March 2010

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PASTOR'S PAGE

Dear Friends,

We will spend this month in Lent. Does that mean that we will live differently in the month of March? Have you taken on a new spiritual discipline? Have you given up a favorite something? How’s it going? It is always hard to make changes in our lives. Will these changes continue after the celebration of Easter?

The Session will spend time this month looking at scripture, praying and then reflecting by journaling. The purpose of this new experience for them is to discern the future of the Presbytery. Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery went through a major refocus about ten years ago. Now it is time to look again and see what is working and what is not working. We believe that God can guide us into the future that will be filled with important ministry.

In order to find where God is guiding, every Elder is asked to spend ten days in a row praying, reading a specific scripture passage and then answering some questions. Our session’s answers will be compiled into one response and sent back to presbytery. Our responses will be then compared with all the other church’s responses. This will then inform the future direction of the ministry of the presbytery.

The Church continues to go through a time of significant change. We are in the midst of a huge reformation of the church and how we accomplish the ministry to which God calls us. It is said that the Church goes through a major change every five hundred years; the Reformation, the first split of the church into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. This period of time usually lasts 150 years. This current shift in the church was first noticed in 1968, but began before that. We won’t know what will be the result of this time of change. Does it help to know that it is not just us that are searching for the answer? That it is not just this congregation, or the PCUSA, or the Christian Church that is searching for the future? Can we walk into the future following God, trusting that God has a future for us and for the Church? Are we all praying for direction and guidance as we move each day into a new future?

As a congregation, we have made some significant changes over the years, and we cannot stop making changes. We are going to have to make some decisions about worship and how we continue to worship together. There has not been the response we had prayed for to our evening service. The Session will be discerning what our next steps will be in the next few months. We have tried many ways to reach the community. There are plans underway for inviting the community to participate in the life of our congregation.

I have been learning more about the internet and how growing Presbyterian Churches are using Facebook, meetup.com and other sites to invite the community to events. Talking with people from the community, I have learned more about what people are looking for and how we may be able to respond.

We have begun the Welcoming Table and have consistently had eight to twelve members of the community come to dinner. This week we are beginning to personally invite people to come. The hope is that more people come. We are also beginning to invite other groups from the community to participate with us in this mission project.

The Presbyterian Women are having another fashion show and brunch. This was very well attended and very much enjoyed the first time. On May 1 we will see wedding fashions through the last century. Of course there will be awesome food and great fellowship. This is an opportunity to invite others to our church

The youth have expressed an interest in having a movie and game night to invite their friends to here at the church. Plans are beginning to have it on Thursday, March 18, 3:30 to 8:00. There will be movies, board games, music, food and lots of fun.

I think that the only thing that isn’t changing is me talking about change. We change by taking risks, trying new things, stopping things that aren’t working. We find direction for all these changes by praying together, learning about opportunities, and talking together. Please share in all these activities, pray, learn and talk. Blessings as you continue your Lenten journey to Easter!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Linda