From the pastor's pen...

JUNE 2021

Dear Church Family,

            Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus!

            After 14 months, we are looking forward to gathering together again for in-person worship in June! However, the health and safety of our members and our worship teams will still be of primary concern. Everyone is asked to follow the protocols listed on page 4 of this month’s Church Chatter.  Because we cannot open our stained glass windows, our front and back doors serve as our primary means of ventilation. Therefore, we are asking that you wear your masks and maintain social distance inside the Sanctuary.  We will not be holding fellowship hours or children’s programming in June.

          We are hoping to come back to a full slate of activities in the fall. We will be holding a planning meeting in July for our Kids’ CLUB (Sunday School) and toddler room programs. Please let me know if you would be willing to work with our children in some capacity. You can text or call me.

            Many churches have suffered extreme financial hardship, membership loss, and loss of connection during the pandemic. Thanks be to God, we have survived. On behalf of the Consistory and myself, I want to extend heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been faithfully viewing worship and faithfully sending your tithes and offerings to the church. We have suffered a number of member deaths in the past four months and we grieve these losses. 

            Denominational updates:

       The United Church of Christ is going to hold its General Synod virtually this July. There will be opportunities for us to view parts of the worship and business aspects of this denominational meeting. I will be including links in the July Chatter.

       The Reformed Church in America has currently postponed its annual General Synod to October 2021 (although this may still be canceled due to Covid restrictions). The RCA has yet to deal with the Vision 2020 Report recommendations and the General Secretary and other groups have been designing some new possible structures. There is a push by some conservatives to create new classes which would increase conservative voting power in the future. This is still a fractured denomination. A new website has been created to disseminate RCA information by progressives in the denomination. You can find this information at www.rcaforward.com.

            I look forward to seeing you – in person or on screen – in June!                            

            Happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers!

                                                In Christ's service,

                                                Rev. Dawn Seaman