New Year, New World, New Opportunities: Thoughts from the Pastor
The past three years have brought us change in almost every part of our lives. For our church, it’s brought some big challenges that we are now adjusting to. Like the vast majority of Christian denominations, we’ve seen a decline in in-person attendance and financial support. As far as attendance, there are as many reasons for not attending church as there are people, and while we miss the presence and fellowship of those that we don’t see at church, we know that the pandemic and the increased health risk to vulnerable people, as well as new family demands and responsibilities have made it difficult to find the four or five prime time hours on a Sunday that in-person church attendance requires.
While we miss old faces, we are so fortunate to see many new faces, and the new people tell us that they have found our congregation to be welcoming, warm, and loving. Some have declared that we are their new church family. One of the biggest challenges for our congregation is the decline in active Priesthood, for various reasons, including those that have transitioned to Emeritus status. This challenge means that we have less volunteers to plan and lead church gatherings. I’d like to challenge any of you who are willing to lead a church gathering to let me know. Even if it’s once a year, it reduces the burden on myself and the small group of volunteers that I’ve been leaning on the past couple of years.
Further to our challenges for Sunday morning attendance, we’d like to have at least 3 or 4 gatherings this year on other days and I’d like ask anyone that has an idea for an evening (or Saturday) activity that you would be willing to organize it to let me know. We’re thinking of things like a games night, pot luck, live music, movie night, neighborhood walk, Zoo day, etc. We love multi-generational activities, but if you want to target a specific group, such as younger adults and families, seniors, or children, let your own needs and inspiration be your guide.
I’m very positive about our future and the new energy and voices that have blessed our congregation. If we haven’t seen you at church for a while, you know that you are loved and missed and consider this our invitation to find a church activity in 2023 that you can slip into your schedule.
Our next in-person gathering will be this Sunday, January 22 at 11 a.m. MST.
Lastly, if you are interested in serving as a World Conference Delegate this year - it’s not too late! Send me an email at dhayden@shaw.ca before January 21 (this Saturday), so I can pass your name along in time for this weekend’s special conference to elect delegates.
