Two months ago, at the start of Advent, we celebrated the Grand Launch of weekly worship at Pecan Street Mission. This is a dream that has long been in the making here in the First Methodist family. The voice of God has long been whispering among this community, “Behold, I am about to do a new thing…” Where there used to sit an old Fire Station, this community heard the whisper of God’s dream for what became the Methodist Activity Center. Where Asbury Hall used to sit empty on Sunday mornings, this community heard the whisper of God’s dream for what has become Pecan Street Mission. The voice of God now whispers, “Behold, I am about to do a new thing – now it springs forth! Do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). The seeds of God’s love that were planted in the fertile soil of this community long ago are finally beginning to spring up into beautiful and vibrant signs of new life. Each week as new people enter through these doors, as children shape Play Dough and scribble with crayons, as bodies are fed with brunch and souls are fed with community, as families come to encounter the Living God who knows them and loves – as these signs of new life spring up all around us, I encourage you to keep your eyes peeled! “Do you not perceive it?” Signs of God’s resurrection love are sprouting, the dreams that once were whispers are beginning to shape new realities, people are coming to know the unconditional love of God in tangible and relevant ways. This is the season, “now it springs forth!”

If you haven’t yet come to visit Pecan Street Mission, I encourage you to join us one Sunday morning at 10:45am in Asbury Hall. Come catch a glimpse of this bold, beautiful, and life-giving community God is forming right here in our own backyard.

If you have come to worship at Pecan Street Mission, then I encourage you to lean into the “Witness” commitment of our membership vows. When we joined this community of faith, we pledged to faithfully participate in ministry by our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. To “witness” is simply to tell what you’ve seen and heard. Tell of God’s life-giving work here at Pecan Street Mission, tell of God’s love made manifest in this new community of faith. Invite someone in your life who is not meaningfully connected to a community of faith to join you in worship one Sunday. Who knows, perhaps you might be a contagious carrier of God’s love in the life of someone who desperately needs it.

It’s been such a joy to serve alongside the Decatur Methodist family in this season of planting. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us next!

In Christ,
Ricky Harrison

P.S. – Connect with Pecan Street Mission online (pecanstreetmission.org) or on FaceBook (facebook.com/PecanStreetMission).