Hi! My name is Marty Singley – little “Butchie” Singley to those who knew me back in the old neighborhood off Clark St. in Worcester, MA. I know it’s hard to believe, but I grew up to become an ordained minister. Really.

After serving churches in Massachusetts for a number of years, my wife Sandy and I moved South in 1996 – to an exciting interdenominational church recently planted in a new community called Tellico Village in Loudon, Tennessee. I came to love the South for many reasons including the fact you have to say “shit” using three or more syllables. She-ee-ii-tt! That’s how God intended it to be said. Trust me on that one.

Well, after 40 years of ministry and 18 years at Tellico I decided to retire (May 2014). Having undergone quadruple by-pass surgery in 2012 I became convinced it was time to devote more of my life to my family. So I brought my ministry to a close. The Tellico congregation honored me with the designation of Pastor Emeritus. As I recall my High School Latin “e” means you’re out and “meritus” means you deserve it. That’s a joke.

Sandy and I had four great years of retirement, spending lots of time with our kids and grandkids, visiting friends, and cruising the Caribbean as well as the rivers of Europe. But in 2018 Sandy was diagnosed with gastric cancer. She fought valiantly but seven months later lost her battle with that dreadful disease.

Never saw that coming. In all our future planning I was supposed to be the first to go. Know what I mean…?

Since that time I’ve been trying to be the best dad I can be to my daughter here in Lexington, KY and my son in Holden, MA. They have wonderful families of their own and I can proudly say I have four of the most amazing grandchildren to ever come down the pike!

In the meantime I’ve been trying to figure out how I can be of help to other ministers. Years ago I started a website (www.martysingley.com) to share messages and stuff with preachers and other sermon junkies. I have decades worth of sermons I preached over the years and tons of stories to illustrate them. Not saying they are great sermons, but there are sometimes brilliant flashes of the Holy Spirit that can be found. I know the strain of preparing sermons week after week and thought I might just share some resources that might inspire others in their own sermon writing. Please feel free to use any of this stuff you’d like. Attribution would be nice but is not required. Hey, we’re all in this together!

So lately I’ve been revamping www.martysingley.com to make it easier to find stuff. I’m a fan of the Revised Common Lectionary so most of the sermons are organized to follow those texts. Most were preached by me or my associates at Tellico Village Community Church.

A lot of motivation for getting the website going again comes from my new wife Jane Gannaway. We met in 2020 at the Stetson University Pastors School. Jane is a brilliant woman with an extensive executive career. Before retiring, Jane lived in China for 12 years working for Yum!Brands and Starbucks Asia. She has a great international perspective on the news and events of the day. Oh, and her dad is a retired Presbyterian minister.

So here we are living in retirement, or “rewirement” as Jane likes to say. We are a couple on a journey to God-knows-where. And that’s a good thing! As you get to know us you’ll discover that we especially enjoy exploring life on “the other side of the hedge.”

If you’re familiar with E.M. Forster’s story by that title, you know it’s about a guy who runs the same hedge-bordered path every day until one fateful day when he pauses to rest, feels a slight breath of air coming from the hedge, peeks inside, and falls through the overgrowth into a whole new world of beauty on the other side. Wow! What surprises await on “the other side of the hedge!”

So let me invite you to come along and probe the “other side” of things.

I hope you find my musings helpful – provocative – inspiring – maybe even infuriating. Don’t be shy about sharing your thoughts in the comments sections of each post. Of course, if I don’t like them (or if they are offensive) I just won’t approve them! Seriously, I try not to be restrictive in publishing reader comments. Just don’t be a jerk.

I hope you have a great day, friends! Squeeze it – and each other – for all you’re worth!

Yours truly,

“Butchie” Singley