It May Be Winter But That’s Not So Bad!
Although it is normal and perhaps even natural to think that because we are not meeting together for worship little or nothing is happening in the life of our church. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In reality a great deal is happening. Perhaps it is helpful to think of our church like a tree in the wintertime up north. On the outside it seems as though the tree is dead and dormant. The leaves are on the ground (and hopefully raked up) and the cold of winter is at hand. In fact, the winter is a critically important time in a tree’s life. Lots of growth and activity is taking place on the inside – its simply out of sight. It’s this out of sight wintertime activity that makes spring and summer growth possible.
It is much the same for our church. Significant work has been going on behind the scenes. Here are some examples:
We have begun the work to start a Community Garden on the large grass field just to the south of the church. We applied for and received a $15,000 Blessing Grant from Peace River Presbytery. This will be the first community garden in Palmetto. The Blessing Grant will enable us to do many of the necessary preliminary things to get a garden off the ground. Our garden will include non-citrus fruit trees such as avocado trees that yield avocados you can not buy in the stores because they do not ship well. In addition, there will be planting areas for produce, both in “boxes” on the ground and raised up versions for people who can no longer bend over. The garden itself will grow and evolve over time with strong possibilities for flower plots and perhaps in time a memorial section for people to sit and pray. There will be a place for composting stations (odor-free), a shed for tools, a gazebo structure with a picnic table and places for people to sit and rest/fellowship, rain barrels to catch the rain, and water sources and much more in time. I am just sharing the tip of the iceberg with you. We have been working with the city of Palmetto and the local extension service for quite some time. I believe this community garden will become an identifying part of the life of our church much like the thrift store has become. It will also be a tremendous way to reach out to our community and to attract people to the kind of church we are.
We are continuing to expand and improve our website. This website serves at least 2 basic purposes – to provide information for our family of faith and to give people who are not yet part of our church a real sense of who we are and what kind of church we are.
We are working with a company that specializes in online giving for churches to off that option to those who would like to sue it. More will be shared in the near future on this. In the meantime, we understand that not everybody will want to move in this direction and that is perfectly fine. The present envelope system will be available for those who wish to continue in this manner. No problem at all. But for those who would like the ease and security if online giving it will become an available option. This will also be an easy way for those beyond our church to give and support things they would like to support. Again, much more information will be coming in the next few weeks.
We continue to refine and improve our capacity to offer virtual services. This will continue when we are finally able to safely gather again to worship together. A sizable grant is being made available to every church in our Peace River Presbytery to help with the purchase of equipment and technology for this. In fact, I foresee everything we have done so far and are planning to do for this new area of outreach and ministry to be covered. I am proud and honored to be part of a presbytery like our Peace River Presbytery.
This “winter season” of being isolated from one another will come to a close. Our Session has and continues to affirm that safety is our first priority. When it is safe, we will gather together again with much joy and celebration. In the meantime, there is lots going on to be proud of and excited about.
Grace and Peace, John
Annual Congregational Meeting - 12/13/20
Following our virtual service on Sunday December 13th , we will have a congregational meeting via Zoom to elect a the 2023 class of Elders and hear the annual report of the corporation( a state requirement). You do not need to do anything special except to stay connected following our service on the 13th. All church members have a vote. Our fellowship time will follow this meeting.