First Union African Baptist Church

09/03/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community September 3, 2026

I had the privilege to attend a Nurses Honor Guard ceremony this past week, honoring my dear friend Ms. Pat. While so many people who have come to the island in the last 15 years know her primarily as Ms. Pat, she was initially known as Nurse Pat when she came to the island. Having worked as a nurse for decades up in Maryland before she found Daufuskie, she continued to serve in a nursing capacity when she first came to the island and built her first home. As she is now in hospice care, this was a beautiful opportunity to see how this fellowship of nurses seeks to honor their own who have spent most of their own lives trying to serve the needs of others during their most vulnerable times, providing dignity, compassion, and care.

What stood out most to me during the ceremony was when Pat told the story of when she decided to become a nurse. We seldom have the opportunity to look back and see how one choice can shape our lives and the lives of others, but Pat made a decision before she became a nurse that changed the trajectory of her life and put her on a long-term collision course with me and everyone else on this island. You see, when Pat was a young mother, she was also a model, and she was given an offer to work directly with a private airplane company, becoming the Piper Cub girl. This was back in 1968, and they were offering her $50/hour with 20 hours guaranteed each week to fly around the country, landing in different spots where she would then sit on the wing of the aircraft. For a girl from Appalachia, this was an unbelievable offer, providing the kind of financial stability that was otherwise unimaginable.

When Pat brought the unsigned contract home to show to her husband Kenny, he told her that if she signed that contract, she was signing the end of their marriage, as that would become a lifestyle that tore her away from who she was, including the family that she had been blessed with. Pat made a decision at that moment, tearing up the contract and letting go of that once-in-a-lifetime offer. The next day, she went and enrolled in nursing classes, where she could expect to collect an extremely hard-earned $2/hour. The glamor of worldly riches was cast aside, with new riches to be found in the ceaseless effort to touch the lives of others and help them, whether it was in the middle of cardiac distress or later on when it was about sharing the joys of the community farm. Instead of building her life by focusing on herself, she built her life by focusing on others.

We are all the products of our decisions. Perhaps the most critical decision for Ms. Pat was to not grab the golden ring that was in front of her. And while I am selfishly glad that she didn’t because I have been able to enjoy her as a dear friend for the last 20 years, I know that she treasures the relationships and experiences that she has enjoyed precisely because she made that one choice. I don’t know many who would have made that same choice, but then again, Ms. Pat is truly one of a kind.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

08/27/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community August 27, 2026

The practice of orthopedic surgery has come a long way in the last several decades, to the point that joint replacements are essentially a routine procedure for the surgeons. Regarding knee replacements, the process is straightforward and easily explained, and while the individual recovery process can vary in duration and experience, there appears to be a high rate of success. People who had been experiencing considerable pain before the surgery were, following rehabilitation, able to once again enjoy mobility with comfort.

Despite the hope that a knee replacement can bring to a potential patient, most people who could benefit from such a procedure don’t want to do it. It isn’t so much the surgery itself that is unappealing, but rather the recovery time. An effective rehabilitation program can require months of diligent and disciplined behavior – one that very gradually restores mobility to the patient. A person is effectively taken out of action for a time, unable to perform certain types of work or travel or do any number of things that might disrupt the healing process. For this reason, people will often wait until the pain is so unbearable that they are already out of action, leaving them essentially with no other option.

Often, following the recovery, the patient is amazed to learn what life without that constant pain is like. However, it happens sometimes that the removal of the pain associated with the knee allows pain from some other part of the body to be revealed. And sometimes, in the case of hip pain, this can be a problem that was compounded by the knee issue. As it turns out, in a desire to put off dealing with a problematic knee, we might change the way that we walk or move to try to relieve the stress on the knee. To avoid pain, we change the way that our joints have been accustomed to moving for all our lives, subtly placing stress loads on places that weren’t used to that sort of thing. Depending on how long we have asked our hip to take on this different wear pattern, we can do considerable damage to a previously undamaged joint. So, for an unfortunate (and typically stubborn) few, delaying the knee replacement can result in the need for a hip replacement.

Most people don’t want to live in pain, no matter what the source. And it should be clearly stated that there are many different types of pain, with some having no earthly solution. Yet there are many instances where the pain can be either reduced or removed if the person is willing to take some actions to improve the situation. Unfortunately, recovery, much like knee replacement rehabilitation, will require a process that might take time, effort, and involve some level of pain itself. It may require humbling yourself, admitting a problem, or allowing someone else to help you work through something. And much like what can happen with a knee problem, there’s a risk that putting off dealing with one type of pain can allow other problem areas in your life to develop and fester, to the point where a secondary problem can become almost as unbearable as the primary issue.

