Dale Cohen is the founding pastor of Discovery United Methodist Church. He was ordained in the United Methodist Church in 1988 after having obtained a Masters of Divinity Degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Dale also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama with an interdisciplinary major in Psychology and Sociology. Dale is married to Dede Williamson Cohen. They have two children, Andrew and Adam.

Dale sees his personal mission statement as this: to develop a more effective model of being the church in the 21st Century. Dale recognizes that the Christian church is facing more challenges than ever before in trying to reach people in our day and time. With so many competing values and world views it’s important that the church communicate its vision and values with more clarity than ever before.

Dale continues to study today’s culture in an effort to find new ways to communicate the eternal message of God’s love for all people that are relevant and meaningful. He strives to communicate the claims of Christianity from a practical vantage point and demonstrate it pertinence to life in times like these.

Captains Log – June 2, 1999

What an exciting time to be a part of Discovery! Day by day God continues to bless us with his Spirit of love and grace and day by day God keeps giving us new opportunities to be in ministry. With his help, we continue to accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God.

Over the next few months we are going to be sharing several opportunities for service and fellowship. Our Missions Team is going to be preparing an information sheet about all the ministries we support financially as well as provide information that will make it easy for you to be a part of volunteering in the ministry of your choice.

We’ve just completed a Network Spiritual Gifts course and there will be several more opportunities to participate in this class over the next few months. This course will help you find the place where God has "designed" for you to serve with your gifts and interests. Vacation Bible School and Older Elementary Day Camp could use your help as we offer Christ to our children through these special learning experiences. Our Singles Ministry is growing and reaching out to Singles in our church with activities for fellowship and sharing.

Our Youth Ministry is growing and becoming a safe place for all the young people in the community to share together. I haven’t met an adult yet who would be willing to go back and relive their youth in this day and time. Our Youth need our prayers and encouragement, especially given the recent incidences of violence throughout the nation. We’ve just completed three levels of Disciple Bible Study and it’s not too early to begin to think about your involvement in Disciple studies in the Fall.

Many of our Small Groups will continue to meet throughout the Summer although we’re always willing to start more. The move to one worship service at 9:30 am on June 6th will be a great opportunity for us to feel the strength and the power of this congregation. Although we anticipate not being able to have one service for very long, it will be a great time for us to pull together as the Body of Christ before we re-deploy ourselves into multiple worship services.

With the new building will come a multitude of challenges and opportunities. Although we will still experience space limitations, we need to dream about more and more ministries that we can offer to the community.

We’re exploring alternative worship services which might be designed for GenX’ers. We’re even considering an early service (8 or 8:15) on Sundays that would blend what we’re currently doing with some of the more traditional music. Let me emphasize that if we did something like this it would definitely reflect our commitment to dynamic worship and it would bear a distinctive Discovery mark!

The start of Discovery at the Park, our worship service scheduled to take place at The Park at Riverchase Assisted Living facility, is delayed due to incomplete construction. The Park was supposed to open this month but it will probably be September before it’s ready for occupancy. We will keep you posted on the official start of Discovery at the Park.

There are so many things we can do that we haven’t even thought of yet, but God will direct us as the journey goes on.

At the risk of being wrong again, I’m speculating that we’ll be in our new building on June 20th. Whatever the date, we’re planning a consecration service for the Saturday night before. As soon as we know when, we’ll let you know. In the mean time, the Met is still our home for Sunday morning worship.

This Sunday, we will be thanking the Barons’ Baseball Club for their generous hospitality in letting us use the Met for the past six years. During pre-game activities this Sunday afternoon, we’re going to present a plaque to Tony Ensor, General Manager of the Barons’ club. We’re expecting some media to cover this event so join us at the ball game to show your support and gratitude. If you failed to meet the deadline for purchasing tickets, you can still pick up tickets at the game for $3 on Sunday afternoon— you just won’t get a hot dog!

Captains Log – March 21, 1999

Progress continues on the new building. Each day there are changes occurring— some of those changes are obvious while others aren’t so obvious. I think the same could be said of our congregation.

