Sermons On Line 

FUMCO: First of all, welcome to First United Methodist Church of Oviedo. We’re glad you are joining our church community. Perhaps a good way to begin would be by telling us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? How long have you been a Methodist minister, and what made you dedicate your life to serving God in this way?

 

DH: I was born in Plainview, Texas, but when I was about six months old, our family moved to Boulder, Colorado, and later, to Colorado Springs. My father was an evangelist in the Baptist church during those first ten years of my life and then he pastored a church in Colorado Springs for another ten years before retiring.

 

I went to Oral Roberts University during the years when Oral Roberts was a Methodist. While there I studied under some great professors and developed a love for Wesleyan theology. The dean of the theology school, Dr. Buskirk, had a great deal to do with my being in the Methodist Church today. I majored in theology and minored in sociology.

 

My father, being a minister, encouraged me not to just follow in his footsteps, because ministry in his mind was a calling, not a vocation. He told me often, “If there’s anything else you can enjoy and love doing, other than ministry, then you ought to pursue it. So after college, I got a job and set about building a career while being active in the church. But, that was not the plan that God had for me.

 

God began speaking to my heart and it wasn’t long before I was off to seminary in Texas. There were a lot of miracles in that. It was there that I met Donna, who would soon become my wife.   After seminary, I went back into the work world for a while to see what God was directing in my life. I pursued a number of careers, and was successful, but none of them gave me a sense of joy that I was looking for.

 

Eventually I became a sales manager for a computer company and was constantly on the road. I did quite well in terms of sales, but I remember coming out of my hotel room one morning, wearing a white shirt and tie, I had a day filled with great appointments. But, as I walked down the stairs that opened into the restaurant area of the hotel, God spoke to my heart in the most profound way I had ever experienced. The room was full of sales people, all in theirwhite shirts and ties, and suddenly, from the depths of my heart, came the words: “Is this what you want to do with the rest of your life?” I can’t begin to express the feelings I had at that moment. I collapsed on the staircase and just began to cry. I knew at that point that there was nothing in life that could bring me joy, other than pursuing God’s call to ministry.

 

It took several more years from there, but I began my journey in earnest at that point. With the Florida Conference and the United Methodist Church, about 21 years ago, I began working on the ordination process.

 

My sister and brother-in-law were at Christ United Methodist Church in Venice, Florida. The church was looking for a program minister. To make a long story short, my sister submitted my resume to the SPR Committee and after an extensive interview process; they accepted me for the position.

 

About a year later, I asked my pastor what I could do that would be the most helpful to him and the ministry there. He replied: “David, the way that you could help us most is by getting your ordination in the Methodist Church.” His response confirmed what God had been speaking to my heart.

 

I started the process, and about 18 years ago, I received my first appointment as a full-time pastor at Mims United Methodist Church. It is just a short distance from Oviedo, as you know, so in a lot of ways, I feel like I’m coming home with this appointment.

 

FUMCO: From Mims, where did you go?

 

DH: My next assignment was to Arcadia. We arrived a little less than a month before Hurricanes Charley, Francis, and Jean all came to visit. Our church was one of the few structures in the area that was not damaged. And so we were able to work with the rebuilding process for Desoto County. We built offices in our church for all the case workers. We literally reached out to the whole county during the couple of years I was there. It was extremely demanding work, but what a joy to see people’s lives put back together.

 

It was amazing to me that during that two-year period, we had more than 10,000 volunteers sleep and work out of that church. I had people come in who were helping and they’d look at the way the whole church was consumed by the rebuilding efforts and say, “There’s no way my church would have allowed this.” We had people sleeping in the aisles of the sanctuary and in all of the Sunday school rooms. But, the church stepped up to the plate and so many lives were touched.

 

FUMCO: I’ll bet you relive that experience every time you see a calamity such as occurred in Alabama and Joplin, Missouri recently.

