By FRANK REMKIEWICZ
The last verse to a familiar old tune goes like this:
“And don’t throw the past away
You might need it some rainy day
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again”
The Oakdale Community United Methodist Church renewed itself on a recent Sunday in July. “What is the uproar?” you ask. We welcomed a new pastor, Mark Buenafe. Pastor Mark’s first worship service was on July 6.
Let me explain in some detail. The Methodist Church routinely changes the pastor of any given Methodist church about every five to seven years. The former pastor, Jeff Holder, spent the last eight years here in Oakdale. Jeff is now living in Hercules, CA. Jeff is now fully retired from the active Methodist ministry but is continuing to pursue another related profession. Jeff and I are very good friends, and we will stay in touch. However, it is now time to renew and refresh the Oakdale Methodist ministry with a wonderful and talented man, Mark Buenafe. I assisted Mark on his first day of worship here on Poplar Street, and he brought a refreshing new look to our worship, as well as a remarkable first sermon on John Wesley’s concept of prevenient grace.
Pastor Mark and I are operating in a rather unique environment beginning this year. The congregations of Escalon United Methodist Church and Oakdale Community United Methodist are now “yoked” together. We will operate as one entity while maintaining our individual identities. We will have the power of two congregations, using both groups to provide outreach into our communities. Our geographic range has doubled. One of the great benefits of this arrangement is the opportunity to attend worship in Oakdale at 9 a.m. or Escalon at 11 a.m., depending on your schedule and daily activities. Another great benefit is the opportunity to host community gatherings with staff from both congregations.
This new opportunity comes at the same time as our conference is unveiling a vision entitled, “Following Jesus, Thriving in Community, Healing the World.”
A brief explanation is in order. Everything we do and everything we are about must begin with Jesus. To be a disciple of Jesus means to follow him, and following Jesus means that we learn of Jesus and we live like Jesus. Being a disciple and making disciples cannot happen in solitude. Since the beginning of creation, God has wired humanity for connection and community (Genesis 2:18). As the early Church grew, the repeated exhortation, as recorded in the New Testament, was for Christ’s followers to live life together. For the California-Nevada Conference, joining God’s healing and liberating work in the world has always been a core pursuit. God is calling Christ followers to go out into dark and broken places to offer both spiritual and tangible resources for healing. Joining in the healing work of Jesus means that we need to be committed to bringing restoration to a broken world that is marked by poverty, injustice, violence, division, and oppression.
I believe readers will find our core values intriguing. We are at our best when we create honest partnerships between clergy and laity. While there may be distinct roles and tasks for pastors and the laity, the vision of the church in the New Testament is clear: ministry is best done together. In the United Methodist Church, “all” really means all! We invite and engage every person to participate in world-transforming actions. We will do the hard work of including every person in Oakdale and around the world in making disciples for Christ, while transforming the world. We not only bring everyone in the room together, but we also empower each person in a meaningful way. We have no bystanders, only Christian operatives. We are all created in the image and likeness of God, and we can use our imagination to be creative expressions of Christian faith.
Being created in the image of the Creator means that we are called to be creative and imaginative. What has been effective in the past may not necessarily be effective today or in the future. While the local church will always have its place, we must continually challenge ourselves to innovate and explore new ways of ministering and forming diverse faith communities. God is doing a new thing, and therefore, we must also. One of the greatest strengths of The United Methodist Church is our connectional spirit. Our resources are multiplied when we come together, and simply put, we can do more together than alone. It turns out that what the Escalon and Oakdale Community United Methodist churches have become is the first step in this renewed process. Our pastor, Mark Buenafe, has the time and the talent to bring us together as we step out in faith and begin our renewed and reinvigorated life together.
Frank Remkiewicz is an area resident and contributes a monthly column focused primarily on faith and religion. He can be reached at fremkiewicz@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
