Introduction as written by long-time friend and clergy colleague, Dan Duncan “Chris honors me with the invitation to write an overview of his pastoral career, on the event of his retirement from Traverse City Central UMC. Since he has previously requested that I give a eulogy at his funeral, this is a trial run, in… Read More »

Packing for a move has a distinct way of encouraging a person to sort out what’s valuable versus what can be left behind. My sister-in-law recently came over to help us begin packing for our upcoming move to Traverse City and encouraged us to dive headfirst into the most challenging (read: cluttered) area of our… Read More »

Central SPPRC Leaders Look to the Future It’s been exciting in the past few weeks to hear so many people express excitement and hope for the future of Central Church and our ministries. As we celebrate Pastor Chris and all he’s done to build the church in faithful witness, we also anticipate a wonderful season… Read More »

Welcome Confirmands! Central UMC Confirmands spend a year together growing in faith and learning the Christian fundamentals. We don’t do this by a lot of sitting around, though. We explore faith with our whole selves: with scavenger hunts, potting plants, rock climbing, even smashing things. The goal isn’t just to have fun – it’s to… Read More »

Wow! $14,420 was raised during Lent 2023 to support JFON-MI’s mission of providing free immigration legal services to neighbors in northern Michigan communities! In the last week the donations just kept coming in. The generosity of Central Church’s congregation has once again crushed our fundraising goal. Without our host church and all the ways you… Read More »

Why are you not morose? “When you’re pursuing happiness, you’re not going to find it. It’s very, very elusive.”   –Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu One of our small groups has recently been reading The Book of Joy, about two incredible spiritual leaders who have spent their lives advocating for freedom for their people: Archbishop Desmond Tutu… Read More »

From being racially profiled to becoming a U.S. citizen- Eduardo’s story Wow! Thank you, Central Church! We have now raised over $4,700 of our $10,000 fundraising goal during Lent! This support helps us serve more northern Michigan neighbors in need of immigration legal services like Eduardo. In 2018, Eduardo, his wife, and brother-in-law were victims… Read More »

Thank you, Central Church! We had a great kick off to our Justice for Our Neighbors Michigan (JFON-MI) fundraising campaign and have already raised $1,700 toward our $10,000 goal! This support helps us serve more northern Michigan neighbors in need of immigration legal services. This spring we continue to serve clients from Ukraine who fled… Read More »

After the United States set a deadline to pull the last of its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, news reports showed thousands of desperate people storming the airport in Kabul in the final weeks. They were desperate to get out rather than remain under Taliban rule. Ehsan and Nilab Sahab were among them. Now… Read More »

A new ministry was started at Central Church in 2015 after the congregation became aware there were no free immigration legal services north of Grand Rapids. The decision was made to open the doors to Justice for Our Neighbors Michigan (JFON-MI) to help fill the need. Our caseload started growing as we provided presentations about… Read More »