This past week was quite unusual for us as four of our member families experienced the loss of a close relative. More characteristic of us, our worship attendance remains high as we continue to experience visitors in our midst. Since our stewardship emphasis, our offerings have been good. Our small groups continue to thrive and we’re moving quickly into Holy Week and Easter with several opportunities for growth.

In an effort to anticipate some of the changes that will occur as we move into the new building, I want to share some ideas that have been on my heart and mind.

The first idea is not original to me, but was shared with me by my friend, Tommy Gray, who is pastor of Clear Branch UMC in Argo. At Clear Branch, they have the "3 Minute" Rule. For the first three minutes following worship, members and regular attenders are not allowed to talk to anyone they know. They must seek out people they don’t know and visit with them for the first three minutes.

Tommy says that most members hang around long after the three minutes but the "3 Minute" rule helps assure that all the visitors are greeted. I would like for us to implement the "3 Minute" rule, but extend it to the three minutes prior to worship as well as the three minutes after! Many visitors show up just prior to the service and we need to do a better job of greeting them.

Another thing we need to pay more attention to is wearing our name tags. I’m going to need everyone monitoring my personal effort at this because I keep losing my name tag!

When we move to the new building, we will start with two Sunday morning worship services with the first at 8:15 am and the second one at 10:45 am. (Sunday School will be at 9:30 am). This will allow for the smooth transition to a regular third worship service whenever it’s needed. Our growth may also require the addition of a second Sunday School hour.

I want you to re-read the previous paragraph and think of the implications for volunteers and the degree of commitment required from all of us to make this successful.

A problem that we are going to immediately experience in the new building is a lack of space. It is imperative that we have flexibility and cooperation from everyone to work through this problem. Write this down: We will all be inconvenienced by the growth we have in our new building. The inconvenience cannot be avoided. One way to prepare yourself to deal with the inconvenience is to adopt the following ideas:

1. Growth is good. Growth means more people are coming to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I have a responsibility to help Discovery grow!

2. The new building is not for me. It is a tool that God will use to bring others to faith in him. Therefore, I have no claim to a particular classroom or part of the facility. Ever! It is God’s building and I am willing for it to be used as God directs our leadership, even if it means I have to move frequently to a new classroom or even to someone‘s home.

3. I am a caretaker of this building. I will do everything I can to show respect for God’s property and participate in its upkeep. I am helping to pay for this building with my financial gifts that are a demonstration of my gratitude for what God has done for me and for God has given to me.

4. Our commitment is the foundation for generations to come. We’re going to have to build again— soon! But we’re building for the future and for those not yet born who will come to know Christ because of our commitment. Where we are today is because of the faithfulness we have shown thus far; our faithfulness cannot stop now. God still calls us to love and to dream and to build.

What an exciting time to be a part of Discovery! I hope you will look for ways to make yourself available to God and to Discovery as we make these transitions. It’s important that we work together to fulfill God’s call to us to be in ministry in this time and in this place.

Captains Log – February 26, 1999

This past weekend I was on St. Simon’s Island on the Georgia Coast with several people from the Wesley Class I taught recently. We were there to study Wesley’s mission to Georgia in its context. We toured a museum at Epworth-by-the-Sea which was dedicated to Wesley. We also toured the excavations at Fort Frederica, an English fort settlement founded by General James Oglethorpe. John Wesley served as an Anglican priest to this fort while he also served the settlement at Savannah.

One of the highlights was to worship at Christ Episcopal Church at Sea Island, Georgia. It is an old church built over 120 years ago in the area where Wesley served as a missionary. I say it was a highlight, although there were a few problems.

First of all, when we arrived for the 9:30 am worship, we were greeted at the gate by two people who were serving as greeters for the day. They were delightful people with a warm smile (on a cold day) but they were somewhat frazzled because they had run out of visitor’s stickers that they wanted to stick on all of us who were visiting. There were eight of us and one sticker.

We hurried inside only to be stopped at the door by a mass of humans who were log-jammed waiting to be seated by the ushers. There weren’t any seats available and the ushers were trying to improvise. (Based on some information we received, this happens quite often.) We were invited to be seated in the choir room off the front of the church. This meant we had to walk in front of everyone already seated, go up through the chancel area (that’s the area between the altar rail and the communion table in a traditional church!), around the organ on the side to a room in which only two of our group could see anything going on out in the worship area.

