Charlestown United Methodist Church

09/05/2026

Pastoral Ponderings-Connections
by Pastor Jim Lewis

In a place called “Connections,” at a park shaped explicitly to highlight connections between people around the globe with the recognitions that “we’ll find we’re more alike than different,” there’s a little corner of a café that looks more like a museum than an amusement park. It unfortunately doesn’t have the labels of museums, but is a collection of coffee and tea services from across cultures and times, highlighting how sharing coffee or tea together builds connections.

I experienced this myself in a profound way in the fall of 2005, in a world of conflict, both with war and conflicting world views, when I was deployed to Afghanistan. I was at the theater command post in Kabul, which always had construction projects hiring locals as well as labor from across the region. I passed by a group of workers, I think they were Afghans—they couldn’t speak a word of English, nor could I understand a word of their language. They were on a break, they saw me notice them, and motioned me over with a smile and a wave of a tea pot.

Part of my pre-deployment training included the importance of building bridges of connection between peoples, and here was one of my chances. The fellow continued with the smile, indicated the team sharing tea together, and offered me some. Without any common words, but the common language of smiles, tea, and signs of hospitality from the group, we built connections with tea despite challenges of trust and conflict. And that was that—yet it was not.

I have no idea how that brief interaction over tea impacted them. But it is one of the most powerful and memorable experiences of my three deployments, and my whole Army career. It highlighted to me of the importance, the power, and the simplicity of building connections across what might seem to be insurmountable divides—with a simple cup of tea, reflected in that display at the amusement park. Amusing—and so much more!

Central to Jesus’ time on Earth was building such connections across similar cosmic divides, both- and intertwinedly if I can coin a term, on the human and spiritual levels. And not only was that central Jesus did, it is central to what Jesus showed as the central calling of our lives. And it’s as simple as a cup of tea and a smile- whether across warring cultures, or between neighbors who have not yet met. Care for a cup of tea?—Pastor Jim

09/02/2026

09/02/2026

Pastoral Ponderings- Waterfalls
by Pastor Jim Lewis

I LOVE being able to see and spend time at waterfalls. When we stopped by Soco Falls, near Cherokee, NC, I was ready to tell the fam to just leave me there, and pick me up in a few days later on in the trip! It’s not just the sight of them, but the soothing sounds of the water splashing across the rocks, even the feel of being near them with the spray and the breeze that often comes with them.

Have you noticed, though, that waterfalls usually require a rocky path, and water crashing from some height onto its rocky path? We often think of rock, falls, and crashing things in the negative—as bad things to be avoided. But when you can’t have a waterfall without, maybe we could think again about those obstacles, crashes and such in our lives as well—that they, too, may be necessary to bring out the true beauty of life.

One of the books I’ve been reading again is “The Gospel According to Tolkien” by Ralph C. Wood, which is exploring Gospel clues in Tolkien’s fantasy world of The Lord of the Rings. I hadn’t really noticed before how Tolkien and (good) fantasy in general, requires a “happy calamity”—a terrible thing happening, that is necessary for the surprising deliverance that makes fantasy—and even the Gospel—so powerful. After all, how could you have something like The Lord of the Rings without its underlying “eucatastrohpe” (“eu-“ is the prefix meaning “good”) that shapes the whole story?

The stones in the river causing the beauty of the waterfall might be that kind of “happy calamity.” Without the stones, there is no crashing waterfall. Might it be just as true that the rocks and other obstacles we crash into throughout our lives, are just as important to shape the beauty that we are so eager to embrace in our lives?

But notice, too, that it is not the rocks themselves that create the waterfall—it is the water flowing across the rocks. Perhaps it is likewise true that the rocks and obstacles in our lives are not what brings beauty by themselves, but how the Living Water of the Spirit bathing and reshaping those rocks is what brings the beauty.

