Looking Ahead to 2026
Dear Church Family,
As I write this, I’m staring out the window looking over the Lazy W campgrounds. As you know, this is a place where my faith was formed as a child, youth, and young adult. But today, I’m looking over an empty camp from the comfort of an air conditioned retreat space.
For the last 4 days, I have been in retreat listening for God’s Spirit as I plan our worship life in 2026. (Yes, we are already thinking that far ahead!) This is one of my favorite rhythms of the ministry year—taking time away to think and pray about what God wants our church to focus on in the months ahead.
I don’t come here alone. I carry all of you with me. You are present as I think about each of your stories and wonder how these worship themes might speak to your hearts. I reflect on the life journey we have taken together over the last year, keeping your experiences in mind as I listen for God’s inspiration. Most importantly, I bring the literal suggestions many of you shared in the Sermon Survey a few weeks back.
I want you to know that I take each and every idea you share and pray over them. I group them into similar categories and themes. While your specific request may not be named directly, I work to incorporate as many of the ideas as possible.
It is with great excitement that I want to share the big themes we will explore together in 2026. I've organized each month around an overall theme, and while it's not perfectly neat (six weeks of Lent, Annual Conference, and other scheduling realities make it beautifully imperfect), it all works together for our spiritual growth.
January – Rebuilding and Renewal
January is the perfect time to talk about refreshing and renewing our Spirits. We will use the Old Testament book of Ezra to guide our time. This book talks about the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian Exile and how they began to rebuild both their lives and faith with God.
February – Service
Our church does so many things to serve others, and this month we will highlight the many ways you can be involved and find out more about the organizations we support.
Lent – Practicing Spiritual Disciplines
Many of your suggestions were centered around how to incorporate spiritual practices into your everyday lives. The season of Lent is about spiritual self-reflection, redirection, and preparing our hearts for Easter, and Spiritual Disciplines are an intrinsic part of that practice. We will look at a variety of spiritual practices and give you practical ways to try them out.
April – Words You Hear In Church
Part of our journey together is about growing in our knowledge, faith, and understanding. In this annual series, we will explore words you often hear in church, and dig a little deeper into their meaning. This year’s words are: Doubt, Satan, and Angels. It’s always a fun series, and you shared some excellent words for us to explore.
May – Women of the Word
When we celebrate Mother’s Day at St. Andrew’s, we focus not just on mothers but on all the women who have made a difference in our lives. During the month of May we will look at 4 strong women of the Bible: Mary Magdalene, Deborah, Priscilla, and Anna the Prophetess.
June – Forgiveness 490
Many of you talked about how to forgive others, and it can be one of the hardest parts of our Christian walk. In the prayer Jesus gave us we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses, AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” Easier said than done. Can you figure out why I’ve titled this Forgiveness 490?
July – Summers in the Old Testament: Job
Each summer we focus on a character from the Hebrew scriptures. Summer 2026 we will dive into the story of Job. It’s brutally honest writing delves into the age-old human question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The book’s response may surprise you.
August & September – Finding God in the Movies
Centering on the theme of community, we’ll take our annual dive into the movies and see where God’s story overlaps with a variety of films.
October – What Is A United Methodist Christian
First and foremost we are Christians. But at St. Andrew’s we are a particular kind of Christian. We follow Jesus in the traditions of the United Methodist Church. During the month of October we will explore how the ideas of an 18th century minister in the Church of England are still—maybe even more—relevant today. I’m proud to be a United Methodist, and we’ll explore why you can be too.
December – Advent & Christmas
God became flesh. We end the year by remembering the best news of all. God didn’t just love us from afar. God became one of us and knows what human life is like. During December, we will celebrate the greatest story ever told.
I’m excited about 2026. And don’t worry—we’ve still got an exciting end to 2025 as we find God in the movies, take a detour on the Romans Road this autumn, and explore what it means to come once more and adore a baby born in a manger.
Thank you for sharing your hearts, ideas, and faith lives with me. Together we will continue to connect, grow, and serve here at St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea.
With God’s Peace,
Pastor Karl