Then there was the hymnal and prayer book scramble. There were only enough hymnals for one per row of the four rows of chairs set up in the choir room. Episcopal churches use The Book of Common Prayer as a resource in worship and there were a few more of those. There were three different worship services printed in the same bulletin and each one included page numbers in both the hymnal and the Book of Common Prayer. Each of the three services used a different edition of the Book of Common Prayer. I’ve never been able to juggle but I think I took one step closer by juggling the hymnal, the worship bulletin, and the Book of Common Prayer throughout the whole service— all while not being able to see what was going on in the service in the sanctuary. They do stand up and sit down a lot at various points in the service and none of them were marked in the worship bulletin so I was always on a 15-second time delay in getting up or sitting down.

The message for the day was a report from their delegate to their annual convention in which all the people from Christ Church who were elected to anything were recognized. I was disappointed that we didn’t hear God’s Word proclaimed.

We received the sacrament of Holy Communion in the closing moments of worship (and they use real wine!). While we stood to sing the closing hymn, several people began taking our chairs and folding them up and placing them against the wall "because the choir would be coming back into the room immediately after the service."

Other than the priests and the greeters, no one spoke a welcoming word to us the whole time we were there.

Would Discovery fare any better in regard to how we receive visitors? Would Discovery members have gotten up and given up their seats for visitors— even if it meant the members would "miss" the service? Would Discovery members greet visitors throughout the facility even if it wasn’t their Sunday to greet? Is Discovery doing a good job making sure that people who may not have ever experienced church feel comfortable in our worship service? Are we presenting the Word of God in such a way that searching people are led into new life in Christ? Are we willing to do whatever it takes to be a different kind of church that is effectively reaching people so that their lives might be transformed by God’s love?

It would be easy for us to become exclusive and introverted, but we must guard against that possibility with every fiber of our being lest we fail to fulfill the calling of Christ to Discovery.

Captains Log – February, 1999

Things are moving right along with the new building— that is, moving along in the usual fashion of minor delays and changes. We’ve had windows delivered twice. The first time the windows were damaged as they were being brought up onto the property. Some of the windows survived and are in place on the classroom portion of the building. The second delivery of windows came last week. They were the wrong size. It wouldn’t be a big problem except for the fact that the windows need to be in place for the brick mason to finish up the classroom wing so slabs can be poured for heating and air conditioning equipment which then can be installed and fired up to stabilize the temperature inside the building where some additional slab work needs to be done. One thing leads to another and if the timing sequence gets messed up it throws the whole schedule into a mess.

Your building team is working hard (and harmoniously!) to see that we get the best possible building for our needs within the resources God has made available to us. In May… or June?… when we get into the building it’s going to be a glorious day.

As I said, one thing leads to another. In a Vision Team (Leadership Team) meeting, we discussed the changes that are coming as a result of "one thing leading to another." I would like to share with you briefly about how I see things changing and offer some suggestions as to how we might prepare ourselves. I will also be preaching a special series during Lent (beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 17th) called "The Journey to the Promise."

We must first recognize that Discovery is always changing. We continue to change and grow. However, there have been times when significant change has occurred. Just ask the folks who met in my living room in 1992 what it was like to move to the Met in 1993. Ask the folks who were a part of the church when we went from one service to two. Ask the folks who have seen the changes that have come about as we have added or changed staff. Change is a given. Every person who comes to be a part of Discovery will experience significant events in the life of this church that will require them to adapt and change.

In all of the changes that are necessary, we will always focus on our mission— To help searching people discover new life in Christ. As we grow in and toward this mission, we must be able to adapt.

Here are some things that I expect will not change significantly— our friendly atmosphere, comfortable dress, frequent chaos, no hymnals, lots of laughter, lots of work, lively music, lots of opportunities to be in small groups for study and growth, and culturally relevant worship.

