It is said that starting with gratitude is a good way to find joy and happiness in one’s life consistently. What can we be grateful for during a pandemic? I, for one, am grateful for the capacity you are developing as a congregation to be more nimble in order to be the body of Christ. We are still gathering for worship which is core to our formation as followers of Jesus. Is it perfect? No. Is it an equal replacement for being together in 3-D? No, but we are able to gather nonetheless and collectively hear the gospel preached, prayed, and sung. We are even able to gather around a huge table of grace to which we’ve had to add a lot of “leaves” and extensions.

We are still gathering for fellowship (Check out the Virtual Ice Cream Social later this month!) and study. Over an eight-week period, we sustained a group of 25 people to study Celtic Christianity AND incorporated new learners along the way. The governing and planning groups of our congregation are still meeting and steering the ship that is our congregation. Members are reaching out to each other in care on the phone, through email, on Zoom. We are reaching beyond the real and virtual walls still, like we always have, to do the work of healing, protecting and providing for the needs in our community and world.

When you’re down and out about COVID-19, please remember that you help sustain a still vibrant community of faith that even in the midst of a pandemic is building momentum to build the body of Christ in our time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.