WHAT FOLLOWS IS ON A “NEED TO KNOW” BASIS

… and, you need to know!

Dear Christian Friends!

COME! This is your Invitation to come to the Re-Dedication of our UPgraded School facility – on Sunday, September 12, at 9:30 AM. The event actually begins with tours of the school after the early worship service … and continues with tours and refreshments after the ceremony (until the start of the late service). We want to praise the Lord for the generosity of our donors, and thank the many who have been involved in making these capital improvements possible.

Our faculty will be in their classrooms; the dedication will be in the Gym; and the future of our children will be in our hearts … where it has been since 1863. Plan now to stay late after the 8 AM service – or to come early before the 10:30 AM service. Plan now to come!

DON’T COME! Did you ever think you’d hear a pastor (maybe, and especially, this one!) tell you not to come to Church? Well, you have now! But, only on one Sunday – October 10. Now, here’s the whole story … what you need to know! We’ll be joining in a national effort: “Don’t Come to Church – Be the Church!” It’s a Sunday for putting our faith in action! You’ll hear much more in the coming weeks, but this much you need to know now: we won’t be having a church service that morning … we’ll be a church in service!

You will have the opportunity to live out your faith with others that morning, or even by yourself or as a family. All I ask of your right now is this: pray for the success of this special event – success in others seeing Christ in us and in or actions. Plan now … not to come!

CALL! You will be hearing that word a great deal in the coming months! Call – what we hope to do by next spring: call a man to serve as our Assistant Pastor. Our Ministry Directors have appointed a Call Committee, and they have held their first meeting (and will be meeting regularly across the fall and into the winter). The members of the committee are: Becky Denney, Carolyn Donald, Denis Johnson, Tom Orlowski, Ron Tucker, Steve Wagoner and Matt Waymire – and myself, in a non-voting capacity; plus Steve Fruechtenicht, in a supportive role to Denis Johnson (which constitutionally, is a role of our Vice President). Denis has also been elected as Chairman of the Call Committee.

Historically, St. Paul has operated with some sort of arrangement for more than one pastor – the most recent time being the joint tenures of Pastors Todd and Thews (ending in 1992 and 1993, prior to my coming in 1994). Resulting from our Strategic Plan, the Ministry Directors recognized it was time to return to that format for ministry; and their plan was approved by the Voters’ Assembly in May – with the hope to have an Assistant Pastor on staff in 2011. Right now, more than anything else, we need for you to “call” upon the Lord for His guidance in this process … and to respond when you are “called” upon for your thoughts and input.

You need to know many things – and reading the “Seed Packet” helps make certain you know! But more than anything else, you need to know that “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in [the Bible, but those that are] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31)

Blessings,

~ Pastor Ed