To the Calgary Congregation,
I am greatly encouraged by the attendance and quality of worship and fellowship that we have experienced in our new church. While post-COVID (I should probably say the new reality of living in a continuous COVID threat world) has reduced attendance of church gatherings in our church, as well as most other churches, I am confident that we will be seeing our missing congregants return in time. I know that family demands and health concerns have taken priority over church attendance through the pandemic, and the continuing threat of COVID for those we haven’t yet seen in our new church.
For the most part, those that we haven’t seen on Sunday know that they are in our hearts and that we look forward to seeing them again at church, when the time is right for them. As your Pastor, I need to admit to you that I’m feeling pretty tired and worn from having been, for the most part, the person that has to organize and preside our weekly Sunday gathering. Luckily, the world church provides a fantastic small group gathering outline that I have used and put into a Powerpoint format that we can follow. I’ve had very positive feedback on the content and format of our Sunday worship. It’s casual, personal and very interactive, and I know that people seem really engaged and connected in our worship. One of my weaknesses is that I have a hard time asking people for help, and so I need to be more proactive at that.
For the short term, my goal is to preside at 2 services per month and get volunteers to take the other 2 or 3. We have great flexibility in how our Sunday morning looks, so if you’d be willing to preside at one of our small group format services, as we’ve been having them, I can either put the service together for you or show you how I’ve done it, or you can create your own service that connects with you, and that you think would be relevant and meaningful for the congregation. Other formats might be a service focused on music, dinner church (shared meal/ potluck), or even sharing an impactful video you’ve found, just to throw a few ideas out.
I’m really excited about how our new church feels and the “vibe” we’ve created together to make people feel welcome. I want to continue to follow up on our welcoming and affirming commitment so that we raise the awareness and visibility of our commitment within and without our congregation. We have already seen that this commitment has brought amazing and precious new people into our community and we need to keep that up. If you would like to chat about you can help or anything that’s on your mind, please contact me any time.