Bishop Fairley brings word on courage as Mill Creek turns 225
By Allison Trussell
COLUMBIA—Mill Creek United Methodist Church gathered May 18 to celebrate 225 years of faithful service to the Lykesland and surrounding community.
Friends and family greeted each other with joy and welcomed visitors to the morning service.
“You have something I hope you never lose,” said Bishop Leonard Fairley. “A sweet, sweet spirit!”
He noticed that spirit when he entered the church and as he watched people greet one another. He asked the congregation to stand and sing the hymn with him.
When Fairley visits churches, he said he looks at the church’s web site. The welcome statement on Mill Creek’s site echoes the sweet spirit that he witnessed prior to the service, he said, encouraging the congregation to continue having it.
Fairley took his sermon from Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Calling the celebration an amazing testament to the people who started this faith community, Fairley noted, “You don’t get to 225 years without being strong and courageous. You have a deep trust that God is with you wherever you go.”
Because of that trust, the congregation has followed its shepherd and has shepherded its people through times of joy and times of tribulation. Mill Creek, he said, has learned that lesson and modeled it for 225 years.
He then recalled a story about trapeze artists. While the audience oohs and aahs over the flyers, the real star is the catcher. The secret is that the flyer must trust his catcher and wait to be caught, while the catcher is the one doing all the work. The worst thing for a flyer to do is to try and catch the catcher.
“For 225 years, somebody has trusted that we can fly with the catcher being Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter the ups or the downs, somebody believes in the divine catcher.
“Trust the catcher,” the bishop said. “That’s what I came by to tell you.”
On May 18, members, friends and guests celebrated the stories of the people who believed that God is the divine catcher.
“For 225 years, somebody has trusted, somebody has believed,” he said.
Lunch followed in the fellowship hall, where everyone was encouraged to take home a coaster tile with the church image and a sunflower seed pod.
The Rev. Shay Long is pastor.