In this month’s blog, Bishop David Bard asks us to think on the changing seasons and how we may genuinely experience fresh winds of the Holy Spirit with renewed energy…
It was September 1984. I was only a few months into my first pastoral appointment. Roseau United Methodist Church was among the northernmost appointments in the Minnesota Conference, in a community ten miles south of the Canadian border. Winnipeg was the nearest large city. I had entered seminary the fall following completion of my bachelor’s degree, so this was the first autumn I would not be going back to school since I was five years old. I distinctly remember feeling the first autumn breezes of September, which brought a certain ache as I didn’t start school again.
The season of autumn often signifies moving toward an ending. The earth is preparing itself for winter. The leaves change colors and then fall from the trees. We rake those leaves up, preparing our yards for the winter months. Many of the songs associated with autumn convey messages about transitions. There is the pull of nostalgia in “Try to Remember”: “Try to remember the kind of September / When you were a tender and callow fellow.” “Autumn Leaves” is frequently played as a jazz standard, music only, but the lyricist Johnny Mercer wrote words for it: “The falling leaves drift by the window / The autumn leaves of red and gold . . . Since you went away the days grow long / And soon I’ll hear old winter’s song / But I miss you most of all my darling / When autumn leaves start to fall.”
For the church, though, autumn is not a transition toward an ending but a time of renewed energy as we move into a new program year. From a slower summer pace, we reengage new initiatives in worship, disciple-making, witness, and service. Every fall, we are offered the opportunity to consider again how we might open our individual lives and our life together in our churches to fresh winds of God’s Spirit.
The journey with Jesus is just that, a journey that always allows room for growth. The theological phrase for that is “sanctification.” The work of God’s Spirit in our lives is to deepen our capacity for love and wisdom. “Let’s grow in every way into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, CEB). What new discipleship practices or commitments are part of your autumn this year? How are you reenergizing your journey with Jesus?
Our life together as communities of faith is a journey as well. There is always room to grow in mission and ministry. Here are a few lines from our United Methodist Book of Discipline that describe our work as Christian communities. “The church of Jesus Christ exists in and for the world. . . . The local church is a strategic base from which Christians move out to the structures of society. The function of the local church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is to help people to accept and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and to live their daily lives in light of their relationship with God” (¶ 202). “The people of God, who are the church made visible in the world, must convince the world of the reality of the gospel or leave it unconvinced. . . . [The] church is either faithful as a witnessing and serving community, or it loses its vitality and its impact on an unbelieving world” (¶130). How are your churches engaging in ministry in and with your communities in new ways this autumn? What programs and efforts are you recharging heading into a new program year?
Let’s admit that there is a deep pull of nostalgia in many churches. There was a time when being the church was easier. People just showed up. It was what was expected in the wider culture. Families were larger, so our church schools were bigger. Smaller towns were more economically self-sufficient. There was less polarization and division in the culture. Yet we cannot go backward, only forward, and longing for yesterday is counterproductive. Celebrating our past is a joy. Living in the past is a hindrance to ministry. We are all called to grow in our faith in this moment. Our churches are called to be in ministry for Jesus Christ in this day and time.
When you consider it, isn’t the ministry of the church needed now more than ever? In a time where voices of hatred and acrimony are so loud, the voice of love is needed more than ever. In a time when every opportunity to divide is taken, the work of compassion and community is needed more than ever. In a time when so many find themselves isolated and lonely, the work of community is needed more than ever. As I write this, our nation mourns yet another school shooting, this time at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where students gathered for mass. We need voices of love, compassion, and community. We need communities of faith that are willing to engage in and encourage challenging conversations about guns and violence, and our mental health systems.
Over the years, I have come to experience the cool autumn breezes as evoking fresh winds of the Spirit. Thank you for your ministries for Jesus Christ. Thank you for all the ways you are engaging in ministry in this challenging day and time. Thank you for the ways you are helping people connect to God through Jesus Christ and helping them grow in love. May you deeply and genuinely experience fresh winds of the Spirit along with the autumn leaves.
A brief closing note: As you think about programming for 2026, the Michigan Annual Conference will be inviting congregations to read and study together the book Knowing Who We Are: The Wesleyan Way of Grace by Rev. Dr. Laceye Warner. Resources for that study will be offered. This is in preparation for our annual conference gathering, where we will, in part, be digging more deeply into our United Methodist heritage.
Last Updated on September 3, 2025