Author: Shannon

Shannon Blosser is the pastor of Mount Olivet and Benwood-McMechen UMC in the Wheeling, W.Va. area. He is an ordained elder in the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is particularly focused on how the witness of faith creates inclusion and acceptance of those with disabilities within the church. Before entering ministry, Shannon wrote professionally as a sports and news writer for West Virginia and North Carolina newspapers and policy organizations. He lives in McMechen, W.Va., with his wife, Abbi, sons, Noah and Tad, and their cat, George. He is an alum of West Virginia University and Asbury Theological Seminary. In his spare time, you can find him watching WVU athletics, studying presidential history, cheering on the St. Louis Cardinals baseball, or attempting to play golf.
Share the Love
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Faith, Life

Share the Love

I have to admit that I have always loved these words from Paul and Romans 8. They have comforted me in times of trial, and encouraged me to keep the faith when things seem difficult in both life and in the ministry. They are a “go to” when I need to be reminded of God’s love.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Those words comfort and provide hope immediately once we read them and reflect upon their meaning. They are, perhaps, words we need to hear this morning.

Perhaps, too, words I need to hear as we gather for worship in our parking lot and online. You see, there are moments when I wonder how could God love someone like me. I look at myself and wonder what is there to really love. I am the product of childhood trauma from, at best, a neglectful step-father. My first marriage ended in divorce, which led to a period of deep despair and financial struggles. I have long believed that people expect perfection from me, and so it is easy for me to find my faults and criticize who I am and what I do. I have often asked how could God love someone like me? Continue reading “Share the Love”

What Do I Miss?
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Faith, Life

What Do I Miss?

I love the first song in the second half of “Hamilton.” It is a hilarious song that transitions the show, and many of the cast members, into a new portion of the story of Alexander Hamilton and his work in the administration of President George Washington.

The song, called “What Did I Miss?,” introduces Thomas Jefferson to the story, but with some humor since it is played by the same actor who, in the first half, portrayed the Marquis de Lafayette. In the song, though, the conversation is in the past tense. It describes things that Jefferson has missed while he was in France and moves the story along past the Revolutionary War. To be honest, it is the celebratory dancing that make the song. If you don’t believe me, access Disney Plus and watch for yourself.

While the song may be sung in the past tense, I believe for many of us in the church we are living out the song. There are things we miss as we continue to exist in a socially distant expression of worship in response to the current pandemic. I hear these things expressed in conversation and, recently, as we have transitioned to a modified form of worship in our parking lot. We are missing the people, music, and worship as a body.

I can understand that. I feel each of those things in my soul. Continue reading “What Do I Miss?”

Living with Weeds
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Faith, Life, Uncategorized

Living with Weeds

I was raised in Shady Spring: population of 1,000 and now with its regionally-famous traffic light and Dollar General. It is a small town on the outskirts of Beckley, but has always been home for me.

I was what you would call a nerd. My focus was on studying presidential history and being part of the journalism staff at the junior high and high school. I also worked for the local paper. I wasn’t athletic, even though I tried about every sport and loved to watch them all.

My favorite sport to participate in was wrestling. I loved the sport, and was average, at best, at it. When I moved more into my journalism career, it was always the most enjoyable and complex sport to cover. I still enjoy it today. What did I enjoy about it? You were part of a team, yet you were responsible for your own actions. You had to think on your feet and consider how to achieve your objective in a limited time and space.

Now, I have to be honest and admit that I didn’t just enjoy freestyle wrestling as a youth. I also enjoyed professional wrestling. There is something humorous about watching two people bark about how they are the most impressive talker and fighter all while wearing a feather boa and a mullet.

That love of professional wrestling has led to the creation of a line that you may hear from time to time. That line is this: This is feeling a lot like WrestleMania. It was a line, and its variations, that I started to say in the lead-up to General Conference last year. I was responsible for covering the event for the Kentucky Annual Conference. As I covered the event, I actually felt like I was at WrestleMania. For me, the phrase is used to describe an event that has become filled with anger, talking, and divisiveness, especially in places you would least expect it. Sadly, I use that phrase a lot in the life of the church. Continue reading “Living with Weeds”

Sunday Sermon: Sowing Discipleship
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Faith, Life

Sunday Sermon: Sowing Discipleship

I was here at the church the day after it was announced I was your new pastor. That was one of the unique aspects of this particular move. Our covenant team meets each week in the parlor, at least we did until the pandemic began, to talk about life and ministry.

On this particular day, however, I walked up the ramp to the sanctuary entrance, to go through the same door I walked into each time we met. I was with a couple of other pastors and we were talking about the uniqueness of walking in knowing I would be coming here to serve in a few months. It was at that moment I noticed something I had never noticed before. I looked down and I saw a row of bricks, each with the names and dates of service for the pastors who have served faithfully here with love. I looked down and couldn’t help but wonder if, one day, I would be placed along that row of bricks.

Lots have changed since that day. I am still walking up that same ramp, but this time to serve as your pastor. I will admit that this particular transition is not what any of us imagined back in March. I didn’t believe for a moment that on our second week together we would be gathered in our cars and online to worship. I never imagined we would be socially distant from one another unable to really meet and get to know one another except for the use of technology, which I am appreciative to have. None of us imagined this would be life, but yet we press forward with the hope of Christ knowing that God is with us, even when it is hard and challenging.

While this transition may not have the normal components to it, we still have the same hopes and desires for God to bring forth a blessing in this new season together. We still have the same questions of where will God lead us and what am I about as a pastor. You’re starting to get a sense of me, in a way, already. I am someone who loves the liturgy of the church. I believe in the connection of the Methodist movement and working together as one body. I believe in having a good laugh, even as we do hard and serious work together. I believe in being a servant leader who shows the way by my example, which I pray is one of humility, grace, and hope in all things.

In all of that though, there is one overarching thing about me that really guides me as a follower of Christ and a pastor. Our passage, this morning, from Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23 gives us an opportunity to reflect upon that and that is discipleship. Continue reading “Sunday Sermon: Sowing Discipleship”

What Do I Believe?
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Faith, Life

What Do I Believe?

I love the movie Bull Durham. The classic movie centered on the Durham Bulls is a go-to movie for baseball fans, like myself. It is one that needs to be watched, perhaps, in this season of being absent from our national pastime.

There is a scene that I love in the movie. Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner, goes into a monologue about his beliefs and values, while trying to win the interest of Annie Savoy, who is played by Susan Sarandon. While crude at times, Davis expresses his beliefs about everything from when presents should be opened at Christmas to the need for a Constitutional amendment banning the designated hitter.

I agree with that last one.

What I have always admired about that speech is how free flowing Davis is with his belief statements. He knows who he is and how he will live them out. There is a firmness in foundation upon his core beliefs, regardless of how unique they may be, that defines who he and how he lives out his life.

Can we say that as followers of Christ? Do we know what it is that we believe and what it means to live them out? Continue reading “What Do I Believe?”