8 BOCNEWS.com JULY 2019 Pastor Lynn Miller Jackson Her tenure is over and she will be truly missed at Scott United Methodist Church. Pastor Lynn Miller Jackson is leav- ing Denver after being the pastor at Scott United Methodist Church for the past five years. She has been reassigned to Hilltop United Methodist Church in Sandy, Utah. “It’s a bittersweet time. I love Denver. I love my Scott United Methodist Church family. I am deeply connected here. But going to Sandy, Utah, I am just going where God calls me,” said Pastor Lynn Jackson. It’s a normal transition and not unusual within the United Methodist Church to reassign their clergy to expe- rience sharing God’s word at churches in other cities. Pastor Lynn Jackson is originally from Atlanta. She found it quite a tran- sition moving to Denver from Atlanta. “There is a different temperament of people, different speed of life where the east coast is a faster pace and every- one is always in a hurry.” Now ready for her next journey in ministry, she is ready to share the word of God with the people in Utah who she found to be kindhearted and open-minded. Having worked in the corporate world as a commercial property man- ager for years, Pastor Lynn Jackson said it gave her the background to go into ministry. “I retired from commercial property management and then began to really understand my calling. I was involved in my church in Atlanta. I decided to go back to Emory University to visit. My heart said you are home, this is what you are meant to do. So I went to seminary school. And as I was about to graduate, I met the district superintendent for the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church. He said let’s stay in touch and within a couple of weeks I was offered to locate to Denver and lead the church.” During her short time in Colorado, she had hoped to see more churches engage in ecumenical endeavors. “I am being prayerful as I move through the world not to live in the audacity of comfort but consider how to contribute to the wholeness of oth- ers and communities. Each of us has a unique purpose, just as we have unique fingerprints…” “The question to ask is what is the impression we wish to leave on the hearts, mind and spirit of those we encounter. We are in a specific time and place in a season for a reason.” In her final departing words, she refers to Paul from the book of Phillipians: “What is true, what is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if anything is excel- lent or praiseworthy - think about such things.” “We need to think above and beyond opening hearts and raising the tides of being more compassionate catalysts for fruitful change.” Governor Polis and the Black Community The Governor of Colorado was invit- ed to a meeting/session of the Colorado Black Roundtable on how he plans to connect to the Black com- munity. “It was important to hear from the members of the Colorado Black Round Table and others on what we can do to better serve the African American com- munity,” stated Governor Jared Polis. “We want full inclusion and engage- ment on what the state is doing to lift all our communities of color.” During the meeting, the governor pushed blacks to get on boards and commissions. John Bailey, president of the Colorado Black Roundtable, said blacks have been on these boards for years and didn’t really help the black community. He wanted to see board or commission that dealt directly with the black community and were a direct line to the governor’s office to deal with pressing issues in the black com- munity. “We thought, him being a new gov- ernor, that he needed to hear from our community and engage in our com- munity to be proactive and construc- tive for him and us,” added Bailey on how the round table discussion also was about focusing on more jobs and opportunities for blacks around the state. “We don’t need to be authorized or qualified by the Polis administration (to be on commissions and boards). So the question is just doing the right thing.” POLITICS PROFILE By Sheila Smith By Sheila Smith Jered Polis (front, second from left) sits in on Colorado Balck Round Table session Lynn and Mark Jackson We need to think above and beyond opening hearts and raising the tides of being more compassionate catalysts for fruitful change.