The current issue of Circuit Rider Magazine offers ten perspectives concerning possibilities for the UMC future plus some practical counsel.

Laura Heikes is among ten United Methodists reflecting on the question, “Where will you serve?” in the current issue of Circuit Rider, now an online newsletter from United Methodist Publishing House. Heikes is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and serves as Lead Pastor at Bee Creek United Mehtodist Church in Austin, Texas.

She begins her essay, “Growth in Disturbed Soil,” this way …

“In Texas bluebonnets herald the coming of Spring. Roadsides, ditches, and culverts burst with color as the seasons change and life reasserts itself. These wildflowers are beloved natives where I live: hardy, yet delicate; prolific, yet so precious. Their buds are a beautiful blue that’s rare in nature.

“But if you want to know the coolest thing about bluebonnets, look below the showy blooms and verdant leaves to the very base of the plant. Bluebonnets flourish in places other plants avoid. As the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center puts it, bluebonnets ‘thrive in heavily disturbed, poor soils.’ What a cool flower! Wherever the soil is the worst—the thin gravel on the sides of roads, over-grazed fields, highway medians, neglected street corners—that’s where bluebonnets stake their claim. And once they take root, their presence transforms dodgy spaces into islands of beauty.”

What does that have to do with UMC future? READ MORE and find out.

Learn what the other nine United Methodists are thinking and saying in this May/June edition of Circuit Rider.

Last Updated on June 25, 2019