From the Pastor…
It has been so encouraging to see folks come back to church! If you haven’t joined us in person again, I hope that you will be able to do so soon. Part of the reason it has been so great is that we are gathering for our small groups again – Sunday School, Missions Groups and Wednesday night Bible Study. This month we return to the Fellowship Hall on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm (and we will have hot coffee ready)! If you are not yet involved in these small groups, please join us this month to find out what you have been missing.
Please don’t take this as a careless or cavalier move. We will continue to provide sanitizer stations and masks will be available to anyone who chooses to wear one. According to the CDC, social distancing and masks are still recommended for unvaccinated individuals while indoors. While we recognize the agonizing months of isolation and the painful losses so many have experienced, we celebrate the opportunity to join together in-person with our church family.
We will begin the month with our Independence Day Cookout celebration. Sunday, July 4th, we will gather for burgers, hot dogs, and all the trimmings. We ask everyone to pitch in by providing canned drinks or bottled water and desserts (individually wrapped, please). We will serve in the fellowship hall and each person can decide to eat inside our outside. There will be a time for fellowship and games as well. We will begin at 5 pm so anyone who has plans for the evening can attend and still have time to enjoy other festivities.
Vacation Bible School will also begin on the 4th. Carmen will have kits for each child to take home to complete the virtual aspect of VBS, and she will be leading the kids in VBS during Children’s Church each Sunday morning in July. This is sure to be a hit with everyone!
We have children and youth who will be attending summer camps this year and there will be opportunities for all of us to be involved in mission projects.
Many families have been – or will be – going on vacation this summer (for some it has been a very long time coming). Please be safe as you travel and remember that you are a missionary wherever you may be. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” When you return from your travels, make sure to be found serving in your place in your church. I can’t wait to see you here!
In Christian Love,
Pastor Billy