Thoughts...

As you’re reading this, I’m likely in my car driving to upstate New York to officiate a wedding for one of the adult children of this church. I’ve always liked long drives – it reminds of the saying that ‘the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror for a very good reason.’ So let me take a look at what’s coming and describe for you a little about the landscape. This week we saw the beginning of our Small Group Purpose Driven Ministry. With 15 different groups meeting in homes and at the church, 6 out of 7 days of the week, and over 130 people involved, I’m excited to watch God work. On Sunday October 1st, our worship theme will be ‘Fellowship,’ and we will be commissioning 6 Stephen Ministers, at both services, who have been called to give Christ-centered care to our fellowship and beyond. This event has been two-and-a-half years in the making; the seed planted is finally growing. We will be asked to join these ministers in prayer as they take vows to be responsive to the needs of others, to heal divisions wherever they are found, and to help this congregation grow as a caring community through their own caring ministry. May it be so. Last Sunday we welcomed Sebastian Carpenter and Elaine Patel to the staff team, as Director of Contemporary Worship & Worship Team Leader, and Nursery Attendant, respectively. Introduce yourself. Meet them. Invite them out for a meal. And besides all this, the Administration and the Children’s Ministry Committee have begun meeting to lay the groundwork of searching for a new Director of Children’s Ministry. Looking even further up the road, on November 30th at 3:00pm, Dr. Cherian Verghese, the Medical Director for Keystone Clinical Studies will be joining us to offer a presentation entitled, “Aging & Forgetting: Current Trends.” Your Session has approved an ongoing partnership with Dr. Verghese who will be visiting with our congregation twice a year, to offer education on cognitive impairment, memory decline, and will be additionally providing memory screenings at no cost to you, or the church. Pay attention for more details in the coming weeks. Lastly, I must share with you about a Saint named Aunt Eva. I’ve heard about Aunt Eva for years, almost every Thursday, in our women’s Bible Study. Aunt Eva is the 100-year-old-aunt of one of our Deacons, Joni Taylor. Eva is a tremendous servant of God with a pure heart for Jesus, and is currently tackling the huge project of making over 180 dresses for little girls all over the world, through Samaritan’s Purse. There are several women in our congregation who have joined in with Joni and Aunt Eva in this remarkable work. If you want to be truly blessed, check out this video on You Tube that has received over 100,000 views! And also check out the pictures of the dresses below. Thank you Aunt Eva for being an incredible inspiration, reminding us that Jesus is always moving us forward, no matter our age or station in life.