Pain is an indicator that something is wrong, and while we may think that we are noble or strong by learning to live with the pain, a far better approach is to see if the underlying cause can be addressed before further damage is done. What was once a mole hill can turn into a mountain, and one necessary procedure can become two or three or more – if we put off dealing with the problem. So swallow your pride and deal with the issue today, so that you can avoid further damage and enjoy life without the pain.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

08/20/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community August 20, 2026

I’m sure that many of you have, at some point in your lives, found yourselves standing at the bottom of a hole of your own making. Certainly, that has been my experience (on more than one occasion). Usually the result of poor decision making compounded by a stubborn willingness to stick to a course of action, we have this distinctly human capacity to place ourselves in situations that are both undesirable and completely avoidable, and it really can look like we’re standing in the bottom of a deep pit. Hopefully, at some point, it occurs to us that we would be far better off if we weren’t stuck down where we were.

What I have found to be the most important step to take when in this predicament is to begin by stopping the digging that produced such a large hole. The importance of this step cannot be overstated, but it should be clearly understood that the act of stopping the behavior that got you into a bad situation does not automatically place you in a better situation, and herein lies the problem. Typically, the decision to stop digging wasn’t based on the conclusion that your existing situation was acceptable and that you could live happily ever after at the depth that you had attained. Instead, we stop digging because we want to be back up on the surface, living our lives without the horrible ramifications of being below the ground. However, our situation doesn’t instantly improve the moment that we stop our bad behavior – it just hopefully stops getting worse.

This can be the most difficult time to navigate – the point where you stop digging but haven’t yet figured out how to get out of the hole. You find yourself in a really uncomfortable place where it is so easy to fall back into the very habits that you are trying to break, particularly because the path upward is unclear and unpromised. The easiest thing to do is to succumb to a sense of loneliness and futility, when the darkness of the hole can make you think that escape is impossible, but that feeling arises simply because you aren’t aware of how many people have been in that same hole before and been able to escape it. And many of them are passionate about helping others escape from that darkness and reach a much better life.

There are so many different holes that we dig. They might be financial, relational, or substance related, or something else that we have allowed to create an unfortunate predicament. Please realize that once you cut up your credit card, or step out of an abusive situation, or take your last drink, there are those passionate people and programs who are willing to jump down into the hole with you and help you climb out. You don’t have to go at it by yourself, and you don’t have to be the one to come up with the way out. All you have to do is to accept the hand that has been extended to you, realizing with humility that you can get out of the hole if you will accept the help of others.

If you are in a hole right now, and you’ve made the decision to put down the shovel, please reach out to me privately. For those on island who might need an AA meeting or a Celebrate Recovery program, those opportunities are available to you. If your hole is of some other making, I will work to find the right hands to help you get out. And always remember that coming to church will be where you find the greatest possible hope, no matter how deep a hole you may be standing in.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron [email protected]

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08/13/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community August 13, 2026

Over the last few decades, one of the trends in the field of home remodeling has been to open up spaces by removing some of the walls that had previously been used to define specific rooms that were associated with specific functions. One of the favorites was to remove walls that separated the kitchen from the living room, thereby allowing for the free flow of people and conversations even as one person needed to be preparing a meal or cleaning up afterwards. Someone who would have previously been removed from the party atmosphere can continue to enjoy fellowship if the internal architecture allows for the unimpeded movement of people within the open floorplan.

The primary challenge facing the remodeling crew is to understand whether the walls that the owner wants to remove filled an additional purpose beyond simply separating one space from another. Architecture must always account for two critical and ever-present factors – gravity and the supporting strength of materials. In the initial design process, the architect will strive for an aesthetic purpose for every wall, but some of those walls will serve to carry the load of the home components that stand above that particular area, whether it is another floor, the attic space, or the roof system. Purely aesthetic walls can be knocked down without issue, but load bearing walls require serious engineering considerations before attempting to remove them and create a more open space. The person who attempts to renovate or remodel without first understanding why certain things were done the way that they were puts the home and their lives at risk.