Here are some of the things that I see changing significantly— more room (at least for a little while until we fill it up!), a video screen high enough that we can stand up when we sing, Power Point style presentation of our music words and other visuals, tons and tons of more people, increased expenses, yard work, great food (from our own kitchen), changed lives, warmed hearts, fast growth, nostalgia for the "good old days" (of two, three or four years ago!), new challenges, new opportunities, and the need for each of us to stay even more focused on our mission— to help searching people discover new life in Christ.

I suggest that you begin to pray about how God is going to use you in our new circumstances. Since change is inevitable no matter where we are, why not allow God to work in your heart and life in such a way that you will be able to help others make the transition into our new "home." Pray also for a spirit of hospitality that will not only allow you to welcome new people into our church but will allow you to experience joy as you offer God’s love and grace to all who will come to be a part of our fellowship in the months and years to come.

If you’re not in a small group, call Becky Wadley to help you find one. Being in a small group will help you feel a closeness and intimacy in our congregation— as well as prepare you to be a leader of a small group for the future. With all the folks who will be coming to Discovery, we are going to need secure, growing and hospitable small group leaders. God is calling each of us to change!

Captains Log – December, 1998

I‘ve never celebrated Christmas in the Tropics but it seems like this may that kind of year. Record highs don’t make for thoughts and dreams of "White Christmases." However, on Saturday, Dede, Andrew, Adam, and I went to a host family reunion for all the families who hosted children from Chernobyl this past Summer. Patrick Friday, the mission organizer, had been to Belarus at the end of November and videod the children in their Belarussian homes with their families. The video also showed the weather. When Patrick arrived it was about –2° and when he left it was –15°. There was snow on the ground everywhere.

In the portion of the video where Vitali (our child) and his parents spoke through a translator, we saw Vitali cry as he tried to express how much he missed being here with us. In a letter we had received from Vitali about a month ago, he had expressed concern over the hurricanes we were having and invited us to come and live with him if our home was destroyed!

Vitali’s mother, Luba, also spoke of her appreciatation for all the kindnesses everyone here showed to Vitali while he was here with us. She spoke of the difficulty of life there in Belarus.

Patrick asked her about her experience of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Luba said that both she and her husband were working construction on another reactor located next to the reactor that burned. Her husband was working when the fire started and she began her shift 15 minutes after it started. They were both exposed to high levels of radiation and Luba is no longer able to work. Valeri, Luba’s husband, is a truck driver who made about $30 a month prior to the fall of the Russian Ruble. It is now probably worth between $15 and $20 per month although much of the economy is more barter based now than before.

The home where they live is a three room flat that is only heated part of the day—usually at night. It is a tenement building that was built by all the fathers of the families who would stay in the Ukraine for one week and then go to Druzny to work on the buidling for a week until it was finished. Then their families were allowed to move in.

I say all of this about their dire circumstances because we were surprised to find out that Patrick had brought back gifts from the Belarussian families for all the American families.

It is a humbling experience to receive gifts from people who have so little materially but who seem to have so much love and generosity.

Will our Christmas be any better than theirs? Will we expereince more joy at Christ’s coming into the world than they will? Will our things make this Christmas any more special?

Sometimes our blessings are really a curse. Take a little test for me.

• Have you experienced stress over planning family gatherings for the holidays?
• Have you been concerned about how much money you’re spending?
• Have you found yourself impatient with the increased traffic around the Galleria and other high traffic areas?
• Are you concerned about how your children will respond to the gifts you have selected for them this year?
• Has getting a Furby become your life’s mission?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions then it might be that Christ’s coming has lost it’s place in our holidays.

I don’t plan on being dejected and depressed during these holidays, but I do plan to take some time to seriously reflect on how we’ll celebrate. I’ll be thinking of Vitali and his family as they prepare for the Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7th and how they might celebrate it. I’ll remember their love and their generosity and I’ll say a prayer that their example might become my goal.

Thank you all for a wonderful year in ministry. Thank you for your love and generosity and the many ways you share with me. Thank you for allowing me to be your pastor and for letting me be a part of your life. 1999 is going to be an even more exciting time for us as we reach out together in ministry and mission for our newborn Savior!

Captains Log – November 22, 1998

The holiday season is quickly approaching and we have much to do to prepare ourselves for it. Certainly, there are gifts to be brought, meals to be planned, travel arrangements to be made, decorations to be brought out of storage and put in place, and traditions to be remembered and reenacted. But there is one more thing that needs to be done. We need to remember the reason behind the season.

