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For the past 170 years, people called Methodists have gathered for worship, prayer, mission, and community on the same patch of land on Glebe Road.
During the harvest season of 1854, friends and neighbors gathered to dream of organizing a church in this farming region of what was then known as Alexandria County. The exact date is unknown, but one of the men present later recalled setting down his “husking peg”— a tool used for shucking corn — before he joined the gathering. Mount Olivet Protestant Methodist Church was born.
Over the years, we have seen many challenges and changes. Yet we have met them with patience and grace. The beauty and love of this church community is palpable. We have many reasons to reflect in gratitude in this season.
We are a church that is inclusive: we seek to be truly welcoming and safe for all people. We are a church that is life-changing: striving for racial justice, caring for creation, educating children, creating community for all ages. We are a church that is serving: our Community Assistance Mobile Market serves over 300 households, comprising over 1000 individuals each month.
We celebrate the 2024 General Conference’s work to remove the harmful language of incompatibility and to honor full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life of the church. We are once again proud to call ourselves United Methodists.
During the 2024 General Conference, Bishop David Wilson, the denomination’s first Native American bishop, encouraged a focus of seven generations when making decisions. The Seventh Generation Principle is based on an ancient Iroquois philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.
This applies to all the ways we exercise stewardship and care: over the environment, our financial resources, our property, our missional priorities, and our relationships.
Rather than thinking of the present or the next few years, Bishop Wilson asked, “What would that look like if we made plans, looking ahead seven generations and how these decisions affect all people? Can you imagine how that would impact this denomination and, most importantly, this world?”
170 years is roughly the equivalent of 7 generations.
Seven generations ago, faithful women and men founded Mount Olivet. Seven generations from now, our actions and decisions today will be evident in our spiritual descendants.
The decisions we make now impact not only today, or the next five years, but generations into the future.
Just as those first folks who gathered to form a church could not have imagined who we would be today, we cannot anticipate the changes that lie ahead for our church and community.
But we can hope and pray, vision and plan, now to be strong and sustainable for our future. We know those early Methodists wanted a place to worship, to learn about God and faith, to support and encourage one another. They cared about educating their children and helping their neighbors. We may no longer be a farming community, but perhaps we are not so very different after all.
As you prayerfully consider your giving for this next year, we invite you to think of your own harvest, the fruits of your labor, and the legacy we want to extend to those who will come after us.
- Pastor Sara Keeling
