Rev. Mike Austin here. I am the new pastor of the Alleghany/Grayson Charge of the United Methodist Church.  Wow! I have been here almost 4 weeks and I have been welcomed, loved and made to feel at home. Truly the love of Christ lives in the lives of the people and community of Shiloh UMC, Piney Creek UMC, and Cox’s Chapel UMC.

                I would to give you Just a bit about me and my family.  I was raised the son of a Baptist preacher and a saint of a mother that put up with my father, my brother and I, and two sisters.  Mom and dad still live in the home place between Boone and Blowing Rock NC.  After some time of exploring the things of the world, I married a beautiful woman, to whom I have been married for twenty-nine years.  She too is a saint for putting up with me.  She is retired from the NC school system.  We were raised by three wonderful children, Jared, Caleb and Hannah.  Jared lived eighteen years with Duchene MD.  He taught us what was important in life and touched many more lives for Christ than anyone I know and possibly will ever know.  Caleb and Hannah taught us that living together as a cohesive family we can survive the hardest of times.  We survived the teenage years and Caleb is twenty-one and Hannah is twenty.

                When I married Lynda, I also married into the United Methodist Church.   There we were shown much love and it soon became my choice of membership. There I was nurtured through the calling that I had always known. In 2003, I entered the Ministry and was given my first appointment at ¼ time in the Greensboro district. In 2004, I was moved to full time in the High Point district where I had two churches. In 2006, I moved to the Waynesville district and served 5 years before coming to Sparta.

                It is my belief that the heart of the United Methodist Church is in the rural churches. Methodism began out of small group meetings and I believe that it is where we will bring about a great revival of not only Methodism but in all of Christendom.  We as Christians must learn tolerance of all peoples and nations and stand together for what is right according to the word of God.  We are no one’s Judge, only Servants of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.   Our Services should be to all people by showing them the love of God.  I believe that we should serve the church of our choice with our witness, prayers, gifts, time and talents.  We must also begin a new conversation with the world, one that speaks to them where they are and to whom they are and allow the Grace of God to mold them in the way God would have them be.

                The people of the three churches that make up the Alleghany/Grayson Charge are people who have been shaped by the love of God.  We are people with open hearts, minds, and doors.  Our Mission is to follow Jesus, and make Disciples for the transformation of the world.  We are working for the Kingdom of God first and foremost.