THE
MOUNTAINCIRCUIT 2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 12
Published by the West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church
VOL 47 / NUMBER 1
Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett preaches during opening worship on Thursday afternoon. Photo by ADAM CUNNINGHAM
Be Good Soil
by Laura Allen
Good soil bears fruit.
This is something every gardener knows, said Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett in a sermon preached during yesterday’s opening worship service in Wesley Chapel. Bishop Wallace Padgett is the episcopal leader of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. The parable of the sower from the Gospel of Matthew was the text on which the bishop based her sermon. She admitted, though that she was not much of a gardener until she became a bishop. “Then I realized I was a gardener of the spiritual variety,” she said. “And you are too. This is our work.” The bishop chose to focus on the end of Matthew’s passage:
“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Cultivating good soil takes patience. Gardeners must provide the right balance of acid and alkaline. Plants must be watered properly; they have to get enough sun and the proper nutrients in order to flourish. The bishop wove the cultivation of good soil with the theme for Conference, which is “Develop.” The spiritual development of a disciple takes a lifetime, she noted. “But you know the fruit that good soil produces,” said the bishop. Everyday Christians are the good soil - the place where the renewal of the church will take place. - Continued on next page