16 Feb From the Pastor’s Desk..Entering Lent
Dear Friends,
Thank you for a wonderful congregational meeting on Sunday. It was a treat to hear your voices and see your faces. Thank you for taking care of Calvary’s essential business. You have demonstrated yet again that even a global pandemic cannot stop us from being the church! Thank you for your faithfulness over these past eleven months. They have been long and challenging, but the end is in sight! As I mentioned on Sunday, following the Session meeting this past weekend, we are beginning to develop a concrete re-opening plan. With nearly thirty of our members already vaccinated or in the process of being vaccinated, we are going to inch our way forward with returning to in-person worship. It will be a gradual process, and all appropriate protocols will be observed: masks will be required, social distancing observed, and hand sanitizer available for washing our hands upon entering and exiting the building. Many details and logistics need to be ironed out, so stay tuned…
In the meantime, please join me tomorrow night for our Ash Wednesday virtual Soup Supper at 6:30 via Zoom. I am making my soup today! And, of course, the Ash Wednesday service will follow supper at 7:00 p.m. You’ll leave the Zoom meeting and find the worship service exactly like you do on Sunday via the link and phone-in details provided.
My prayer is that we will use this Lenten season as an opportunity to reflect on how God is present and at work in each of us, and what, in turn, that asks of us. I’ve been using the phrase “A Cross-Shaped Life” as the overarching theme in worship the past couple of weeks as a way to invite us to reimagine yet again what living as a follower of Jesus looks like, acts like, and sounds like. What attitudes and actions does it inspire in us? How are we to treat our neighbor, especially the one that is difficult to like? How does Jesus’ example of loving sacrifice and service shape our own response to the needs of others? Where do we fall short and what needs repentance and transformation?
Lent lasts six weeks. It is an opportunity to focus more intentionally and deeply on our faith in Christ and our relationship with God. And having come through this time, the Day of Resurrection will be all the more powerful, sweet and joyful.
Yours for the Kingdom,
Michelle
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