Newsletter for May/June

When I see the trees pop out in bloom and the spring flowers come into their state of beauty, I cannot help but wonder just how beautiful the earth must have been before God created man. When I reflect on that, I believe it is truly a blessing that God shares this beauty with us. If this beauty has been “toned down” so to speak, so we humans can comprehend it; one can only imagine the magnificence of heaven. What we must always remember is that God gave us dominion over the earth and that requires us to be good stewards of His creation. We just celebrated “Earth Day”. However, as Children of God, we should remind ourselves daily of our responsibility, and remember that loving God --- includes loving the earth he gave us. Every day should be an Earth Day.
We are approaching the end of the “Easter Season” and making our way to Pentecost and the “Pentecost Season.” This is the longest period of our church year and it is also the season that “church life” begins to conflict with “daily life.” This was the main reason I proposed the upcoming summer worship schedule to our councils. You and I know that our attendance will drop at each of the parish churches due to vacations, seasonal farming, sports, county fairs and sometimes, just the desire to sleep late on a Sunday morning. So, I hope you will post the schedule of the services on your refrigerator and continue to worship with us throughout the summer.
There is much talk these days of the new “emerging church.” Like it or not, the church as we knew it in the last century is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Don’t believe it ------ how full was your sanctuary last week? Maybe we need to rethink how we do church services, how can we make church more vibrant, and how can we insure we are getting the message of Christ out in a manner that is still effective. I’m always open to hear your thoughts on what you think we need to do to ensure we are serving God in a manner that is pleasing to him.
Blessings,
Pastor John