Welcome 

Pastor Patricia’s Pauses

It is so good to have the days warming up, snow melting and Covid numbers dropping! I just today received notice from our Conference that if our county numbers of Covid are less than 2% we can go back to service without masks! We can have communion like we used to (no more pre-made cups with those wafers!) I am so excited that we can get back to some sort of normalcy. Thank you all for bearing with us this past year, following the directions that have come from our Conference and the Bishop. I genuinely appreciate your willingness to work with me and the guidelines that were set before us.

On a similar note – I will get my first vaccine on March 27 and probably my second one four weeks later. I encourage all of you to get the vaccine as soon as you are a candidate. Vaccines work. I know that there is a lot of rumors out there, but as a physician, I must stand with the fact that I know vaccines work and will protect not only you, but anyone around you from getting this dreaded Covid. Luckily, we have not had anyone die of Covid in our congregation, that I know of. However, I do know that some of you did get it and were seriously ill. My prayer for all is that we get vaccinated, and we get past this pandemic.

Recently, you have received a letter from me about our Spring Pledge Drive. I understand that this has not been done in a few years. The reason One Church Council and I have decided to do this is so that we can realistically look at the amount of money coming in and not spend more than that. There have been moments in the last few years where we wondered how we were going to pay our bills.By you making a commitment to the church, we can better plan the spending. I was reminded just this week how one of the gifts of the Spirit is generosity. Some in the congregation have this gift and have supported the church generously. We are looking for others to join them, asking you to use your gift of generosity when giving to the church. The bible speaks of giving 10% of our income. For me, personally, this has been on my heart for a few years now. I did not start by giving 10% but have worked up to it and now do so. God is an amazing God and God will show up, providing you with everything you need if we obey his word.

Please let me know (or any member of One Church Council) if you would like to see the church doing something that we are not already doing. One Church Council members are: Cindy Barnard, Rita Prager, Rita Russell, Anita Hollan, Don York, Connie Woehl, Arlene Zufall and Gay Bolln. We are all meeting now on the second Thursday of the month at 10:00 am.

Jo Bettes has agreed to come back to working with us as office manager and will now be in the office from 9:00 am to noon on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We are so blessed to have her back!

Peace to you all this Spring and I hope to see you in church!

Pastor Patricia