University United Methodist Church Service

On Sunday, October 20th, University United Methodist Church hosted their annual Homecoming Worship Service. Many members of the Salina community, along with a variety of Kansas Wesleyan University alumni, attended the service as well. Members of the church were very welcoming and were excited to see new faces at the church.

Before the service started, everyone walked around the church and greeted one another welcoming them to the church and had some small talk. Once the service began Dr. Do Carmo played the piano. Once he finished up his piece, Pastor Libby Themis gave a welcome to the congregation and introduced herself to the new faces that were at the service. 

Rachael Everitt led the congregation in a follow-along reading. After she finished, Pastor Libby Themis began her sermon. This sermon was about “People Across the Divide Sharing the Peace.” Her message talked about how we need to pass the peace around the world as it challenges us to be more polite. She also encouraged the congregation to stick around after the service where everyone could walk around and have conversation with fellow other members that were there. Once the sermon ended Everitt led everyone in song.

There were many events that followed Everitt’s song. Some of these  included: Family Discipleship, Message, and the Prayers of “the Populace.” I really enjoyed when Pastor Libby read a lot of different scriptures from the Bible and gave the congregation time to reflect over what she just read and think about how we could use scripture in our everyday lives. 

The message that Pastor Libby talked about was “Listen More, Speak Less: Humility,” which came from the “Do Unto Others” Kindness Campaign. This message talked about humanity and humility, and “from dust we came, and to dust we shall return.” She talked about how we are all experiencing the pains of being human, and that others around us could be going through the same thing we are. The message ended with Pastor Libby encouraging the congregation to “look at our neighbor as a person, not a position.” 

After Pastor Libby finished her message there was more music and then the “Prayers of the Populace” and the “Lord’s Prayer” were prayed. To close the service, there was a Benediction and a Postlude performed by  Dr. Do Carmo. 

There are many upcoming events happening on campus and the church that University United Methodist Church is hosting. To learn more about what is happening you can visit the link https://university-umc-424226.churchcenter.com/home.