July 16, 2026

Dear Hampstead UMC Family,

It is almost time for Vacation Bible School.

The decorations are beginning to appear. The supplies are being gathered. The plans are coming together. Writing this, I hear children playing whose moms are working on classroom set up. In just about 11 days, our church will be filled with the energy, noise, questions, laughter, and holy chaos of around 200 children plus 60 or so teenagers and adults.

That is a lot of people!

It’s also a lot of opportunity.

Please keep praying for the children who will come through our doors, for the families who are trusting us with them, for the station leaders who are preparing lessons and activities, for the cooks who will help keep everyone fed, and for the crew leaders who will guide children from place to place with patience, kindness, and joy.

And by the way, we can still use a few more helpers. If you are able to serve during VBS, please let us know – we especially need crew leaders and some extra snack servers.  There is room for more people to be part of what God is doing and even if you can’t come every day, you can still help. (Let Shirleen know about the snacks and Brooks if you want to be a crew leader)

Also, don’t forget that our VBS decorating and construction event is this Friday (tomorrow). This is the time when cardboard, paint, tape, imagination, and willing hands all come together to help transform our spaces for the week ahead. Whether you are artistic, handy, organized, or simply willing to help, there is a place for you.

This Sunday, before VBS begins, we continue our summer worship series, Seeds of the Kingdom: Growing Grace, Growing Community, with another parable from Jesus.

The sermon title is “A Glorious Mess.”

Jesus tells a story about a field where good seed has been planted, but weeds begin growing right alongside the wheat. The servants want to fix the problem immediately. They want to pull up what does not belong. They want to clean up the field.

But the master says, “Let both of them grow together until the harvest.”

That is not always easy to hear.  We live in a world, and sometimes in a church, where things grow together in messy ways. Faith and doubt. Hope and grief. Generosity and fear. Patience and frustration. Good intentions and imperfect people.

Jesus does not pretend the weeds are not there. But he also warns us against assuming that we can always tell, quickly or easily, what God is doing in the field.

This Sunday, we will think together about what it means to trust the Holy Gardener when the field looks messy.  As we prepare for VBS, that feels like a timely word. Ministry is rarely neat. Church is rarely tidy. Growth often looks more like a crowded, noisy, complicated field than a perfectly arranged garden.

And still, God is growing grace among us.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Debbie