Dear St. Paul’s Family,
For the past twenty-seven years, Disciple Bible Study has been the flagship Bible study program for United Methodists and much of the mainline church. It has transformed countless lives through the belief that an earnest engagement of scripture can lead persons along a path of discipleship and a fuller commitment to Christ.
About a year ago, Abingdon Press, the publishing arm of the United Methodist Church, asked me to participate in the development of a new, long-term, comprehensive Bible study curriculum, that they hope will parallel Disciple’s continued success. It is called Covenant Bible Study, and it will feature the freshest biblical scholarship from today’s leading scholars, along with engaging and informative video segments, and the latest digital and multimedia technologies. Being involved with this project over the last year has connected me to an amazing team of writers, scholars, and publishing professionals, working diligently to release the new curriculum by the spring of next year.
They have asked me to oversee the development of the weekly classroom experience, which includes writing the Leader’s Guide that small group facilitators will use to lead the sessions. In addition, I am being filmed for training videos that will equip and encourage small group leaders. It’s why I spent the better part of yesterday in Nashville being primped and pampered by a video crew, complete with a makeup specialist who dabbed my face with powder in between takes whenever I started sweating. (Alas, she told me she was unavailable to assist me in the pulpit on Sundays.)
Working with Abingdon Press is just one of a handful of exciting writing and speaking projects I have over the next several weeks. At the end of this month, I will be heading down to Tampa, Florida, to present and preach at the annual Large Church Initiative, a gathering of five hundred pastors and lay leaders from some of the largest churches in the country. I will be leading a workshop called “Claiming the Vision,” in which I will share the wonderful story of how you and I worked collaboratively to discern and adopt God’s mission and vision for our congregation back in 2008. I’ll also lead a workshop on staff development, in which I will assist multi-staff churches in improving interpersonal dynamics using the Enneagram, a personality type indicator. I have also been given the privilege of preaching a sermon for their worship service on Tuesday night, April 24. I am humbled by this tremendous honor, and I am grateful for your prayers leading up to the event.
Finally, Westminster/John Knox Press has asked me to contribute to their upcoming preaching resource called Feasting on the Gospels, a sequel to their popular, multi-volume Feasting on the Word series. I will be submitting essays next month on 1-3 John that will assist preachers looking for insights into those texts.
THE WORD TOGETHER
It is for reasons other than conceit that I share these upcoming projects with you. Instead, my feelings are grounded in a profound gratitude to all of you.
I’m grateful for the ways in which the wider church will hear the story of how God has been working through our St. Paul’s congregation. Your faithfulness will be an encouragement to churches that are discerning their future together. Mostly, I give thanks to God for the way that you have fostered my development as a pastoral writer. I am well aware that my principal vocation is not to be an author, or a popular speaker, or a spotlight celebrity of any kind. I am called to be a pastor, lived out in my relationship with all of you. You have given me not only the space and the freedom to write, but also the context in which my skills as a writer continue to emerge. Because writing has made me a better pastor, you have made me a better writer. So I’m grateful for all the wonderful opportunities that now offers us.
Our time together truly continues to be incarnational, as the Word made Flesh inspires me to put our life into words. For that, I give thanks.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org
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