Let the Water of Life, the Living Water, flow in, through and around the bruising rocks and obstacles in your life, and notice the beauty that can shine forth from those obstacles, when they’re washed in the Living Water that the Spirit can bring.—

Trusting that “all things work for the good…”—Pastor Jim

08/20/2026

PASTORAL PONDERINGS—Carousels
By Pastor Jim Lewis

What is it about carousels that we love so much? Even thrill seekers like my family, who tend to run toward the most intense of roller coasters, still sometimes humor Dear Old Dad to go to the not-so-thrilling carousel. And it’s not like it’s a terrible sacrifice for them, as if it would be waste of time (on a good day at least!), because even the carousel brings its nostalgic joys.

How does something so simple, just going around in circles, become such a powerful thing in our lives? And how is it that the same simple joy, over and over again, can keep drawing us back? I think it’s the same as the simplicity of life. One of the schools I often drive past has one of those signs up front with a clever saying to share—they’ve several times had on their sign “If you can be anything, be kind.”

Kindness is such a simple, yet such a powerful thing. And even when it’s the same kinds of kindness over and over again, like the simplicity of the carousel, the joy and power of kindness never gets old.

I like collecting deep and powerful quotations. One I found long ago, and was just looking at again this morning has that same kind of simplicity: it’s an old Chinese proverbs that simply says, “If you want to be happy for a moment, take a nap. If you want to be happy over a lifetime, help someone else.” Simple kindness, makes all the difference in the world. And it never grows old.

Kindness, too, usually doesn’t cost anything, usually takes only a little effort, and is something anyone in any situation can practice, whether you’re three or 103, whether you’re simply greeting neighbors with a smile, or sharing simple blessings with others on your deathbed, anyone, at any time, can do it. I was able to get home to be with my dad in the last few days he was in hospice before his death. Even then, he was sharing laughs with whomever came around (including flirting with the nurses, even with my mom right there and watching!), and showing love in powerful ways- even literally on his deathbed.

Your favorite horse is coming around again on the carousel—and it never gets old. We each have our favorite ways of showing kindness, too, and that, too, never gets old. Keep being a blessing, however simple, however familiar—it is still a blessing! -Pastor Jim

08/13/2026

By Pastor Jim Lewis

08/11/2026

Pastoral Ponderings:
The Kitten Parable
By Pastor Jim Lewis

I’m betting Jesus was terribly allergic to cats—I can’t imagine any other reason for Him to NOT have told a parable or two about kittens! Who can resist the little cuties? And yet there can be a sadness with kittens, but one that can give us a good reminder of our lives as a church family.

We got our first barn cat last year, and there’s a longer story about THAT challenge when our beloved Pastor Karol thinks God was wrong to make cats outdoor beasties—but that’s a story for another time! I’m pretty sure Delilah the barn cat was already pregnant when we brought her home. We were TOLD she was very friendly—but she was the biggest scaredy cat I’ve ever seen, whom I couldn’t get close to for weeks, until…

Lo and behold, we found four mewling kittens upstairs in the barn, right about the same time she was starting to become quite friendly. Amazing how that happens! With kittens, though, Karol became much more excited about having a barn cat. But then all of a sudden, one of them just died. Before we could get past the sadness of that happening, the second of the four died!

I had grown up with numerous litters of kittens and all that entails (including 26 at the same time, but that, too, is another story…), so I knew that it’s not uncommon for some of the kittens in a litter to not survive. Not so with Karol, though, so the loss was all the more hard for her. But the two that remain are both still in the family- one with us, one with our son and daughter in law—and they’re wonderful lil’ beasties!

Now Jesus COULD have shared a story like this as a parable to share the reality that just as not all kittens can be expected to survive, not all of our best ideas and efforts birthed in our church families can survive. Yet others grow into wonderful gifts that we would never have known, had they not been birthed, knowing they might not make it!

We know of a church that not only shares and celebrates successes, but also shares and celebrates their FAILURES too—because failures are proof that we’re still trying new ways to share the warm, cuddly, purring, kitten-like wonder of God’s love and grace. Too bad Jesus’ cat allergies got in the way of such a kitten parable, else this is a lesson we all would have learned a long time ago!

