Dear Church Family,
I hope that you all are staying warm and safe this Advent season. This year has challenged us in so many different ways as we have dealt with the COVID pandemic. As a church family, we have experienced the fullness of the impact of COVID. As a church, we have risen to the task of finding new, exciting, and creative ways to gather together, whether it has been outside or online. We have also felt the intense pain of losing a beloved member of our church family to this terrible disease. We have now arrived into this season of Advent, celebrating the arrival of Christ, who came into this world to conquer sin and death. Advent also reminds us that Christ will come again in final victory, ushering in a reign free of pandemics and all of the other pains of this world.
So as a church, we continue to answer our call to love God and love others. We have been in prayer about how we may honor this call God has placed upon us, even with the challenges presented by COVID. We have also spent time in prayer, discerning how and where to worship in these next few weeks.
With all of that in mind, I would like to list some updates about moving forward.
· For now, we will continue our pause with in-person worship on Sundays. Our Bishop has asked all United Methodist churches in our state to pause indoor and in-person worship through the first of the year. At Good Shepherd, we have chosen to honor our Bishop's request out of an abundance of care for everyone's safety.
· We have decided to have an outdoor candlelight service of carols and reflections in our church parking lot for Christmas Eve. It will be a simple service focusing on the meaning of Christmas. The service will start at 7 pm.
· We will also have an exciting online service that features special Christmas music recorded by various Good Shepherd members.
· We are continuing to serve our community. We recently delivered our Thanksgiving baskets and have been working on our Christmas missions as well.
I would also like to thank all of our staff and volunteers who have worked so hard to help our church continue to move forward, and our church family connected. Many of you have helped deliver items, worked on cleaning and maintaining our building, helped with recording, kept the church's business going, supported our missions, shared creative ideas on worship and staying connected, and so much more. I would also like to thank everyone for your support, flexibility, and encouragement as we have tried so many new things this year with how we gather for worship.
As we continue through this Advent season, may you continue to feel the overwhelming presence of the hope, peace, joy, and love that come from our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Tom