I know you’ve heard that a million times or more and it is one of those things that is relegated to our "should" list— the list of things we know we "should" do but we don’t have any real strategy for accomplishing it. Rather, we only feel more and more guilty about it all the while we are busy doing the "other" things that are a part of the season.

Don’t feel guilty! I’ve got a plan that might help you find your way around the holidays with a keen sense of God’s presence in all your busy-ness.

First, ask your children to add a stranger to their "wish list." Set a limit on what your children can ask for this Christmas. Limits are not a bad thing— if your children can’t learn to face them now how will they be able to deal with them as adults? These limits might be a monetary limit, or a number of gifts limit, or a kind of gifts limit. Once you’ve established this limit with your child, tell them that within that limit they should also choose a gift for someone who is less fortunate than themselves. Setting the limit and having your child give to another from within this limit accomplishes three things: 1) Your child learns about limits; 2) You can teach your child through this experience that everything we have is a gift from God and we give to others through the gifts we have received; and 3) when you are shopping for your child’s gifts you can feel good that it is not as much a practice in self-indulgence as it could have been.

Second, when you’re out and about ,see yourself as a crusader for all that is good about the season. In the Galleria parking lot, let someone who is trying to turn into the flow of traffic in ahead of you. Sing carols while you wait (because you better not go to the mall if you don’t have time to wait!). Smile at the cashier who is stressed out by the uncharitable and unforgiving people who seem to be more uncharitable and more unforgiving the closer it gets to Christmas. If someone drops something, pick it up for them and hand it back to them with a warm, "Merry Christmas." When you find yourself lacking energy for the "crusade," go stand against a wall (because you know the benches will be full!) and take three deep breaths— praying this simple prayer with each exhale— "Thank you ,God, for baby Jesus."

Third, wrap each present with a mental picture of the one who will receive it. Let each task you perform this season be another gift to the person for whom you are doing it. As you visualize them, say a prayer of thanks for them and ask God to bless them in their journey of faith. Think of specific things for which you are grateful that they are part of your life. Maybe the gift your wrapping is for someone in your family or from your work with whom you don’t have the best relationship. Make an extra effort to pray for them (and you) and see how God might be leading you to move in that relationship.

Fourth, say "I love you" more to those you love. This season marks the love of God as he gave us his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Every time you say "I love you" to someone thank God for them in your heart and thank God for his love for you. Make an extra effort to let that person know what is about them that makes them special to you.

Fifth, stay connected with God through regular worship. We are planning some special services of worship that will help keep you focused on the significance of what the season is about. The fellowship, the re-telling of the story of God’s gift of his Son to us, the sacrament of Holy Communion, the singing, the praying, the sharing will all help you stay connected with God.

Sixth, if you have not received God’s love through Jesus Christ as your own, let this be the year you receive it!

The most important way to celebrate this season is to acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That’s why he came. Jesus is God’s gift of love to us so that we might know the joyful life for which he created us. Merry Christmas!

Captains Log – September 22, 1998

We have been preparing for the past several weeks for the initiation of a Small Group Ministry for Discovery. In a culture where distant and guarded relationships are the norm, I feel it is important that we all have a safe place to "be ourselves" and to share our hopes and our hurts. We often feel that we have to meet people's expectations about what we should think and feel about matters of faith. We often feel that people are not interested in our personal struggles or how these struggles impact our understanding of God and our ability to believe in him. For these reasons, I believe a Small Group Ministry is essential to our individual spiritual journeys.

We already have several groups that meet, including three Disciple Bible Study courses, the Friday Morning Men's Prayer Group, and an Emmaus Reunion Group. If you spoke with people who are a part of any of these groups, you would find enthusiastic and energetic support for what involvement in a small group could do for you. God is doing some great things in people's lives through these small groups.

The life-changing experiences of these people can be your life-changing experiences as well. For that reason, I want to encourage you to make being a part of a small group a priority in your life.