So here’s to keep on keepin’ on in finding cuddly, purring new ways to share God’s love—knowing that some won’t make it very far—but others will reach people nothing else would! Still sharing that purrrrfect love of Jesus!—Pastor Jim

08/04/2026

Pastoral Ponderings—Holy Reflections

I’ve shared before how I love photos with great reflections—usually in nature, but sometimes reflections in community can be powerful as well. Today’s images are from a time of a community of church leaders reflecting on ways to grow and develop ministries of discipleship in our changing world.

Though it is a national gathering, our own Bishop was the keynote speaker as we opened. In reflecting on God’s changeless love reaching into our changing contexts for ministry, he boldly proclaimed that we are called to “enter the chaos”—the chaos of our changing world. His proclamation to embrace the chaos was because it is in, through and from the chaos that God is creating new ways of discipleship, for us to “love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.” His proclamation reminded me of a powerful lesson in my Old Testament class in seminary where the professor was showing us how the original biblical languages often bring keys of understanding to the changeless story: the ancient Hebrew of the Creation story suggested God created, not “ex nihilo,” “from nothing,” as later Latin translations suggest, but from out of the chaos.

Whether it is reflections in our morning mirror, reflections in a ministry leadership gathering, or reflections on the side of a building, times of reflections allow us both to see what is, but also to see in new ways, and to even see beauty and possibility where we might otherwise only see towers of chaos. Yes, our world can seem so chaotic as to make it hard to see the Hand of God at work in its midst, but these reflections are pointing to the hope that we could be in a time of the holy chaos of God’s creative genius, rather than a disordered, deteriorating entropy.

I challenge you to do some reflecting yourself, and perhaps see in new ways the possibilities to “love boldly” that God is opening up in the chaos and loneliness around us. Today’s chaos brings to mind the ancient words of the prayer of St. Francis—“where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is darkness, light.” Love boldly through the chaos, serve joyfully in the chaos, lead courageously into the chaos. – Pastor Jim—Better together!

08/03/2026

Let’s go fly a kite!
Pastor Jim Lewis


I’ve always loved kites, but haven’t made time to fly any in years. So when I saw a grandfather trying to help his granddaughter to fly a kite, it caught my interest, so I watched for a bit. It sure looked like it was the 13 yr old-ish granddaughter’s first time flying a kite—she struggled for just a bit, then just gave up! But not so the grandfather!

Other than just not having the patience, it looked like the granddaughter was just not getting how it worked. She started well, running with it toward the wind to help it launch, but she never let out string, and then when she ran out of space, she turned around and ran with the kite WITH the wind. The kite, of course, collapsed with no wind in its wings, and after several tries like this, the girl just gave up.

Grandpa knew what he was doing, though, got the kite up, let out string, and let the wind in the wings do all the work—but by then, the girl was gone.
In New Testament Greek, “wind” and “spirit” are the same word- pneuma. So I’ve always loved seeing spiritual (pneuma) lessons coming from the wind (pneuma). The first lesson here, was the wonderful truth that the wind (pneuma) only has the power, when you work WITH it, allowing it to do the work—otherwise, we quickly get frustrated and exhausted with something that could be so simple—tapping into the power of the pneuma/wind/Spirit.

The second lesson was a bit more subtle. I was far enough I couldn’t hear what might have been said between the girl and the grandfather, but I’m betting that he tried in a gentle way, to help the girl see how simple it is to harness the power of pneuma—but it sure looks like she just wouldn’t listen. She was closed to hearing wisdom from one who knew. Was she one who figured she was smart enough, and didn’t need any help? I don’t know, but I DO know, that in this sad case, she missed out on tapping into the power of the pneuma.

How often do we miss out on the power of the pneuma/ Holy Spirit in our lives, because we just don’t want to listen, or don’t want to work WITH the pneuma? I pray that we all have the tenacity and the wisdom of that grandfather, to work WITH the Holy Spirit, so that we, too, can truly know the power of the pneuma in our lives!
Pastor Jim

07/15/2026

Join us on “Sundae” for our Funday! Free to attend and open to all. There will be crafts and activities for the kiddos, too.