From the Study...

Dear Friends,

Summer seems to have quickly slipped away this year. It has been busy and had a ring of normality to it after two COVID summers, but things are still finding their new pace and appearance. It was a year ago last May that the masks came off and the blue tape came out of the sanctuary. For the return to life as we like to remember it to have come this far is really not bad. And now, even though the temperature and humidity are both still well into the 90s, signs of returning to the post-summer routine are showing up.

At our church officer training retreat last year we recognized that even though life was getting back to a routine, we recognized that it would be a new routine and an opportune time to make some adjustments to the life and structure of church. We presented those adjustments to the congregation early this year and invited all to join us in going forward together into God’s future. The Session has spent the time since then organizing our work around three ministries instead of nine and prioritizing all the many suggestions we received from the people of the church. Our goal is for each ministry to focus on the three or four most meaningful and “do-able” ones and prayerfully go to work making them happen.

The day for walking this new path is this Sunday, August 7. This Saturday we will have our church officer training retreat for 2022, and Sunday we will be ordaining and installing three new Elders to the Session Class of 2025. Two of them, George Hayes and Nancy Pilat-Renner, come with experience as elders and history with Providence. They will contribute depth to the Session. The third, Jon Simmons, will bring his youth and energy to our work. Together we will all walk the path before us as Christ leads and equips us for this journey. We need everyone to join us in this new beginning. What is God calling you to do? What has God equipped you for on this journey of faith? Let’s gather this Lord’s Day and begin together.

Grace and peace,

Mike