Image result for listening earsOne of the blessings of PCW are the comments from members after worship. It is common to hear, “nice sermon”… but I’m getting comments that show engagement and interest – “ I Liked the sermon, especially the part about… it really got me thinking…”  People like you salt a congregation with spiritual vitality and you will be a blessing to your next installed pastor.

One day when I first arrived a member came in my office, looked around at the sparse furnishings and said, “this isn’t a very welcoming room for people who come to see the pastor”.  I agreed.  That was followed by a brief conversation about what would make the room warm and welcoming for people who needed counsel and prayer as well as those who came to work with the pastor on a project. That conversation was relayed unknown to me and suddenly we had an office renovation underway and someone who was willing to help fund the project. My thanks to those folks for their generosity and for the creative talents that saw a need and met it.  This seems to be a pattern in the congregation – another blessing from God!


In the works, thanks to Pastor Lisa and Dean Gordon, is a plan for the Maple Knoll members to join me for a lunch on Tuesday, September 25. We will meet together for a meal, I’ll get to meet everyone, answer questions and share a few words from scripture. I look forward to meeting not only our Sunday regulars but also the many who are not able to attend on Sunday because of health, limited mobility or other issues. We actually have a small “satellite” church at Maple Knoll. Let’s pray for them and for Maple Knoll. It is a blessing to have retirement and health care facilities like this in our area. Susan and I benefit from our retirement community and we are thankful to God for the many fine people with vision and generosity who make these communities available to us. 

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