Letter to Congregation 09-23-2020
Pastor Letter 9/23/20
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
This week I had the privilege of being a part of the youth group’s discussion on race and racism. As one of the facilitators, I prepared my mind for what might come, or so I thought. What I learned in that discussion time is that I had more to learn from these amazing students than I had to give to them. I was amazed at their comfort and openness with one another. It had me recalling a passage from 1 Timothy about not despising youth because they can offer us an example. Turns out if we were all a little more like these youth, we would see much more love and less hate in this world. Students who love God and neighbor will.
Also this, week I am super excited to announce we have an opportunity to learn from some of these youth, youth who want to share their faith and gifts with their church family. We had planned on doing a Youth Sunday a while back, but pandemic seemed to change a lot of our plans. We had originally thought a youth service wouldn’t be possible given the restrictions, but our youth came together to figure out ways to do a youth service and still follow guidelines. One aspect of this service needs your participation before-hand by bringing a writing utensil along with you. If you are worshiping at home, have a paper and pen nearby. I am super grateful for what the youth of our church have taught me. I hope you are as excited as I am to see what they can teach all of us this Sunday and beyond.
This week will look different, but the same phase 1 guidelines remain in place. As I have been saying, this means we continue to allow 25 people in the sanctuary, which includes those leading and running technology, but overflow rooms are available to view the live stream. We also continue to stream live on Facebook and YouTube for those who can and desire to remain worshiping remotely, allowing for more room for those who cannot worship at home. Wherever you may find yourself worshiping these days, I hope you can join me in seeing what we can learn from the youth of our church.
I can’t end this letter without also extending gratitude for the bell choir, which contains many youth and others who blessed us with their beautiful music. I look forward to worshiping with you and enjoying all the gifts of those among our amazing church family, both young and old.
In Christ Peace,
Pastor Nicki
Some helpful links…
Click on the link below near the time the service begins at 10:00am to watch the live stream https://www.facebook.com/espresbyterian/
YouTube recording can be found at https://www.espresbyterian.com/worship/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/ESPresbyterian
Additionally, bulletins and an online hymnal have been put on the website and can be found at https://www.espresbyterian.com/worship/sunday-bulletin/
