Greetings Church! 

Let me start by saying I know how hard change is - especially at church!  We like things the way they are, and it's comforting to see the same thing each week.  I do understand that if given the choice, we would not be making any changes at all! 

However, as you have seen over the years, the church has declined in attendance, and that means we have declined financially too.  Church is so much more than how many bodies you have in the seats, and yet, people in the seats do keep us going as a church.  We can only sustain things the way they are for maybe a few more years at most.  One of the primary tasks I was given when I started was to help grow the church in order to continue to sustain it.  

So in light of that, we are going through some changes.  Some you may like and some you may not. I would always want everyone to love everything we do here!  But I do know that isn’t possible.  My hope is that you will continue to support the church, and in time, come to like the changes that you may not like at first - or at least understand why they were done.

And yet - I do want to stress that very few things are set in stone.  Many things I am working through here are in the testing stage, and can be adjusted.  I strongly encourage you to share any concerns or frustrations you have as I am always open to listen - my door is rarely closed! 

I have come to love this church and especially all the people here.  You are all so kind and loving and have such strong faith.  The Lord will guide us we move forward - and please know much prayer and discussion goes through every one of the changes you see!

So with that…let me share a few more changes to expect. 

February 8th is Scout Sunday, and that is going to be a great day to celebrate Scouting!  Primarily it will feature Cub Scouts Pack 503, but we may also have boys from other troops participate as well. 

But also on that date, we will be celebrating the years of service of Janice Deal as our choir leader.  For over 3 decades, Janice has led the choir and provided a wonderful addition to the service with the hymns and piano.  She has been an integral part of worship here. 

After February 8th, we will be transitioning away from the choir singing separately, and will retire the position of choir director.  Moving forward the choir will begin singing with the praise band. We will miss having Janice lead the choir, but please join us in wishing her well that Sunday.  We will have a small reception in the lobby for her before and after the service that day. 

And one more change this week to share with you.  The organ is a beautiful instrument.  And we know that there was a group of you that worked hard to collect funding for this and it has been a great part of our church.  Thank you to those that helped to purchase this for the church originally. 

However, over the years the organ has needed repairs, and that is expensive.  In addition we would need to find someone to play it - and that is hard to do. So it is time to say goodbye to the organ. We will first try to give it away to a church or someone who might want it just in case (and if any of you would want it let us know!)

Soon the entire stage will be rearranged, and at that time, we will be moving the organ out of the sanctuary.  Its quite possible we will leave the pipes for it as they are a great "decoration"! But we wanted to prepare all of you for what is to come.  And we are sure greater things are yet to come!  

Again, please remember that none of the changes are just for change's sake.  They are intended to elevate our time of worship, grow spiritually, and then grow numerically.  I welcome any and all feedback you may have. 

Blessings,

Pastor Marcy


Devotion: 

When you walk into a dark room, you typically reach for the place on the wall where the light switch would normally be. You know about where it should be, and so your hand is reaching along that wall, trusting that you will find the light switch.  You have no fear that the switch is there, it is just a matter of feeling around until you find it. It never occurs to you that the light switch isn’t there because you completely trust that the light switch is there, even though it is totally dark and you can’t see it. You just know that the light switch is there.

That is how faith works. 

Once you have experienced the love of Jesus, you know He is there for you. You have no doubt that He is there - you have faith and you trust He is there.  Even if you do not hear His voice, even if you do not see Jesus standing in front of you - you know He is there. Even though it is totally dark around you with challenges, struggles, pain…you know that all you have to do is reach out and He is there. 

Just like that old Footprints poem.  Sometimes He is walking in front of you…sometimes He is walking behind you…and sometimes He is carrying you. 

Reach out and trust that God is there.