This coming Sunday’s Congregational Meeting after the 10:00 a.m. worship service is for the purpose of acting on changes in the Pastors’ Terms of Call and to elect persons to serve in important leadership roles. The Nominating Committee will put before the congregation names of persons who have agreed to serve as Elders, Deacons, Trustees and Members of the Nominating Committee at Large.

Several years ago in a Session meeting at my church in Indiana, Elders debated for 20 minutes about which holiday was more religious - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or Presidents Day. It was initiated by a conversation about which national holidays the church office should be closed. I am not sure why we couldn’t be closed both holidays, but we had to choose one, and the conversation was fascinating.

Being a pastor is strange. By the nature of my calling, I walk alongside families, individuals and teenagers through the rituals and transitions of life. Pastors baptize, marry and bury. We hold the stories of congregants. It is a unique and privileged experience to look out from the pulpit and just know.

At midnight tomorrow night, 2021 comes to a close.  

It is inadequate to say that 2021 was another challenging year. Many anticipated that 2021 would include a return to “normal,” to the removal – or at least reduction – of “pandemic” from our vocabularies.

Loving each other.

The health and safety of our church family are at the forefront of our minds this Christmas as we watch the quickly-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19. With the guidance of the Regathering Taskforce, charged with helping the church establish responsible policies, we have adjusted our traditional Christmas Eve services this year.

For six months the darkness has grown, soaking our evenings, our routines, our lives, in night. With it has come colder temperatures and the yearning to stay inside and keep warm. Night has spread and our lives have changed.