“If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.” Proverbs
24:10 (The Message)

My Bible reading this week led me to the Proverbs.  For me, this is a book in the Bible
that always has exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it.  The verse that I quoted above felt very appropriate to the situation in which we find ourselves as a church.  We have been faced with challenges but we are not falling to pieces.  We are taking this time to rely on God to help us move into God’s future.

I was overwhelmed by the positive feeling that I had in our recent annual meeting.  I was impressed that we were able to discuss what could be a very difficult situation (not having an actual Pastor).  We were able to look at the pros and cons of a plan of action for our church.  We talked with each other, prayed with each other and listened to each other all in love.  In the end, we had a plan that sounds amazing!  We will begin the process of creating our Small Church Profile in April and thus begin the process of searching for a settled Pastor.  It was suggested that I stay in my current role until one month after we find a settled Pastor, however long that may be.

During the annual meeting, I saw people taking on responsibility, joining committees and pledging to help move the church forward.  We acknowledged that we are healing, but we are not falling apart.  We agreed that we want to hear opinions about the needs of our church from people who are not coming through the doors each week.  We want to include everyone that we can in our process whether they attend Sunday services or not.

The most important thing that I felt, was the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room with us as we shared a meal, watched a slide show of some of the faces of Jesus in our midst, heard about the positive financial position that we are in, and planned to move forward into new missions and a new future.  I am so grateful that God led me to this position at this time in this church!  We are blessed – those who come to the Sanctuary on Sunday morning and those who participate in Spirit.  I thank the Lord that we are not falling to pieces!

In God’s Love,

— Sunnie