Rev. Dan Albrant serves as the pastor for both Mineral and Mt. Pleasant UMC’s.
Welcome to the website for the Mineral-Mount Pleasant Charge of The United Methodist Church! We are very glad you stopped by for a visit and to learn more about us. Our churches have been yoked together in a charge (that is they share one pastor) since 1947. The churches themselves are only about 6 miles apart, one in the town of Mineral, and the other closer to the town of Louisa.
I have been the pastor of this Charge since July 2022. I was pastor of the Madison Charge in Madison, Virginia, from July 2017 to June 2022. Prior to that I was a hospital clinical pharmacist, practicing in intensive care, emergency departments, and operating rooms. I served as a consultant on new pharmacist practices and quality improvement as well as designing and implementing new training programs for pharmacists to improve patient outcomes.
You may be wondering how I got from Pharmacy to Ministry? Good question…it was an evolution. I was called by God to be a pharmacist, of that I am certain. During my time working in the high stress, low touch environment of intensive care, I began to feel disquieted in my soul. Something was missing – I needed to care for people in a different and more wholistic way. So, God moved me along a path of rejoining church, getting involved in Stephen Ministry as a minister and leader, and in an intentional period of spiritual growth. All this took about 12 years before I found myself at age 50 with the strong desire to attend Seminary. I attended Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, from 2013 to 2017 and graduated with a Masters of Divinity degree with honors.
The United Methodist Church has gone through a season of change with disaffiliation of about 20% of its churches. That time has now ended, and both of these churches remain firmly United Methodist under the care and direction of our Resident Bishop. Our worship style is Traditional, and sermons come directly from the weekly scripture readings of the Revised Common Lectionary (used by many Christian denominations). There is a Choir at the Mineral UMC and many wonderful ministries for you to engage in at both churches. We hope that you will come and give us a try one Sunday. You will be warmly welcomed, and we believe that you will feel like you are at home.
I love serving the rural church and her people. My wife and I have found a home here at Lake Anna and we look forward to many years of ministry outreach, worship, fellowship and fun. We enjoy sharing our lives with those whom God has called to be the church of Jesus Christ. We have two young adult sons, one of whom flies for NetJets and the other who is training to be an electrician. Our black Labrador, Hope, rounds out our immediate family. Let me know how I might be of service to you, or how we might pray for people or situations that are important to you. You can find copies of my sermons under the "Blogs" tab and links to other resources for your spiritual journey. May God bless you on your way!
Overflow
Living near a large body of water or even a small-ish stream makes me more aware of the possibility that too much water could fall and that the body of water can overflow its bank. I have seen pictures of the last time that happened at Lake Anna, and it is good to remember the consequences, especially when we are drier than normal and folks are praying without ceasing for rain to fall in sufficient quantities to get the Lake back to “full pool”. There is a sophisticated dam at the far end of the Lake that can release water as needed, but there are consequences of that for those who live along the river downstream.
There are times when our lives get over-filled as well. Being a pastor of two churches finds me at certain times of the year with more to do than I have capacity to get done. The excess overflows and I feel inundated and overwhelmed until the busyness subsides and a sense of normalcy returns. All of our lives are like that. We all have seasons where we our lives are full to overflowing – running kids around, while taking care of aging parents, our own health issues, community and church activities – it can be way too much all at once. An overflowing life can cause problems for us, just like it can in nature.
The Bible tells us about an overflowing that happens from God that is a good kind of too much. The 23rd Psalm speaks of God’s abundant grace (i.e., God’s freely given gift of love) being poured out on us. The psalmist sings of God preparing a table for us as we are surrounded by enemies, how God anoints us and reminds us that we are royalty, and that God continues to pour blessings onto us until our lives and world overflow. It is no wonder that the song finishes with the understanding that God’s goodness and mercy (or love) will be with us throughout our lives and that God will live with us always.
That is the blessed assurance that keeps me afloat when my life and the things of the world threaten to overwhelm me. Our God is a God of abundance not scarcity, and it is commonplace for God to pour out grace on us to the point where it is running off our heads and into the world around us. The poets among us have captured that in many ways. I was at a meeting recently where one of the participants shared a muse that reminded me just how blessed we are.
The poem “Drinking From The Saucer”, was written by John Paul Moore. It goes like this: “I’ve never made a fortune, and I’ll never make one now. But it doesn’t really matter ‘cause I’m happy anyhow. As I go along my journey, I’m reaping better than I sowed. I’m drinking from the saucer ‘cause my cup has overflowed. I don’t have a lot of riches, and sometimes the going’s tough, but with kin and friends to love me, I think I’m rich enough. I thank God for the blessings that His mercy has bestowed, I’m drinking from the saucer ‘cause my cup has overflowed. He gives me strength and courage when the way grows steep and rough, I’ll not ask for other blessings for I’m already blessed enough. May we never be too busy to help bear another’s load, then we’ll all be drinking from the saucer when our cups have overflowed.”
Your life may be full to overflowing right now – with blessings or busyness or both. This week, I’d like to invite you to come to a faith community and be surrounded by people just like you. They are navigating the waters of life, trying to not get overwhelmed, and turning their hearts and minds over to God’s overflowing blessings. They are also bearing each other’s load and finding that shared life together to be another of God’s blessings. God created us to be in community to share our lives. I pray that you all find a community of support that blesses you. May you all experience the overflowing love of God!