Pastor's Page
Pastor Sam and Abby
Greetings to you all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!
The past two months have flown by so fast! It has been wonderful to continue to get to know everyone through visits, calls, meetings, outdoor and online worship. While there are of course challenges associated with all flurries of newness like this, the love shared within our church community has made my start a wonderful one. Truly, what a great many blessings God has given us during this time of beginnings at CCUMC.
One of the chief blessings of the summer has of course been the ability to worship together both in person and online. Gathering together in outdoor worship has been a great success thus far, and as temperatures eventually cool it will be even more pleasant to praise God on the Town Point lawn. While outdoor and online worship are great, plans and preparation are currently underway for moving worship indoors. Because of the present risk and challenges of remaining safe during COVID, we will not be moving indoors until the fall or early winter. Once the weather starts to become less pleasant we will make the switch, but so long as it is nice out we want to take advantage of worshiping in Creations beauty for as long as we can!
Abby (my fiancé) and I had a wonderful time getting to know many of our church family through phone calls and getting together over meals. We hope to continue to meet more folks, so please let me know if/how you’d be comfortable getting together. As a reminder, I am available anytime Sunday through Thursday 9am-9pm. I take Friday and Saturday as my weekend, but do not hesitate to contact in the case of any emergency.
I set aside the month of August to focus on different parts of the topic of community in each Sunday sermon. One central verse that I’d like us to consider going forward is 1 Thes. 5:15: “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.” To me this summarizes how our actions to one another ought to look as a community of faith. As we go forward into September and restart or relaunch different ministries, head back to school, head back to Sunday School, and attempt to find new patterns for life in the midst of uncertainty let us keep this verse in mind. How we live with one another as Siblings in Christ, as a community of faith, matters. So as we move into autumn, let us also move into greater love, never repaying a wrong and working for the good of one another.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Sam Mitchell