 

DH: Oh yeah, I can relate to situations like that. Having lived there with it day by day, you have a whole different feel of what they’re experiencing. In Arcadia, about 93 percent of the homes were impacted by the hurricanes. God did some neat things through that church because of their willingness to step out into the community. Since then, they have opened up a feeding ministry where two days a week, they open up for anyone in the area who wants food can come.

 

FUMCO: We realize you haven’t seen much of us yet, but as you’ve taken a closer look, what are some of your initial impressions of FUMCO?

 

DH: I’ve been very impressed. Frankie Godwin (Chair of Staff-Parish Committee) began the conversation with me. She answered so many of our questions and has been there as a strong support and go-between with the various groups. One of the first things she asked us to do was to make a list of all the items we would need for our pantry. She said that the church wanted to do a pounding.   That’s a word not used very often today, but I remember it because my father was a pastor, and when she said “we want to do a pounding”, it was as if something inside me immediately said: “Oh, we have found a home”.

 

When we first came to visit, David Evans opened his late mother’s home for us and made us feel comfortable. Before our visit, I e-mailed the staff and was really impressed with how many of them e-mailed back to express their support of my coming on board. And as we met the church leaders, they all made us feel so welcome.

 

One of the things that also impressed me was how the church responded to my family. Often, when I have come for an initial appointment, all of the focus is on the pastor, leaving the family just sitting in the corner, watching everything happen. One of the amazing things that we felt was that when we first visited FUMCO, people were opening up conversation with my wife and our youngest daughter as well as with me. That was a neat feeling. It made us feel like we were truly home.

 

FUMCO: In the Methodist tradition, you’ve served a number of churches, currently the church in Estero, on Florida’s southwest coast. What are some of the first things you will want to accomplish when you arrive at FUMCO? And how can the congregation help you and your wife, Donna, during this transition?

 

DH: The first thing I really want to do is get to know the people. I’m not someone who comes with a full agenda. I want to learn about the ministries of the church, what’s working and what’s not working. I don’t even have a basis for making a lot of decisions until I understand how the church functions and works together. I’m not going to be trying to make this like some other church that I have in mind. But, as I get to know the church, I’ll work toward building teams and begin asking you all for input. “What direction do you think we need to be going?” I want the church to be an effective witness for Christ in the community. I have a lot of experience in helping churches build long-range plans and guide them in becoming a more effective witnesses. But my main focus will be in getting to know the people of the church and then I will move forward from there.

 

How can the congregation help me? The congregation can help me by being open and willing to talk with me. When people introduce themselves, I would love to hear from them what they enjoy doing at FUMCO and how they feel about the church, that’s a tremendous help. Another thing that will help is for everyone to wear their name tags. I want to know who you are. I want to know you by name.

 

FUMCO: What strengths would you say you will bring to FUMCO in your role as senior pastor? What expectations do you have for your new assignment?

 

DH: One of the things I do enjoy doing is building teamwork, bringing about connections in a way that helps the church accomplish its goals. I feel like I’m fairly good at helping the church focus on what is important. What I’ve realized through the years is that sometimes we do everything and yet do nothing well. What I want to do is help the church focus on the things that we can do well. Another strength that I bring is Bible-centered preaching. My focus is on teaching people how to live for Christ. I enjoy helping people relate to the word of God, enabling them to get through the experiences and situations that they find themselves in. I asked my wife about my strengths and she indicated that I offer a lot of compassion for people as well.

 

FUMCO: How would you describe the role of the church today? What do you think are some of the biggest challenges it faces?

 

DH: Well, the mission statement of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. I think that’s an excellent starting point. To understand the role of the church as making disciples is the process of helping individuals grow in their own relationship with Christ, enabling them to develop their own full potential in Christ. That discipleship process for me includes: teaching families and children how to be faithful in their relationships with each other, faithful in their relationships with those around them, making sure the needs of the congregation are met so they can effectively touch the world for Christ. It means connecting to all the age groups and enabling them to connect with each other. I think the biggest challenge to the church today is what it has always been and that is making the call of Christ relevant in the world today. It’s the task of relating Christ to people in a way that challenges them to live out their faith in the world. You know, as I was shopping up here in North Carolina, I saw a sign that I bought that said: “Live in such a way so that those who know you, but don’t know God, will come to know God because they know you.” That’s such a profound statement.

