Dear First Pres,
I am honored to serve as Interim Staff Director for the month of June while Pastor Jeremy is on a well-deserved vacation. We initially planned for this to be a three-month position while he was on sabbatical. However, we all know what’s happening to plans of 2020!
Dear First Pres,
Right now every church is talking about when they’re going to reopen their campus for in-person worship. Here’s the short answer for FPC: not yet.
As you heard me say on Sunday, we’re going to let the dust settle so that we can make an informed, considerate, and prayerful decision. But I want you to know that we’ve developed a reopening plan with 5 levels of in-person ministry that will provide some structure for us all during the reopening process.
Dear First Pres,
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2
Dear First Pres,
Last year, the Session (our leadership board of elders) approved a three-month sabbatical for me this summer, June - August. So, I immediately started working on plans for the sabbatical and plans for the congregation. As a family, we bought plane tickets, made AirBnB reservations, and mapped out the summer. As a leadership team, we scheduled preachers for the summer, organized staff coverage, made plans for pastoral care, and mapped a full summer of church activities. Then COVID-19 happened.
Dear First Pres,
Dear First Pres,
Over the last several weeks there have been a lot of “firsts” in our congregation – first online-only worship, first virtual lawn hangout, first Zoom Session meeting, first virtual prayer gathering, etc. Well, this coming Sunday is another first for us: first “shelter in place” communion service. I will be leading you to participate in the Lord’s Supper in your home.
Dear First Pres,
Happy Easter everyone! I hope you had a wonderful day on Sunday celebrating Easter. I imagine, though, for some of us it was very difficult. It just wasn’t a normal Easter for any of us. I definitely felt that, and I’m sure you did too. But still, the reality of what we celebrate has not changed. Jesus is alive! If you are in Christ you are alive with Christ! And to that we say, “Hallelujah!” Because Jesus is alive, seated on high, reigning, and waiting to return, we are full of hope.
Dear First Pres,
Dear First Pres,
Last night our family got the news that Fresno Unified will not be reopening schools for the remainder of the school year. It felt like a punch in the gut. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still felt like another loss to add to the growing list of losses due to the Coronavirus pandemic. So today we began mourning that loss as a family by talking about it, praying about it, and not being afraid to feel sad about it.
