Welcome to
Grace United Methodist Church,
Parksley, Virginia

Welcome to Our New Pastor!

Grace United Methodist Church will have a new pastor, Tommy A. Thompson, as of July 1, 2010. His first service will be on Sunday, July 4 at 11 am. There will be a Celebration of Appointment included in the Worship Service. Please join us for worship and celebration!

We welcome the arrival of our new pastor and his family! Below is a letter to the congregation and community.

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

It seems it was only yesterday I received the call from our district superintendent informing me of the news that I had been projected for an appointment at Grace on the Eastern Shore. I remember the whirlwind of emotions I was caught up in that day. I was seized by the excitement of a new opportunity to serve Christ in a new context. I was overjoyed at the prospect of being Christian and doing Christian ministry with brothers and sisters who I had yet to meet. I was scared to death to live on a narrow strip of land that is surrounded by the great chaotic waters we call the Atlantic Ocean. My mouth was watering as I could imagine the fragrance of fresh crab cakes being made in my own kitchen. My soul was dancing as I imagined what it would be like to worship with wonderful people in a beautiful sanctuary with a pipe organ week in and week out. Yet I felt pain. I was sad because of the reality of losing relationships that God's grace had nurtured so beautifully. I was angry for having to go to a place that I did not choose. I was beginning to grieve much loss. I was fearful of the unknown.

I remember sharing the news with Leslie first and then Daniel and Hannah. They, too, were filled with an array of emotions: grief over the loss of relationships, anxiety over the loss of employment, sadness over the idea of leaving behind what had become familiar; yet a sense of renewed vigor for the path that God's grace had opened for us to journey.

It has been refreshing to experience the grace of God readying my family in such a short time period for the journey that lies ahead. Hannah is inviting all of her friends at school to come and live with her on what she imagines is an endless beach. Daniel is looking forward to exercising his skills as a junior marine biologist; and Leslie is looking forward to learning to bake one of those wonderful Smith Island cakes that we have heard so much about.

These whirlwinds that envelop us are the whirlwinds of life. They come unexpectedly and take us on a tour of the rolling hills of human emotion. This is the stuff of real life and you are real people. Like our family, you have been through much confusion, grief, joy, and hope in these past few months. Even though you celebrate newness, you grieve loss. Though you look forward to what God has in store for our parish, you are scared of the unknown, of that which is not familiar.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, we share the same human feelings, and, thanks be to God, we share the same faith in the triune God whose grace is sufficient in times such as these!

"Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."

In the midst of such whirlwinds, God's faithfulness is assuring and reassuring. We are God's people and we are surrounded by God's people--that great cloud of witnesses that cheers us on, reminding us of God's faithfulness throughout the generations. The same God who called Abram from all that is familiar and into the unknown of his gracious provision is the same God who calls us! The same God who called Moses to be the avenue through which a new people would be formed calls us! The same God who called Elijah to challenges that seemed impossible and brought forth new life in the midst of desert experiences calls us! The same God who called forth David to face Goliath calls us! The same God who brought reform through Josiah calls us! The same God who taught his people to hope through his prophets, calls us! The same God who saw Mary as fitting to nurture his only Son in her womb calls us! The same God who became one with us in Jesus Christ calls us! The same God who lived life for us calls us! The same God who died for us calls us! And the same God who death could not hold in the tomb calls us forth! This God has proven to be faithful, and it is in this faithfulness that we can let our hair down and simply rest and be.

Brothers and sisters, in the midst of the unknown, grace explodes bringing into existence that which simply did not exist before. We have all been on an emotional roller coaster over the past few weeks and months. We have been hopeful and fearful at the same time. It is okay. God has been known to bring forth marvelous new creation in the midst of both hope and fear!

I am privileged to be your brother in Christ and look forward to becoming your pastor. I look forward to the new things God is going to do in Parksley and beyond through Grace UMC. I invite you to rest in the deep love of God for you as we journey together into the marvelous unknown of God's transforming grace.

I leave you for now with this prayer of blessing from Ephesians 3:14-21, a prayer that has shaped my life and ministry as much as any other. It reveals my aspirations for our life in community together:

"I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Pastor Tommy