Celebrating 2021

 This article is adapted from the 2021 Annual Report of the Senior Pastor.

Every year, our congregation prepares an annual report. It’s a thick packet of updates from staff and committees about everything we have been up to. And even though we are required to put it together, it can be a real gift. It may not be a birthday card stuffed with cash, but this collection of reports is here to remind us of everything we already have. After all we have been through the past two years, I pray that you will be able to read what is inside, reflect on the richness of our community, and find joy in the life we share together. Members can pick a copy up at church or call the office for assistance.

When you do read through it, one thing you will see is a timeframe of all the various ways we have worshipped since the pandemic began almost two years ago. I knew we had been through a heap of various strategies, but until I saw it all laid out, it didn’t hit me just how much we have done. We slowly eased back into the building, returned outside for Palm Sunday and Easter, and then added a second service in May. We celebrated our 60th anniversary with a special service in April and a weekend full of events in September. Every month was a little bit different. We worshipped in the Sanctuary, the Fellowship Hall, the parking lot, and the east lawn.

That service on the lawn became an unexpected favorite for so many. It also took the most work. Every Sunday for four months, our praise band set up our worship space on the lawn, led the service, and then packed it all up again. You would be hard pressed to find a more dedicated group of church musicians. We are already planning ways to continue that unique summer service with a more permanent outdoor worship space.

When we added a second service, it was an opportunity to evaluate not just what we needed in the moment, but what would serve us best as a larger congregation. We settled on sticking with two services, with an hour for Sunday school between. Having a dedicated learning hour has enabled our families with young children to worship together. I hope and pray more families take advantage of the opportunity to raise children to grow in faith both in the classroom and in worship. And I hope we find more ways to welcome children as vital members of our worshipping community.

We had a small taste of post-pandemic life in late summer, when we left our masks at home and prayed that those difficult days of caution were behind us. And though we have since returned to the same strict measures we were using a year ago, that moment of closeness helped many of us remember what we appreciate about this place. We can endure the changes and restrictions if it means we can be together and keep one another safe. And, we can continue to stay connected to those who are yet unable to be with us in person.

I am so grateful that we were able to call Rev. Katrina Steingraeber to be our new associate pastor. Since beginning in July, she has settled in and continues to grow and thrive. Over a year after you called me to be your senior pastor, you all installed both of us in a moving service during Rally weekend. I am thankful for Pastor Chuck, who has been the only one of us allowed to visit our folks in the hospitals since the pandemic began. Our volunteers with outreach, Sunday school, and worship ministries have continued to make our congregation a community. And our staff has worked with joy to hold us all together. Every day is a reminder of just how fortunate I am to be able to not only be a member of this congregation but to lead it as well. 

In Christ,

Pastor Chad McKenna