Pastor John's Corner- January 2008

Pastor John’s Corner

I truly do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I know Kathy and I certainly did. It was wonderful to see the sanctuaries all decorated and to once again hear the old and familiar Christmas Carols. I was really impressed by the youth of the parish as they performed in the Christmas Pageant. And of course no Christmas would be complete without the youngsters doing their part of the Christmas program. It was wonderful too to see large attendance at each of our Christmas Eve services.
The year 2008 was beset with bad weather in the spring and bad financial news for not only our country but for the world in the fall. History was made though as this country elected its first President of a mixed race. I don’t know about you but, I take pride in saying that President-Elect Barrack Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ. I guess though, --- the thing that I take away from this election is the hope that just maybe, this country is beginning to “get it”! We are all children of God and there is just no room for things like racial bigotry and hate in any society that claims to be God fearing and or professes to be a “Christian nation.” I wish the new president and our country well as we begin a new era in our country’s destiny.
We have just completed a very successful year in the parish. Each church has gained new membership in addition to those gained through the confirmation process and we frequently see visitors in the pews. I’m thankful to see our St. Paul’s “Scriptures and Donuts” program going strong and I’m also grateful to see good attendance at our Bible study programs. I’m looking forward to the Lenten season when Julie Wallis will be presenting a book discussion series on W. Paul Young’s fictional novel “The Shack”. I hope many of you will attend.
I wish you a very spiritually rewarding 2009. Study your Bible and share your faith with someone who may be searching for help to get through the year. God bless you all.

Pastor John