Julie’s Jar & Mike’s Left-Hand Remark

Giving Thanks and Looking Forward

First Christian Church of Pomona is a community that continues to find ways to express the hospitality of Christ. You as members of this faith community offer a warm, genuine welcome to everyone who comes through the doors AND you extend Christ’s welcome beyond the doors of the church in so many ways. This Holy Hospitality is a strength and gift we have from God. It is this Holy Hospitality we propose be our collective frame for 2018.

There are a number of ways we are doing this already and new ministries we might consider through this hospitality framework. Let us continue to:

1. Provide initial hospitality to visitors as guided by our Hospitality Group AND to reach out in specific ways to assist children returning to school and families in need during the holidays.
2. Bring the hospitality of Christ’s table to homebound and ill members of the congregation. Pastors and Elders currently provide this and members of the Diaconate are interested in serving in this way.
3. Participate in ICON, continuing our work to hold space for deep conversations about shared concerns and shared values with others as we work to bring relief to people suffering as a result of the current housing crisis. In 2018 we will be working to support the full funding of the Neighborhood Service Center for Homeless, due to be constructed by March 2018 and work with local cities to increase housing.

Let’s begin to prepare to be a mission center. It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when the next big earthquake will come. How can we prepare to be a place and people of hospitality in time of natural disaster? Our close proximity to Pomona Valley Hospital means our facility will be used in a natural disaster. Already, Mike Fronk and Chris Abbott are scheduled to meet with a representative of PVHMC who works with FEMA. Additionally, our school is a place where people may likely gather. Let us make 2018 the year we begin preparing our facility and our congregation to be a place of hospitality, a mission center, in response to a natural disaster. There are people in our congregation with the gifts and skills to guide us and implement what is needed to prepare. Offer short term hands on mission work that extends the hospitality of our congregation into the community. It is a challenge to work people in to a volunteer opportunity to meet their need to feel helpful, but it is an opportunity to connect them to a wider ministry. We hope there could be 4 such events in the year. One possibility is a workday at the farm/garden where fresh vegetables are grown for Hope Partners food banks.

Do you see yourself in any of these expressions of Holy Hospitality? Can you imagine your hands, feet, heart and imagination being part of some of these expressions of Christ’s hands and feet? We trust you do and invite you to let God lead you into expressing the welcome of Christ through one or more of these ministries.