About Our Worship Group in Parkesburg, PA
At PARKESBURG UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, our goal as a worship group is to serve clearly and effectively, utilizing the resources of the Christian faith to make a meaningful impact. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who seek to deepen their relationship with God.
A Word from Our Pastor
Hello, my name is Mark Beideman. I am blessed to be the Pastor of PARKESBURG UNITED METHODIST CHURCH for twenty-eight years now. Over thirty-five years ago, some very good friends suggested I should enter the ministry, to which I was very reluctant to do. As a lay person, I would speak at churches to fill in for vacationing pastors, and preaching at campgrounds was very fulfilling. After all, I had a very good-paying full-time job and a family to take care of, and seminary just didn’t fit into an already over crowed schedule.
After three years of filling in for pastors and often preaching at campgrounds, a dear friend, Rev. Violet Fisher, finally challenged me to take the step into the ministry. In retrospect, this was God at work, and shortly after starting my studies, I was called to PARKESBURG UMC. With God’s guidance and the strength of our congregation, we have been able to grow from a very part-time church to a full-time church, and many ministries have been started.
Chapel Chats Here:
Chapel Chat Luke 10:25-29
25 An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. [ a ] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” 29 But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
First, I encourage you to read Luke 10:25-37 but in case you don’t have time the question is “And who is my neighbor?” I’ll give you a hint it is not only those that live in the next house, although many of us would be hard pressed to name even them. In this scripture the expert in the law was testing Jesus and the answer was not what he or those listening were expecting to hear (Jesus is great at doing that).
The expert expected Jesus to say something like, you know, those who look like us, talk like us, worship alongside us. After all what if they speak a different language? What if they eat different food than us? What if they dress different than us? What if they listen to different music than us? Come on Jesus, you can’t expect us to call them our neighbor even if they live next door can you?
Starting at verse 30 Jesus answered every one of my hypothetical questions with a resounding YES! YES even people that are completely different. Jesus chose someone who was an enemy to the expert in the law and even his listeners! Wait what? An enemy? YES!
Everyone on planet earth is a child of God, you, me, my neighbor, my enemy, heck even the expert in the law that wanted to test Jesus. EVERY SINGLE ONE. God’s love encompasses all of us. So I’m saying that as you walk into that big department store and you pass all those people, God loves every one of them just like he loves you. As I often tell my friends at church, “Go home and think about that this week.”
Blessings!
Mark
Music Director, Ashley Radcliff
Accomplished Pianist, Jeff Hery
First, we worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As United Methodists, we are called by God to identify the needs both individuals and society, and to address those needs out of the resources of the Christian faith in a clear and effective way.