Feb 11 2009
Posted by Gary under Uncategorized
Planting Out of Season
by Gary Shockley
Kim and I planted about thirty Marigolds tonight. I know that sounds really strange to anyone living north of the Mason-Dixon line! Actually, it still sounds strange to us. We’re transplants from the north. This is supposed to be a season of cold, frigid air and frozen ground. No time for sticking live things in the earth! As we carefully transplanted our yellow and gold treasures into the sandy Florida soil I couldn’t help but think we were doing something wrong–something counter-intuitive. Maybe. I also couldn’t help thinking about the churches we’ve planted and now help to plant through the Path 1 initiative of the United Methodist Church. The goal of Path 1 is to find, equip, deploy and coach 1,000 lay and clergy planters AND plant 650 new congregations by the end of 2012. Now THAT’s counter-intuitive! We’re supposed to be a denomination in decline! So what are we doing planting new communities of faith? We’re doing what’s right. We’re doing what God calls us to do. Want to know more about Path1? Check out www.path1.org. Come on, stick a plant in the ground with us! Every season is a good season to plant new communities of faith!