From the pastor's pen...

DECEMBER 2018

Dear Church Family,

           As most of you know, November was a busy month for the church. Construction was completed in the fellowship hall with the installation of a new hardwood floor in the main hall and a new laminate entrance way floor. We also had part of the kitchen floor, which had sustained water damage, replaced. Work was done on kitchen cabinets and our ovens were pulled out, degreased, and replaced. Now we are happy that our feeding ministries are back up and running. The soup kitchen is busy serving meals and the food pantry distributed over 220 Thanksgiving baskets for our neighbors in need!

 We’re also busy feeding souls this season. Our adult Bible study of the book of Judges has been challenging and well-received. Worship has been meaningful and we’ve been able to enjoy both traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs on Sundays. We participated in the interfaith Thanksgiving service, giving thanks for our many blessings with people of many faith traditions. Our children have been working on stories about families in the Old Testament of the Bible. Now, they are working on their annual Christmas pageant.

We have continued to move forward with our affiliation with the United Church of Christ. I attended a meeting in October with the UCC’s church and ministry commission. We expect our church, along with three other RCA churches in our area, to be received as a congregation of the United Church of Christ in early December. Our members will belong to both the Reformed Church in America and the United Church of Christ. This affiliation helps to protect our church and pastor if brought up on charges by the RCA for our positions on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. It will re-direct some of our assessment money in 2020. We also look forward to new resources and ministry opportunities as we work with the UCC. While we hope that the RCA will be able to resolve its unhappy divisions over issues of sexuality, we rejoice in the welcome we have received from the UCC. This is a direction we have been pursuing for several years.

December will be an exciting month for us as we prepare for the birth of the baby Jesus. Max Lucado says that the virgin birth is more, much more than a Christmas story; it is a picture of how close Christ will come to you. The first stop in his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep within Mary for an answer. And better still, look deep within yourself. What he did with Mary, he offers to us. He issues a Mary-level invitation to all his children. If you let him, he’ll move in.

May Christ move in with you this Christmas!

                                                                                                                                      Christmas love and blessings,

                                                Rev. Dawn Seaman