From the pastor's pen...

 

DECEMBER 2020

 

 

Dear Church Family,

            For most of us, Christmas this year won’t be like any other. It’s difficult to imagine the Sunday before Christmas here in church without our annual children’s Christmas pageant. We’ll miss seeing those shepherds and angels traipsing up the center aisle and hearing those little voices singing Joy to the World. No Christmas party in the fellowship hall, no Santa.

            But it’s important to remember that while our celebrations may look and feel different, the reason for the season is the same. Jesus is the reason for the season! We celebrate the birth of our Savior. We give thanks to God for this most perfect gift. So despite the circumstances, may you feel joy this Christmas season!

            The Consistory and I ask for your patience and understanding of the challenges involved in the scheduling of church services for this month. It is difficult to make decisions about in-person worship as the number of coronavirus cases has been increasing again in New Jersey. ALL DECISIONS ABOUT DECEMBER WORSHIP ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE, so please read the announcements carefully in your weekly bulletins. Decisions about in-person worship will be also posted on the home page of our website: www.communitychurchofkeyportnj.org. We will post announcements on our Facebook and Instagram pages, too.         

            At this time, Sunday services for December will be virtual only; livestreaming on Facebook Live at 10 a.m. We are planning to have two Christmas Eve services at 5 pm and 7 pm. Attendance will be limited to 35 people (25% capacity) to keep in-person attendance numbers low and to make social distancing possible. Reservations will be required for these services. Beginning Dec. 1st, let me know if you would like to attend in person and we will maintain sign-up sheets for these services. If interest in in-person attendance is low for Christmas Eve, we will simply offer one service that evening.

            My much-loved congregation, I know how difficult these past months have been. But I encourage you to look into the manger this Christmas. What do you see? Can you see past the darkness, the dirt, the disarray; can you see past the masks and the distancing and the quarantines, to see God’s gift to you: the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God?! The God who loves you unconditionally, in all of your less than perfectness, a God who requires nothing of you to receive the gift of forgiveness and eternal life but acceptance.

            What do you see? This Christmas, see the God of love and grace. Rejoice, be happy, for to you, in your life, your imperfect life, is born a Savior, God’s perfect Christmas gift to us all. May we all have eyes to see it, the mind to know it, and the life to reflect it.

            I wish you a blessed Christmas filled with hope, peace, love, and joy.

                                       

                                                In Christ's service,

                                   

                                                Rev. Dawn Seaman