We are going to be organizing our Small Group Ministry around the Renovarč model (see article on page 1 about the Renovarč Conference on October 16th & 17th). The composition and the time of the groups will be up to you. Some people may want to be a part of same gender group, a Singles' group, a Couples' group, or an age-related group. Some people will be able to meet during the day while others may not be able to meet until the evening or even later at night. I am committed to seeing that anyone who wants to be a part of a small group will be able to do so regardless of their schedule.

Initially, these groups will meet for six weeks for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours each week. However, I hope that this experience is so rich for people that these groups will want to continue. Even if some groups have only a few people who want to continue, we are prepared to combine or otherwise accommodate these groups so that they can continue to meet and develop spiritually maturing persons.

We are in the process of recruiting Small Group Leaders whose primary responsibility will be to facilitate the Small Group Sessions. You don't have to be a Bible scholar or a trained counselor to lead these groups. All it requires is a love for others and a willingness to be trained on October 13th. You will receive all the training you need to facilitate the Small Group Process that will help people grow in their faith and in their other relationships.

Our mission statement is "to help searching people discover new life in Christ." Engaging in Small Group Ministry is one way that we can accomplish our mission. I envision that these groups will not only help people grow personally, but that these groups will become the primary vehicle through which our church invites people into a meaningful and dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ.

I recognize that there are all kinds of reasons why people think they can't or shouldn't do a small group. However, I can think of no reason "not to be a part of a small group" that outweighs the benefits of sharing in one. Regardless of your schedule, your fears, your need for privacy or even your lack of trust, I think if you decide to participate in a small group, you will experience the kind of personal and spiritual growth you never dreamed possible. Give it a try!

The Captain’s Log, July 28, 1998

I visited the property three times on the first day the bulldozer arrived. I only went twice on the second day and once on the third day (they were working on Saturday!). I told the bulldozer operator that I didn’t know who he was but I had been praying for him for six years.

It’s an amazing feeling watching a dream become a reality as men on heavy equipment move dirt around. I can’t really make heads or tails of what they’re doing and how they are going to accomplish this project, but nonetheless I have marveled at the sight of something happening.

This is not the first time that I have had to wait to see how hard work and planning could reap some results. Unfortunately, there have been many times in my life that I worked hard at achieving something or creating something only to have to wait for the results to be fully realized. There have even been times that I felt like my efforts were totally wasted. In my spiritual journey, this has really been true.

As I practice the disciplines of the faith such as prayer, study, and service, I often expect to see immediate results, only to find myself left even more spiritually hungry than when I first started. There are times when I pray constantly in hopes of some spiritual breakthrough only to find myself waiting for an interminable amount of time with seemingly no positive results. And then, I get discouraged.

But then the miracle happens. Often, after I have completely forgotten about my request, my effort and my disappointment, God surprises me. And God’s timing is impeccable! God comes through at just the right time with the right answer to my prayers, and, they are not usually how I would have answered them.

I have struggled trying to understand how God’s timing has come into play with regard to our building. As I have said before, if you had asked me six years ago when I thought we would be in a building I would have told you within two years from that time. As you can see, I’m not a prophet!!! But why has it taken us so long to even get started? I can see how God’s hand has been at work developing our congregation in such a way that we will be far stronger the day we enter that building for our first worship service than we would have been four years ago. I can see how God has shaped and re-shaped our congregation in that time in such a way that we have been better prepared to deal with some of the things that have arisen. However, is this just God making good out of a bad situation? Is it possible that God intended for us to be in a building sooner, however, because of our errors in reading his will, we may have missed the opportunity he presented?

Many times in our lives we are faced with choices— some obvious and others not so obvious— in which we are called to discern God’s will. Sometimes we make the right choice. Other times we choose to ignore God (or not even seek his voice) and we do our own thing. This "ignore-ance" or disobedience is called "sin."

I don’t want to take any of the wind out of our sails as we move forward with our building project, but I do think that we need to keep our eyes and ears open to God’s leading so that we can say with confidence we haven’t missed an opportunity to do things God’s way.

The best way to insure this happens, is through focusing on our relationship with God and nurturing that relationship with prayer, study and service. God will lead us to every opportunity that awaits us but it is our responsibility to be found faithful in responding to his leading.

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