April 2021 Newsletter

Newsletter – April 2021

Greetings from the desk of the Pastor! Christ is RISEN! (He is risen INDEED). As Easter approaches, my heart is so full of hope. Both the hope that comes from the resurrection of Jesus, and also the joy-filled hope that comes each year as winter recedes and Spring begins to take over! For our various snow-birds who are returning from your warm winter abodes – do feel free to bring all that sunshine back with you.

On that cheerful note, I have just three quick things I’d like to share with you this month. The first is our new sermon series! For the Month of April, following Easter, we will be launching into a series called “Homegrown Heresies.” As Christianity engages with culture around the world, sometimes our message can get muddled and even altered before it reaches the ears of well meaning Church folk. Common misunderstandings turn into little lies that we hear every day, and eventually they turn into popular beliefs – even though they are completely wrong! Each week we will examine a common belief in our culture that is actually entirely misunderstood. It’s a great series to bring a friend, and get ready to dive in! The next thing I wanted to bring to your attention is actually a correction from last month. The Council of Bishops and other leaders in our denomination have a talent for changing everything just as soon as I have tried to make things clear. Last month I mentioned that the General Conference decision on the future of our church was postponed from May of 2020, to August of 2021. TWO DAYS after I sent my letter in the newsletter, the council of Bishops announced that they were changing the plan, and postponing the conference again until August of 2022. The one thing that remains true is that there’s not much for our church to worry about at the moment, but the leadership is paying very close attention and will keep you posted if there are any new developments. As always, if you would like more information or are curious for more details – just ask! I would love to chat and go more in depth on a one to one basis.

Finally, we have yet another wonderful jam packed month of great things for this church…

Easter Bunny Wave – Saturday, April 3 – 10:30am-12:30pm

Come on out and see the Easter Bunny! We’re very excited to continue the tradition of bringing in the Easter Bunny to say hi to all the kids. Last year we introduced it as a socially distant event and it was very popular! Bring your friends, bring your kids – it should be a wonderful event!

Blessing Of The Animals – Sunday, April 11 – 3-4pm

Bring your pets (and if you don’t have any then bring your favorite stuffed animals) and come on out for a blessing! I’m looking forward to meeting all of your furry family members and we will take a moment to pray together for them as well. Another great event to bring kids, grand kids and friends.

Youth Chopped Challenge – Sunday, April 18

Our youth group is participating in a socially distant Cooking Competition. Each team will get a basket of ingredients, as well as some “pantry” items to help. They take the basket home, join the Cooking Competition ZOOM and we watch them prepare the meal with their team in their homes! Then the food is stashed in to-go containers and brought to the church for the waiting judges who will give their verdict over ZOOM as well. It promises to be a hilarious, safe, and hopefully delicious event. 😊

In this church we continue to look for ways to RISE UP, and I am looking forward to the future – but until then, I’ll “see” you on Sunday,

Pastor JJ