Christ United Methodist Church

05/30/2026

We invite you to join our worship in person on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
You can watch the live-streamed service at home as well via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams.

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333 , to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

05/25/2026

05/23/2026

We invite you to join our worship in person on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
You can watch the live-streamed service at home as well via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams.

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333, to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

05/16/2026

Last Sunday, after the worship, a tree was planted near the church entrance.
I was told that a golden maple tree was chosen because it maintains a beautiful yellowish-green through spring and summer and changes color in fall.

A tree has been an important centering image for me for many years, ever since I got my very first Upper Room devotional journal. With a picture of a beautiful tree, Thomas Merton's words were printed on the page: "A tree gives glory to God by being a tree." That phrase made me ponder how I can give glory to God by being the kind of human being I am. The barren trees of winter teach me resilience and endurance. The splendor of autumn trees enriches my spirit, making me yearn to grow mature. The blossoms of spring trees remind me of the power of resurrection and new life comes alive. I will miss four seasons of the Midwest. I will miss my church family.

As I spread dirt on the ground with Kat, I prayed to God, the generous sewer and gardener, to nurture all children of God at CUMC. I prayed that the Loving Spirit continue to nurture, sustain, and empower the congregation. I prayed that you all abide in God's presence and find your spiritual home at CUMC.

I said in a covenant group recently that I feel uprooted, as I have been around Northern IL for the last 27 years, which is longer than the time I lived with my parents in South Korea. But wherever we are, we are joined together in the vine; we are the branches indeed.

Thank you for journeying with me and allowing me to be your pastor.
Thank you for the gift of a tree.
I hope to see you at Sunday worship!

Blessings & Peace,
Pastor Mi-Sook

You can watch the service online via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams.

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333 to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

05/09/2026

We're back on the farewell discourse in John's gospel this week. The lectionary text begins with a conditional statement of Jesus, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). As Charles Wesley (brother of John and a great composer of hymns) described in his numerous hymn lyrics, we claim "thy nature and thy name is love." We talk and hear about it all the time - songs, movies, and even at church. But what is love really? This word has become the most watered-down, cliché vocabulary in English. Is it a warm, fuzzy, affectionate feeling? Is it enthusiasm and devotion for someone or something? What does it mean when it comes down to our Christian faith and practice?

Reflecting on the passage, I thought of my first love for God as a teenager. I wanted to know more about God and what this strange Christian community called the church: 'Who is this divine being that makes these people welcome and embrace a nobody like me?' I experienced a love I never knew before and went into seminary.

Last Monday was a memorable day for United Methodist Clergy Women worldwide. On May 4th, 1956, the General Conference of the Methodist Church granted women full clergy status. I saw lots of social media posts last week among my colleagues celebrating women clergy and their ministry. I give thanks to those who said "yes" to God's calling as pioneers of faith, and to those who affirmed God's sacred calling of their colleagues.

Join our worship in person or online on this sixth Sunday of Easter and Mother's Day. Our Joyful Ringers will present beautiful bell music, and we will honor our mothers and mother figures in the service. You can watch the service online via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams .

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333 , to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

05/02/2026

This week, we will reflect on the passage from John 14:1-14, following the lectionary. In this farewell discourse, we hear one of the seven I Am statements in John's gospel: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." What does this metaphor say about God and Jesus to you? I leave these two quotes from a 14th-century mystic and a contemporary theologian. Ponder upon their words and wisdom. Let us dig deeper into our communal reflection time in worship.

"There is a journey you must take.
It is a journey without destination.
There is no map. Your soul will lead you.
And you can take nothing with you."
– Meister Eckhart

"Christianity is not, in essence,
a set of teachings, but a way of life.
Christian faith is a vision of flourishing
that bears witness to God’s love
everywhere at work in the world.
To say, “God is love” is neither
sentimental nor facile; rather,
it expresses the truth that
God’s love is the ever-present,
ever-active source and sustenance
of all reality.
– Norman Wirzba

Join our worship in person or online via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams.

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333 , to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

04/18/2026

The road seen, then not seen, the hillside hiding
then revealing the way you should take,
the road dropping away from you
as if leaving you to walk
on thin air, then catching you,
holding you up,
when you thought you would fall,
And the way forward always in the end
the way that you followed,
the way that you came, the way that carried you
into your future, that brought you to this place,
no matter that it sometimes took your promise from you,
no matter that it always had to break
your heart along the way: the sense of having walked
from far inside yourself, out into the revelation,
to have risked yourself for something that seemed
to stand both inside you and far beyond you,
and that called you back in the end to the only road
you could follow, walking as you did, in your rags
of love and speaking in the voice that by night
became a prayer for safe arrival ...

Excerpt from “SANTIAGO”
From PILGRIM: Poems by David Whyte
©2012 David Whyte

Join our worship on this Third week of Easter as we reflect on the story of two travelers on the road. Come hear our guest preacher, Rev. Bill Obalil Sunday. You can join us in person or online via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams.

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333 , to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

04/11/2026

This second week of Eastertide has been a tough one. I worked on a funeral sermon on Monday as we celebrated the life of Lisa, the dear daughter of Dennis & Bev Vander Vorste, the next day. When life takes a sudden turn, I would rather just sit with them in silence than speak. But there's a message, not my words but God's message to be proclaimed even on such a day. Isn't Easter all about the power of God's love over the power of death indeed?!

Yet, when I opened my email box Tuesday morning, I was shocked by sad news. A beloved colleague of our conference, who was serving a local church after retirement, died unexpectedly. She had a serious car accident while I was out of town two weeks ago. Although she was at a hospital not far from me, I was preoccupied with Holy Week and could not make a visit. I was just grateful for other pastor friends who shared updates after seeing her.

I imagine the first Eastertide, how those disciples would have felt, hiding themselves behind the locked door. When my father passed away, I could not grieve in front of my mother, who was weak and fragile. As the first daughter and a pastor for the family, I pressed down my tears and grief. I had to make all the executive decisions following his passing and handle the legal matters with my sisters. I could finally cry when I was alone in the airport on my return home, and until I arrived at O'Hare. I don't know if those close friends were even able to cry. Wouldn't they have hunkered down in shock and fear? What did they need the most in that difficult time?

Join us in worship as we reflect on John's witness of how the Risen Christ appears to the disciples this week. The in-person worship is at 10 a.m. or you can watch the live-streamed service at home as well via the church website, https://www.gocumc.org/ or Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com//streams .

Click here, https://www.gocumc.org/?page_id=29333, to sign in your attendance on the website. If you have joys or concerns to share, please submit them with your attendance record. It's important for us to know you were with us and stay connected in prayer.

04/09/2026

Risen Christ, the Easter story is a reminder that nothing could contain you—no tomb, no body, no violent act. You are alive in the world, unfettered and beckoning us to follow. Lead me to the places you have called me to be. Show me where you’re headed. I want to be there, too. Amen.

—prayer by Rev. Sarah A. Speed |