We are a nation with countless traditions and laws that govern our daily lives. Some of those date back to even before we became a nation, while others have been enacted in recent years. To the observer who is trying to take in and understand the life of an American citizen, it can sometimes seem that these laws or traditions prevent or otherwise hinder an outcome that is thought of as more desirable. Without an understanding of why certain things were created as they were, it is easy to suggest changing them without appreciating what the consequences might be. We have several load bearing walls in our nation, and it is easy to target them for demolition without understanding the important role that they play in sustaining our country. Yes, the Constitution and Bill of Rights provide the blueprints for our nation’s governance, showing us those load bearing walls, but the underlying engineering that determined where a wall should be placed and how thick the supports should be was performed not with mathematical calculations and physics, but with an understanding of human behavior as provided by Christianity.

Two unchangeable forces are in tension in this nation and must be accounted for when looking to make changes. First, that the natural condition of the human heart is to abuse power and seek to have sway over others. Second, that there are certain inalienable rights given to all by God which provide protections against the downward inclinations of the human heart. The Founding Fathers understood these two points better than any others before or since, and put in place checks and balances and constitutional prohibitions to account for that tension. That our nation is still standing 250 years later shows that they understood the engineering principles and applied them correctly. There was a well thought out “why” to go with their “what.” Changing the “what” without addressing the “why” could have a result that is even more catastrophic than taking out a load bearing wall without putting in some other structure support.

Friends, this isn’t to say that we need to keep doing things the way that we have always done them. However, it is to say that we need to understand why it is that we do certain things in the first place. Sometimes conditions change, and the underlying assumptions that caused a certain choice no longer apply. And sometimes the people who set the plan in motion were just as smart as we are, and they took into consideration things that are still important today. The “why” matters, so perhaps we should spend more time figuring out the answer to that question before we decide to make changes to our home.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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08/06/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community August 6, 2026

I’ve lived on this bridgeless island for twenty-one years now, with the first seven years spent on a dirt road on the northern end of the island, and the last fourteen years on a dirt/rocked road more towards the southern end of the island. During those years, I’ve seen lots of changes taking place. Major employers have closed down, beloved members of the community have passed away or moved off the island, and once-vibrant places now sit abandoned. Yet at the same time, fantastic new community members have settled in, new businesses with lots of personality have opened up, and dormant places have been revitalized. And on both of the roads that I have lived on, there are now twice as many homes on them as there were when we first moved to the island.

This is not a convenient place to live. The logistics of getting anything and anyone here from the mainland can be daunting and, at times, nearly impossible. Everything costs more here, and there’s less to do. We seem to be at the bottom of the list when it comes to public infrastructure spending, even when we are simply asking for routine maintenance. As visitors come and fall in love with our island, we do our best to dissuade them, encouraging them to spend six months or a year here renting to find out what life on a bridgeless island is really like, experiencing the realities of doctors’ appointments and pharmacy visits that are always a boat ride away. And yet, people keep buying up vacant lots and building houses.

Admittedly, this is a stunningly beautiful place, with sunrises at the beach and sunsets over the intracoastal waterway and marshes, maritime forests with majestic live oaks, and plenty of wildlife roaming about. People routinely inconvenience themselves around the world to experience the sort of environment that we live in, and that goes a long way in minimizing the negatives when calculating the cost of island living. Yet the thing that seems to seal the deal for so many who opt to move here is the sense of community. Those of us who have lived here for decades have enjoyed a tightly woven fabric of neighbors, new and old, upon whom we can depend and whose company we can enjoy. In many ways, the inconveniences of island life afford us opportunities to come together and share experiences that rarely occur on the mainland.

With the inevitable changes that occur from the unstoppable march of construction, the one thing that we stand the best chance of preserving is that sense of community. Someone will build on the property that they own near you, infrastructure will be upgraded at some point, and traffic will become a thing here too (albeit on a very different level), but we will always be island people who do our best work when we are working together. Therefore, my prayer for my fellow islanders is that we will continue to be the kind of neighbors that others are drawn to – even if it means that a few more folks decide to call this place home.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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07/30/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community July 30, 2026

In a time where it seems like everyone is doing everything to ensure that everybody else knows what is on their minds, I’ve found myself recently thinking about the importance of saying nothing at all. I also realize that it may seem strange to have a post that deals with the notion of saying nothing, because clearly I am trying to communicate something. Yet saying nothing is not the same thing as doing nothing, and there’s tremendous value in understanding the difference, so I might as well say something with the hope of conveying the value of saying nothing.

