A Letter from the Bishop on the Occasion of Urban Abbey's Chartering

A letter written by Bishop Saenz 

02/15/19

Dear Rev. Debra McKnight, charter members of Urban Abbey United Methodist Church, and friends:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit on this special day of celebration and dreaming new and bigger dreams for God and the people of Omaha.

I celebrate and rejoice with you and the Urban Abbey congregation for becoming our newest chartered United Methodist Church in the Great Plains Conference.

Today is a day, Rev. McKnight, for looking back to the earlier days when God put a dream in your heart, soul, and mind of creating an inclusive and welcoming fair-trade coffee shop, bookstore and church located in the heart of Downtown Omaha’s Old Market to reach professionals and students. Today is a day for rekindling and recommitting yourselves to the dream of a restorative and transformational place where people from all walks of life can connect and find belonging, grow in deep relationships, practice their faith, share their gifts, and agree on actions that make a difference in people’s lives and the world.

Your dream has created an NPO and church that supports Youth Emergency Services in their mission to help homeless and vulnerable youth turn their lives around. You support Nebraska Appleseed in their mission to increase justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans. You have provided 800 AIDS tests to the Nebraska AIDS Project. You have helped new refugee and immigrant families maneuver through our complex immigration system through assistance from Justice for our Neighbors. You champion and support your teachers. And you seek out and foster spiritual practice and interfaith dialogue. Through all these efforts, you show forth God’s goodness and concern for the people of Omaha and greater Nebraska. Your partnerships and ministries advocate, help, heal, seek justice, and work for peace in a broken, calloused, and deeply divided world.

As with any new venture, Debra, I’m sure there were days when the vision of a flourishing Urban Abbey dimmed because of the numerous challenges you faced along the way, especially at the beginning. At times like that, it would have been easy to give up, but you did not. God’s Spirit kept encouraging you, opening one door, closing another, and leading you forward in those critical moments of doubt when you did not know what the future held. You held on to your vision by faith through the encouragement of your husband Mike, your colleagues, the conference leadership, and the growing number of people who believed in you and the vision God planted in you. You persevered with courage, resilience, and faith in Christ’s faithfulness and provision. You trusted that a breakthrough was nearby in those vulnerable moments and you pushed forward and kept pushing forward day in, day out, month after month, year after year. And now, here you are, ready to lead a growing and missionally robust community of faith to charter as our newest United Methodist Church of the Great Plains Conference!

I celebrate the grace of God that has brought and woven together into a church body all the beautiful Urban Abbey people in faith, hope, and love of God and neighbor. You are all God’s masterpieces, created anew in Christ Jesus, so you can, through your manifold gifts and abilities, do the good things God has planned for you long ago. Your presence and belonging at Urban Abbey and the Great Plains Conference make our church stronger, our witness more vibrant, and our doors more open to all people.

Today is also a day to look forward with hope, trusting that God who brought you this far, is able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think, according to the power at work within us. I look forward hearing about all the new ways God’s Spirit will lead you to restore and transform new lives, your community, and the world.

To God be glory in the church and Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Ruben Saenz Jr.
Bishop, Great Plains Conference