Chatfield United Methodist Church

06/02/2026

You're invited to participate in a 2026 Summer Book Study led by Bishop Lanette. In this area-wide study, United Methodists across the Dakotas and Minnesota are invited to read "Building Beloved Community: The Courage to Love in the Face of Tyranny" by The United Methodist Council of Bishops.
Summer book study with Bishop Lanette Discussions will be held via Zoom on the fourth Saturday morning in June, July, August and September, from 9-10:30 a.m. Central Time, centering largely on the discussion questions found at the end of each chapter. The schedule is:

June 27, 2026, 9-10:30 a.m. Central—Part 1: Deceptive Detours (with Preface & Introduction)
July 25, 2026, 9-10:30 a.m. Central—Part 2: Empowered by Grace
August 22, 2026, 9-10:30 a.m. Central—Part 3: Staying Alert
September 26, 2026, 9-10:30 a.m Central—Part 4: Seeds of Change
You must register in order to receive the Zoom link to each gathering. The Zoom link will be provided to those who have registered as the first discussion draws near.
For more details:

You're invited to participate in a 2026 Summer Book Study led by Bishop Lanette. In this area-wide study, United Methodists across the Dakotas and ...

05/29/2026

05/21/2026

It is time to sign up for the next blood drive at the church
Everyone who gives blood will receive a Loony Tunes t shirt. So cute! Sign up here.
https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=Chatfield%20MN

05/21/2026

This is my prayer for you as we part ways soon. We don't yet know what this journey will look like but I truly believe that if we keep ourselves firmly planted in the interdependent human beings we were created to be, we will find the path to the Jesus Way.

To Remain Human
By Brian Lewis
The nervous system
was never designed
to carry the grief
of an entire planet
Yet here we are
A child starving
crosses our screen
between weather reports
and advertisements
Forests burn beside stock prices
Wars arrive
in the same hand
that holds photographs
of our grandchildren
And somewhere inside us
something ancient
keeps trying
to respond
This is the exhaustion
few know how to name
Not simply stress
Not simply fear
But the unbearable collision
between the human heart
and the scale
of modern awareness
We were meant
to know the sorrow
of the village
Now we are asked
to metabolize
the suffering
of civilizations
And many are drowning
Some in rage
Some in distraction
Some in endless performance
Some in irony so thick
it becomes a shield
against feeling anything real
Others quietly disappear
inside themselves
their spirits dimming
beneath the constant demand
to remain informed
productive
available
certain
The world keeps shouting
Choose a side
Move faster
Consume more
Outrage harder
Win
But the soul
does not speak
in that language
The soul speaks
through silence
through grief
through awe
through the sudden trembling
that arrives
when one human being
finally feels
the reality
of another
This is why
so many people
stand at the edge
of breakdown
Not because they are weak
But because they are porous
Because somewhere beneath
the armor
their humanity
is still functioning
And perhaps
that is what must now
be protected
Not merely ecosystems
Not merely institutions
But the fragile interior capacities
that allow human beings
to remain human
inside an age
that profits from fragmentation
To remain tender
without collapsing
To remain informed
without becoming consumed
To remain compassionate
without surrendering discernment
To stand before suffering
without turning away
and yet also
without allowing suffering
to transform the heart
into stone
This is harder
than revolution
Harder than ideology
Harder than certainty
Because it asks something
few civilizations
have ever learned to cultivate
strength
without cruelty
Perhaps this is why
small acts matter so much now
A hand on a shoulder
A teacher
who notices the silent child
A man planting trees
whose shade
he will never live to sit beneath
A woman refusing
to let cynicism
be mistaken for wisdom
These are not small things
They are the architecture
of psychological survival
The architecture
of repair
And maybe the future
will not ultimately be decided
by those
who accumulated the most power
but by those
who learned
how to carry immense complexity
without surrendering
their capacity
for love
Because civilizations do not die
only from invasion
or collapse
They also die
when people can no longer feel
one another
When exhaustion
becomes identity
When distraction
becomes culture
When tenderness
becomes embarrassment
When the human nervous system
finally says
enough
But I do not believe
that ending
is inevitable
I think there are still people
quietly rebuilding
the interior world
Still people
teaching children wonder
Still people
protecting beauty
Still people
who understand
that compassion
is not sentiment
It is infrastructure
And perhaps
the task before us now
is not merely
to save the world
but to become
the kind of people
capable
of inhabiting it together

Send a message to learn more

05/17/2026

https://youtu.be/SYVnebEyuK0

7th Sunday of EasterChatfield United Methodist ChurchRev. Debra Jene Collum—clergyBobbie Kehret, Teresa Narveson, Sheila Erickson, Ashely Narveson, & Steve S...

04/30/2026

CHATFIELD, MN — The Elderly Brothers will take the stage at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 15, at the Chatfield Center for the Arts — and this performance will be about more than great music. For every ticket sold, the duo will donate $10 to the Chatfield Food Shelf as a tribute to outgoing Food Shelf leader Steve Strickler, whose years of dedicated service have helped feed families throughout the Chatfield community.

Steve has been a quiet force behind one of the community’s most vital resources. As he steps down from his leadership role, we wanted to find a way to honor his legacy in a manner that keeps his mission alive.

Steve has given so much to this community. We can’t think of a better way to send him off than by helping stock the shelves he worked so hard to fill.

Tickets for the event are available at

They may not be actual brothers, but John O’Loughlin (guitar, vocals) and Steve Strange (tenor & soprano saxophones) are brothers-in-law with a shared love of classic tunes, tight grooves, and sharp wit. Together, they bring their promise of “Old Guys – Old Music” to life with a smile-in...

04/06/2026

https://youtu.be/_XO70GQxEDA

Chatfield United Methodist ChurchRev. Debra Jene Collum—clergyBobbie Kehret, Teresa Narveson, Sheila Erickson, Ashley Narveson & Steve Strickler—musicMusic r...

03/25/2026

This Sunday we listened and contemplated this version of the Prayer Jesus Taught us. Sung in Swahili. The video will be in the comments. Written by an Asian American played by a Welsh Orchestra and sung by an international choir. It is truly beautiful.

Send a message to learn more

03/14/2026

The leadership has made the early decision to cancel services on Sunday March 15. I, Pastor Debra, invite those who would like to enjoy services from the National Cathedral in Washington.

Send a message to learn more