In the Old Testament Book of Job, the main character for whom the book is named experiences a series of devastating calamities that leaves Job to mourn the loss of his children, his wealth, and his health. As he is overwhelmed by grief, three dear friends of his travel to be with him, and for one solid week they sit in silence with him, supporting him with nothing more than their presence. Not one word is uttered between the group as they observe the weight that is crushing down on their friend, and their willingness to draw alongside him in his misery seems to be the greatest show of support that Job’s friends can provide him with.

For those familiar with the story, you know that where the friends go astray is when they open their mouths. While well-intentioned, they cannot help but provide their own thoughts and suggestions when Job pours out his heart to them. These dear friends failed to understand that the only one who could provide the answers that Job was seeking was God, and therefore their comments were not only misguided, but also painful. Whereas they had provided comfort in their silence, they provide affliction with their words.

Because we live in the information age and it is so easy to voice our opinions, it is almost impossible to stay silent and say nothing – particularly when the world is encouraging us to speak up. And while it may sound odd coming from a guy who is putting his opinions online and delivering sermons every week while also counseling people on a regular basis, following that urge to speak up can sometimes be the absolute worst thing to do. My job frequently requires that I say nothing. I have to focus on listening, resisting the urge to interrupt or provide some premature comment. I have to acknowledge that there are so many things that I don’t know, that my understanding is only partial. And I have to keep things confidential, not even letting my wife know about certain things. As a result, the most impactful moments of my ministry are frequently the times when I am simply staying available, being present because someone is hurting, and not uttering a word.

Saying nothing is not the same thing as doing nothing. In fact, saying nothing may be the most difficult thing to do, but there are definitely times when it is the most important thing to do. May God grant you the wisdom to understand when to hold your tongue.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

07/23/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community July 23, 2026

One of the recurring dreams that I have had throughout my life is one that I suspect many others have had. I sit myself down in a classroom, only to be presented with a test that I neither expected nor prepared for. Typically, part of the dream is the understanding that this test will also have a major influence on the final grade. In a manner that only dreams can do, for a moment I am enveloped in this alternate reality that is making me feel exposed, embarrassed, and useless, with hope only returning when I awaken to the reality of this life.

In the reality of this life, all of us have and will continue to face a multitude of tests, and not simply the ones put before us in a classroom. And if we’re being honest, most of us will confess that we don’t really like tests, because tests do have this way of revealing weaknesses that we might not want to have revealed – either to ourselves or to others. We have equated testing with the potential for failure, and while that certainly exists as one of the possible outcomes of a test, even a failed test result isn’t horrible if it prompts us to learn from our errors and figure out how to improve our performance.

Yet where I see the testing in life as being most valuable is how it can reduce our anxiety levels with whatever tests we will face in the future. Once you have endured the loss of a job and the corresponding financial hardship, you know that you could do it again if you had to. If you have survived being home alone in a severe thunderstorm, you have that personal experience that can reassure you should another storm arise. If you have been a passenger on an airplane that flew through severe turbulence, you have reason to remain calm the next time a flight gets bumpy. Those tests help to give us faith that we can get through the challenges of life.

If you are reading this today, it means that you have survived every test that you have faced so far in life. That isn’t the same thing as saying that you passed every test, but your failure wasn’t fatal for you. And every test revealed something about you and your character, places where you needed to make improvements, and places where you should find confidence and strength. All of those experiences - the tests that you passed with flying colors, the tests that you barely squeaked through, and the tests that you failed spectacularly - have equipped you for the tests that are to come, including the grand finale.

That final test will be a declaration of where your faith ultimately came from in this life. At that point you won’t have to say a word or write down a single answer, because your life itself will provide your response. Your life will reveal whether the ultimate source of your performance on Earth was because you trusted in yourself or in God. Much like my dreams, this is that test that comes without notice, for tomorrow is promised to no one. But it is also not a surprise test, and you only get to take it once. The most consequential test that you will ever face is pass or fail.

My prayer is that you will look back on all of the tests of your life and see the hand of the Lord working to sustain you, whether you were constantly stumbling or surpassing. It was his strength that brought you to this point, and his strength alone that can get you through the final door. He’s given you this time to study and learn the truth, so make the most of the opportunity and be prepared, because you might face that final test soon.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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07/16/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community July 16, 2026

There are numerous paths and trails that weave their way through the trees that cover our island. Sometimes they lead to an historic destination like a cemetery, sometimes to a shed in the woods, and sometimes they just lead to the edge of the marsh. Some can be traversed with golf carts, some with ATV’s, and some with cars or trucks. (And almost always they are going across private property, so get permission before you venture off the roads.)

