...and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers!" Psalms 1.3
Building a strong congregation to produce fruit for the Kingdom of God!"
Notes from Pastor Johnny Kendrick
We have been through a pretty difficult period for the last 3-4 weeks. Our minister of music has been out dealing with sickness in his family and his own sickness as well, but they are coming out on the other side of that now and we expect to have him back perhaps this week. Not only are we looking forward to having him back, but Anita, his wife. She is one of our sound engineers. In their absence,
Taylor Stacey, our associate minister of worship, and Scottie Rostas our other sound engineer have done a fantastic job of filling in and taking care of our needs in those areas. We have a great team!
We have also been missing John Lee Stacey, our minister of youth, Wesley Hicks our associate pastor with work responsibilities, and Esther Edge our video person! We haven't had a full staff in weeks, but a host of people have stepped up to fill their space and each of them has just done a magnificent job! Did I say we have a great team?!
So, over the next couple of weeks we anticipate having everyone back.
The parking lot is paved and it is massive, compared to what we had before! They did a great job on the paving work. We are now waiting for it to be stripped, but we are already using it.
When it is stripped, you will notice some differences in the old parking. We are doing away with some parking right in front of the sanctuary/old Fellowship Hall. Some of that parking is going away to make travel in front of the building easier and less congested, so please take notice of that when you arrive this week.
We are back on a regular schedule. Worship in the Fellowship Hall at 9:00, Sunday School at 10:15, and then the second worship hour at 11:00 in the Sanctuary. Of course our full schedule on Wednesday Evenings, AWANA in the Education/Office Building, Adult Bible study in the sanctuary, Youth, and Misfits in the Old Fellowship Hall. (At least I think that is where they are meeting, Misfits might be back in their space in the upstairs of the Old Education building. Just check with them to see.)
Some schedule changes for the rest of the year include the cancellation of the Community Thanksgiving service. We are however, going ahead with the Christmas Eve Service, 5pm. We are working on the particulars for that service right now to make it as safe as possible. We are full aware of the challenges it presents, but we just thought it was such a staple of our church we did not want to just cancel it, so stay tuned for more information of how we are going to do Christmas Eve this year and make your plans to attend.
As usual, there will not be any services the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (11/25), and this year, the way the schedule works out, there will not a mid week services the Wednesday before Christmas Eve, (12/23) Those are the only two major schedule changes on the calendar for the rest of the year.
As we get to the close of 2020, we anticipate, along with everyone else, that as we flip the calendar to 2021 things will be better in terms of the virus and the election behind us. At least, that is what we hope for! We'd like for things to get back to "normal," but you know, "normal" might not return just quite yet. Actually, we might have a new normal!
Perhaps, instead we should focus on trying to be the best witness for our Master that we can be in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in!
I thought it was interesting yesterday, when we arrived to prepare for worship we had no power in three buildings! But it was never a question that we were having church! We had the first service in the Fellowship Hall, we did have power there, then we had SS in the dark, ha, and we moved the second service to the Fellowship hall, and had worship there at 11:00 while the power crews were repairing our lines and restoring power! And here's the thing, no one even had a comment about what are we going to do, or where, we just did it!
The Security team did a great job identifying the problem, marking off the dangerous area, called the fire department to assist, and we had church! That's 2020.
You guys are tough, talented, and committed!
The Apostle Peter said, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1 Peter 4.12-13
Notes from Staff
We are excited to announce that Tompkins Awana will begin on September 16, 2020!! We will be following CDC and State guidelines for Covid-19. Once any new guidelines are posted on 08/31, we will finalize our list of guidelines to be passed to the parents! You will find the registration form
to print and bring with you on that day. All children in a household may be listed on the same sheet. Anyone that was at the 2020 awards ceremony, you filled out a form that night. If you are willing to help out in Awana, we can always use fill-in people for unexpected misses by our teachers.
We have a phenomenal staff that work weekly with your children, teaching them God's Word! Each week your child will be sent home a Bible verse to learn for that week. I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to help your child learn their verse, learn it as a family! Hiding God's Word in your child's heart is one of the most important things you can do as a parent! Your child can
earn points to use in the Awana store by coming to club, participating in theme nights, bringing their Bible, bringing a friend AND learning their
verse!
Registration Form
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