March 2021 Newsletter
Newsletter – March 2021
Greetings from the desk of the Pastor! Once again I come before you absolutely baffled at how quickly time seems to fly. It’s hard to believe we are already coming up on the one year anniversary of the original COVID 19 shut down! We have done so much since then, and even though it has been incredibly difficult and often sad – there is so much hope in what this community has been able to do.
To start, let me once again urge patience with all of our church events and policies. I promise we in the leadership are just as anxious to get back to normal life of the church – I am so excited for that day! However, in our eagerness we don’t want to trip ourselves up so close to the finish line. While the numbers of cases have been very encouraging, and the vaccine roll-out has been even faster than we’d first hoped – there is still a very real problem out there. It’s not gone yet, and so my advice is simple, “hang in there, we’re almost done, but not yet.”
In the meantime, I’m thrilled to announce a few new projects we have coming up. First, there will be a New Member Class on Tuesday evenings from 7-8pm, beginning on March 9th! This class is available for people who have been joining us in person, but ALSO for those who are in our midst digitally as well. If you are not yet a member, I welcome you to check out this no-obligation opportunity. Come, learn all about it, and then see if you are ready to make a decision to join this church! The class will be offered in hybrid format – both in person AND through ZOOM. So contact the church office if you’d like to receive the ZOOM link, or join us on March 9th.
Second, I wanted to report the results of a special Charge Conference we had at the end of January, 2021. We examined a proposal and voted overwhelmingly to support the launch of our Main Entry Remodel Capital Project! There is now officially a designated account set aside for this project. If you would like to give to this very worthy cause, please make sure to write “Main Entry Remodel” or “Capital PROJECT” in the memo line of your gift. We also nominated and commissioned our Building Committee to begin their work. Please join me in celebrating Cathy Metz, Dave Lewis, Daren Hawley and Jim Belanger to our Building Committee. These folks are committed, talented and ready to get to work! We have already had our first meeting and set the monumental goal of saving up $100,000 for this project by the end of 2021! (WOW.) This is a huge goal, but the Building Committee is confident we will be able to pull together and make it happen.
Finally, I wanted to highlight and celebrate a few collaborative efforts from the Flint Area UM Churches.
1. BTB101
Be the Bridge 101 is an anti-racism class held over ZOOM on Wednesdays at 1pm or 6pm. It’s a book study that discusses the book by the same name. This class is a combination of many area churches together, so if you have a chance to join them, you might see some new faces!
2. ANOINTED: Hearing God’s Call
The Pastors of the United Methodist Churches in the Flint Area are all getting together to support this collaborative sermon series. Each week we will drop a video of a Pastor’s sermon – which will include their personal story of God’s calling in their life. It will be posted to Facebook and Youtube every Monday. We will also have a showing of the video on Wednesday afternoons in our sanctuary at 2pm for those who do not prefer the computer.
3. Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service
We are also in the planning stages of a combined digital Tenebrae service that will utilize musicians, singers and other volunteers from all the Flint Area churches. It’s a chance for us to worship together in a new and unique way to make this new and unique world we are doing ministry in. If you would like to volunteer – please let us know in the church office.
WHEW! That was a lot. As a church we continue to live into our vision statement: to Rise Up in order to Raise Up. But until then, I’ll see you on Sunday.
Pastor JJ