I’ve lived over here for more than 20 years, and in the earlier years, I rode down many of those paths as I sought to get to know this place I call home. However, I haven’t made a habit of driving through the woods in quite some time, and ten years ago when Hurricane Matthew paid our island a visit, countless trees fell in places where there was no pressing need to remove them. Some of those paths became blocked simply by falling trees. Yet there were other places where paths are now blocked because trees kept growing. Today, once passable paths are blocked by limbs that have grown across the way, narrowing the routes so that even small vehicles cannot get through.

If I lived under the assumption that everything that I knew 20 years ago still held true today, I just might find myself extremely frustrated if I tried to do something that I was able to do back then. And even if I then accepted the fact that things deteriorate or die, changing conditions as normal things happen like my body aging or trees falling across a path, I might still find myself frustrated to learn that my assumptions were no longer accurate. You see, healthy things tend to grow, and as they grow, the environment around them changes – not because of something negative, but because of something positive. Of course, that growth brings about a change in conditions from what I would have known 20 years ago, requiring me to get an updated understanding of reality.

We should never stop growing as individuals. There is so much to learn about ourselves, our community, our world. For followers of Christ, each day represents an opportunity to grow more like Jesus, which simultaneously means being less like we once were. The paths in our lives that were once so easily navigated may well become impassible, and that is a good thing if our growth as humans has blocked a path that no longer needs traversing. And as we deal with others who we may not have spent much time with recently, we should be mindful that they may have been growing too, changing the paths that we once knew within them.

When our expectations are based on an assumption that things in this world shouldn’t change, we set ourselves up for frustration and disappointment. Change is inevitable, so give yourselves and others a bit of grace when you find that things are no longer as they once were. The path you expected to take may no longer be viable, but a new path may lead you to some unanticipated pleasure.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

07/09/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community July 9, 2026

Earlier this week, I found myself to be drifting a bit mentally – less focused, questioning what I should be working on, anything but efficient. At the end of the day, I looked back and wondered if I had really accomplished anything at all.

The previous several weeks had been filled with significant events and moments that had required planning, focus, and the efforts of many. We had held a wildly successful week of Vacation Bible School at the church, then put together a great celebration of the 145th anniversary of the church, and then survived the busiest weekend of the year for the island, the Independence Day holiday weekend. For nearly a month, there was no question about what needed to be worked on, no opportunity to drift for more than a moment, because these dates loomed large. Getting through those events well was cause for moments of celebration and an opportunity to catch our collective breaths.

The challenge that I was facing was that I wasn’t going from extreme busyness to a vacation, where I could allow my mind to be fully given over to the idea of relaxation. Rather, I was just going back to the regular rhythm of life. Only the various spare moments that had just recently been filled with thoughts about how to get through the days and weeks now had nothing to focus on, because my regular routine didn’t require the same level of concentration. Those moments became distractions, which became periods of ineffectiveness, which bled into my overall effectiveness, which led me to wonder if I was getting anything done.

Fortunately, I know that this isn’t something unique to me. The great prophet Elijah went through something similar, when his greatest triumph as a prophet of God was followed by the lowest recorded point of his ministry. Elijah went from conquering the false god of Baal and his priests on Mt. Carmel to fleeing for his life into the wilderness following death threats from Queen Jezebel. One moment that required total focus on God to accomplish the task, followed by a different moment that seemingly allowed for a different focus, which then gave plenty of room for doubt and fear to creep in. If it could happen to Elijah, then there’s no shame in seeing that it could happen to anyone else.

The answer to that temporary funk was to realize that I have a choice about where my thoughts are focused, even when I have time on my hands. I can decide to let my thoughts go down one of the many rabbit holes that social media provides, or towards unanswerable questions regarding the future, or second-guessing countless decisions or interactions from the past. Or I can follow the advice of the Apostle Paul, who wrote the following to the church in Philippi: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.

I will accomplish less this week, because that is the nature of this week. But thanks to Paul’s words, I am now keeping my eyes and my mind on the things that matter most, for that is where my true purpose is found.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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