07.31.2020  

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Please join us for worship and communion this Sunday, August 2, 2020. To accommodate Covid-19 distancing guidelines we will meet in the school courtyard. Bring your mask and your favorite beach chair! Coffee and fellowship time will follow the service.

Also, please join us on Sunday, August 9, 2020. After our 9 a.m. service – also outside -- we will have a congregation discussion/Q&A session about the recent event on the church lawn that went viral. We have not had a formal chance to discuss this as a congregation – the last three Sundays have been devoted to responding to the protests surrounding the event, county mandated COVID-19 closures and our call meeting from last week. Several leaders are out this coming Sunday, 8/2, including Santi Botero, our school principal, so we will hold this meeting on 8/9. This is your opportunity to find out what happened, what our response was, what challenges we still face, and what the ongoing plans are for both the church and the school to prevent similar incidents in the future. 

Plans are in the works to have Pastor Gene Sims, President of the WELS Michigan District, visit St. Paul’s on August 29 and 30 to give a seminar on racial diversity and bias training. The dates are pretty solid but we will of course keep you informed about the particulars, as his visit gets closer. The seminar is mandatory for all called workers and staff and will be open to anyone in the congregation who wants to attend. Pastor Sims will be preaching that Sunday as well.

In the way-too-early department, make a mental note that our next quarterly voter’s meeting is Sunday, September 27. We’ll be ratifying our next budget and electing church officers.

24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10: 24-25.

Christ’s blessings to you all.

In His name,

Kevin Coffee

St. Paul’s First Lutheran President