the early church cared for its members and pray about how we care for every member of the congregation as we move forward. Finally, our Ministry Review Team will present its report to the congregation and help us begin to move united as the body of Christ on Queen Street. We are a body in motion … come join the journey.

Grace and Peace, Allen