ASBURY FIRST MONDAY READER | OCTOBER 26, 2026

CONTENTS:

HORROR GOES TO CHURCH by JO URRIOLA-SCHONEWOLF

GIVING THAT GIVES BACK by JOSEPH STANKAITIS

Note: Horror is not for every person or every age, and some horror movies are never good for anyone! I want to offer the perspective that it's okay or even good for us church people to watch horror sometimes, but that doesn't mean that this year is the year you sit down and watch It as a family.

I did not grow up loving horror. Sure, my dad has a complete collection of the published works of Stephen King, and yes, my parents' attic is packed with our myriad Halloween yard decorations over the years, and yeah, the house I grew up in was maybe haunted, but I myself was a bit of a scaredy cat when it came to the spooky. Like many of my generation, I loved Disney's Fantasia, except for "Night on Bald Mountain" (and that horrific dinosaur battle!) and I enjoyed listening to the folk tales our substitute teacher would tell us, but I could not abide Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. (Those illustrations haunt me to this day.)

But that all changed when I discovered the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. WTNV is presented as a community radio show from a small town out in the southwest desert where the strange and horrifying is an everyday occurrence. From the dog park where dogs are not allowed (because the shadowy hooded figures need a place to be) to the library where many-mouthed monsters stalk the shelves, the citizens of Night Vale have learned how to keep themselves safe in an unsafe world, together.

From there, the world of horror opened wide. I listened to other horror podcasts, I picked up some of those Stephen King novels, and I began to dip my toe into horror movies. I took a leap and watched Mike Flanagan's "The Haunting of Hill House" and as I watched the Crane family fall apart and come back together despite the house trying to consume them, I finally saw horror for all it could be: stories that help us feel, practice, and advocate. It's oddly similar to what we do in worship.

Horror helps us feel. A large part of my thesis research focused on religious experiences, especially experiences of awe and wonder. Awe is what our sanctuary tries to evoke in us with its high ceilings and stained glass, drawing our eyes up toward the heavens. Wonder is what we might experience at the foot of Niagara Falls or when a delighted baby giggles during baptism. These experiences can bring us closer to each other and to God.

Horror is the flip side of awe. Rather than drawing us closer, horror tells us to run away. While the sanctuary invites us to awe, horror compels us to react. More generously, horror gives you permission to feel. You're supposed to be disgusted and scared and nervous when you read or watch or listen to horror. That's the whole point. It's encouraged! If you're having trouble connecting to those awe and wonder feelings, give horror a try. It just might crack you open enough to let some light in.

Horror can help us practice. There are many ways to understand what we do in worship, but one way to think about worship is as rehearsal. In worship, we rehearse who we want to be out in the world. We greet each other. We read and listen to stories and discussions about how to love one another better. We listen to good music together. We meditate on the good and bad in the world and we make promises to each other about what we're going to do about it. For an hour each week in the sanctuary, we rehearse our Christian life out in the world.

Horror helps us practice too. For those with anxiety, horror can be a place where we see our worst fears played out and we see how people survive those fears (most of the time). Each time we scream, "Don't go into the basement!", we're practicing how to keep ourselves safe. Each time we see the Big Bad of a horror movie move in the background, we're teaching ourselves to pay attention to how things move in the real world. Even as we watch the unlikely timeline in which Michael Myers goes after every single one of Jamie Lee Curtis's friends before finding her, we're practicing compassion and concern in the face of depravity.  

Horror can help us advocate. What we feel and practice in worship helps us advocate for others in our community. Each week, we ground ourselves in the truth that God loves us, our neighbors, and our enemies. We learn about the places in the world that God is calling us to notice and we restore and prepare ourselves for that work.

Horror has a mixed history when it comes to advocacy (but hey, so does the church!) and it has a long legacy of confronting social issues in a way that holds up a mirror for us. From powerful ending of Night of the Living Dead (Romero pulls no punches about the reality of racial violence in the US) to the incisive social commentary of the 1992 Candyman to the mind-bending world of Us, horror gives us an unflinching look at what we've built and begs us to do something better.

Horror isn't perfect and it isn't for everyone (but hey, neither is worship!). If this piece has shifted your thinking on the horror genre at all, though, let me know! I'd be happy to send along an Intro to Horror viewing list that just might take you to church. 

Jo Urriola-Schonewolf is the Coordinator for Age-Level Ministries at Asbury First. To continue this conversation, reach out to them by email at jurriolaschonewolf@asburyfirst.org or call (585) 271-1050 x111.

Attention Retirees, Especially Those Receiving Medicare Benefits!

Explore How Supporting AFUMC’s Ministries Can Potentially be a Financial Win-Win for You!

If you have Medicare Part B or Part D coverage, your monthly costs could look drastically different from the “standard” rates due to the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA), which is a progressive surcharge added directly to Medicare premiums reflecting the Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) as it falls into one of several income brackets in an annually produced table by CMS. It’s not uncommon to find a situation where a single dollar of excess income ends up costing individuals thousands of dollars in annual surcharges. Thus, thoughtfully managing one’s retirement income has significant financial implications for many retirees.

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are the minimum amounts that individuals age 73 years and older must annually withdraw from their traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, and retirement plan accounts. An individual’s RMD amount changes annually based on the individual’s age, the total remaining applicable retirement funds balance, the individual’s life expectancy, and the individual’s beneficiaries’ life expectancies. Typically, as an individual successfully ages, the RMD amount which they will be required to withdraw tends to also increase. Failure to withdraw the full amount of the RMD may result in the amount not withdrawn being subject to an excise tax of 25%. 

Individuals are taxed at their income tax rate on the amount of the withdrawn RMD and this sum is included in the MAGI which may impact an individual’s IRMAA. There is a way to meet the RMD requirement without generating one’s taxable income by donating as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) some of the annual RMD amount to a charity, such as Asbury First United Methodist Church and/or the Community Outreach Center at Asbury First. This in effect provides a charitable donation, meets the RMD requirement, yet lowers the MAGI which may effectively decrease one’s IRMMA by moving the individual into a lower income bracket, potentially saving significant money from a lower Medicare surcharge. Consequently, this potentially can become a “Win-Win” for you and Asbury First’s ministries. To find out more details, come to the upcoming Financial Management Seminar at Asbury First and/or speak with your own financial/tax advisor. This can be a way of making generosity work well for everyone!

Would you like to submit a story for inclusion in a future Monday Reader? Please do! 
We'd love to hear from you. Email David Stith at dstith@asburyfirst.org to get started.