On Sunday, May 16, First United Methodist Church celebrated "Longevity of Service" and our senior adults. Here is the text of the speech delivered by Mavis Brown during each of the sanctuary worship services. 

Corpus Christi

Delivered Sunday, May 16, 2010

 I am Mavis Krueger Brown. I am 95  years, six months and 26 days old, and this is the first time I’ve ever computed my age so exactly! I am the first-born of two daughters born to Leo Krueger and Mamie Weaver Krueger. In these 95 years, I like to think that I have enjoyed several lives.  I am a daughter, a sister, a student, a teacher, a wife, a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a friend.These lives, or roles as we might define them, often run parallel, often overlapping, but are who I am! And today I look at a portion of that time in retrospect. 

 My paternal grandfather’s confirmation certificate from Germany is dated 1853. My parents were born in 1887 and 1889. I was born in 1914...and today we are living in 2010. A span of 157 years. ...157 years ...years of  my Christian heritage.

In  thinking about my life particularly as it relates to First United Methodist Church, I have to remember going to the former sanctuary on Mann Street in June, 1943, as a bride of some seven or ten days, and standing at the altar with my  husband Fred and pledging to support the church with my prayers, my presence, my tithes and my service. The word “witness” had not yet been added.

As we faced the altar that day, we also faced the choir, of which Fred was already a member and continued to be for a total of 43 years, and behind us was our Sunday School class. So we were firmly supported and have continued to be through all these 67 years...the last 20 I have experienced as a widow.

Those early years were typically filled with rearing three children--Sharon, Fred, and Jana--who have been so loved and nurtured by this church--a church that helped us give them their roots and their wings. There were  Sunday School classes, MYF, choirs, music lessons on the organ, Boy Scouts, Vacation Bible School and Christian Adventure Camp. And today we, you the Church and I can together experience the joy of seeing those children live out our works  today in their Christian homes and work places.

 Mom and Dad were also involved. Sunday School, Chancel Choir, Administrative Council or Board of Stewards as it was earlier known, United Methodist Women, Bible Study, and all those potluck dinners and dinners prepared by volunteers.

Life  moved on; marriages, deaths, births, divorces entered our  home, but  through it all there was a THREAD--as expressed by Tom Stafford in his piece titled The Way It Is.

    There is a thread you follow
    It goes among things that change
    But it doesn’t change.
    People wonder about what you are pursuing
    You have to explain about the thread.
    But it is hard for others to see.
    While you hold it you can’t get lost.
    Tragedies happen, people get hurt
    Or die; and you suffer and get old
    Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding
    You don’t ever let go of the thread.

 And today I can tell you that I have thought about my thread during these last few days, and

    In this very room I see my life relived:
    Deep love, children, life exuberant, death
    I know heartbreak, joy, God’s love;
    His promise revealed:
    I will be with you.
    In this very room.

 Yes, I know my thread. That spirit lies deep within my heart. I know the weaving began while I was yet in my mother’s womb--long before I joined the Methodist Church at the age of 12. And I have been nurtured and loved by family and churches throughout all these years. And I needed that love and nurturing because that thread at times is hard to hold on to. It is a demanding, but loving thread. John Wesley wove it into Methodism. Bishop Reuben Job in his book Three Simple Rules describes it: “Do no harm; Do good; Stay in Love with God”. And Jesus reminded us as recorded in Mark 12: 29-31: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 Yes, I know my thread--that thread that lies deep within my heart; a thread that helps me lead a fulfilling life... A thread that First United Methodist Church helps me hold on to through its many opportunities for learning and serving--growing my relationship with God. A thread that I must never let go.