 

FUMCO: Recent studies show that the percentage of Americans who consider themselves spiritual is probably as high as it’s ever been, but that the number of those who consider themselves religious continues to decline. What does the church need to do better?

 

DH: Well, I think there are a couple of things. In some ways, I think we make people dependent on the church for their spiritual growth. We give people the idea that if they go to church on Sunday or participate in a small group, that’s all they need. The church is not really teaching them how to develop their own Christian life. It hasn’t really related the word to them in a practical way that helps them to know how to grow. I think we’ve put out there a lot of theology, but we’ve failed to ask the question: “How does the theology relate to me and my world and what I’m experiencing?” And, I think in many ways, we’ve failed to challenge people to live for Christ. One of the things that really excited me about FUMCO was learning about the BOB ministry and it challenging the youth to read the entire Bible in a year. That really gives kids a basis for understanding Christ as they grow older.

 

FUMCO: You talked a little about your mission work at the church you served in Arcadia. We also understand you served as district and conference disaster relief coordinator. What have you gained from this experience and how does it relate to your ministry?

 

DH: One of the things that missions has done for me is it’s given me a compassion for people in need. We were giving out food in flood buckets to people in Arcadia. And there were people who were taking what we gave them home where they’d put it in their closet, change their clothes, and then come back to get some more. A lot of our workers there were really starting to get frustrated and angry about it. They told me we needed to take control of the situation and stop what was going on. I sat down with several of them and talked about the fact that we weren’t there to make the distribution fair. We were there to help serve people who were in need. When we become so focused on the abuses, we miss out on the goal of what we’re really there for. I was back in Arcadia visiting a friend not long ago who is involved in the feeding ministry taking place there now. He said that I had really helped him with that discussion and what a change it had made in his perspective of helping people. He said that this idea has really helped them to develop their current feeding ministry, because they are no longer worried about whether people deserve to get free meals, they are just there to help people.

 

FUMCO: You also have experience in church leadership, planning, and visioning. How do you intend to apply those skills to your ministry here at FUMCO?

 

DH: Well, I’ve been through a lot of training. Developing a master plan and providing a three and five-year focus, is something that we’ve done at each of the churches I have served previously. Everyone in the church has to be aiming at the same goal. We all need to know where we are heading in order for us to be effective. How do you know you are even reaching your full potential if you don’t have some direction that you’re aiming at? You build into the plan identifiable goals that will help you to realize whether or not you are reaching your intended target. That is certainly going to be something that I’ll want to encourage the church to consider.

 

FUMCO: We understand you and Donna have been married for 27 years and are the parents of three adult children. How does she support you in your ministry? Please tell us a little about her interests.

 

DH: Just by giving me the freedom to do ministry is one of the huge supports that she provides. Donna is not an “up front” person who is constantly looking for the lime light. She works quietly in the background and enjoys plugging in where she is needed. I couldn’t ask for a better helpmate. She is faithful and compassionate, she is really a great help to me. She will be there, plugging along, working beside me and helping where there’s a need for help.

 

FUMCO: Last question: what three words would you use to describe David Harris? What hobbies do you enjoy?

 

DH: That is the hardest question (laughs). If I were to say what things I would like people to say about me when I leave this life, I’d like for them to say that I was faithful to the call of Christ, that I was forthright and honest in terms of my convictions, and that I was a compassionate person who really sensed the needs of people and was able to effectively relate Christ to those needs.

 

I’m not real good at hobbies. I spend a lot of my free time with my family or around the church. I’ve tried to play golf, not very successfully, and I love what I’m doing right now, which is being in the mountains, hiking and just spending time by the rivers. I love to fish and spend time in the outdoors, but I don’t get a lot of time to do it. That will come much later in life.