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News
McKinstry Leads Worship and Healing Service

(January 9, 2007, GBOD) -- "Just as the woman with an issue of blood had an issue, the church has an issue of blood. There is a hemorrhage in the church,” said the Rev. Dr. Pat McKinstry, senior pastor of Upton United Methodist Church in Toledo, Ohio.

McKinstry spoke to some 500 United Methodist pastors and church leaders who met in Dallas, January 3-6, as part of a convocation sponsored by the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. She was the speaker for an evening worship and healing service.

The 2007 Convocation of Pastors of African American Churches focused on the theme of healthy connections.

Taking her text from Mark 5:25-34, McKinstry explained that “medically [the woman with an issue of blood] should have died. The life of the flesh is in the blood. Blood is the physical carrier of life. The spiritual carriers of life, we [pastors] must go back to the blood,” she said.

Citing the story of Cain and Abel, she said, “the voice of your brother’s blood cries from the ground. Jesus’ blood comes from redemption. We call in all kinds of physicians, except calling on the blood of the lamb.”

McKinstry pastors a congregation that when she arrived had twenty-three members who had already voted to close the church down. Today, services are packed, and the congregation is thriving.

This article was written by by Jeanette Pinkston, Media Relations Director for the General Board of Discipleship.

Other News Coverage of the 2007 Convocation of Pastors of African American Churches

"Daniels Tells Pastors to See the Community As Their Parish"

"Convocation for Pastors Focuses on Healthy Connections"

"Pastors Need to Know When to Call Time-Out and When to Get Up!"