Pastor's Blog

Friends,

 

I hope you were able to see our worship broadcast this past Sunday, from the sanctuary of PCLT! It was meaningful for me to ‘lead worship’ in that space, even though all of you were missing. I suspect it was meaningful for you to glimpse it and ‘feel’ yourself there for worship, however virtual that feeling was. We used a new technology to film and broadcast the service; I am confident our virtual worship broadcast will get richer and richer as the weeks progress. By the way, the camera equipment and Vimeo subscription used to record and broadcast our worship was purchased by a Grow Grant from Mission Presbytery, to help small congregations increase outreach to membership and the larger community.Thanks, Mission Presbytery!

 

I hope you enjoyed hearing Austin Bradley, our new Music Coordinator, as well. It was a joy to have him at the piano and sharing his talents with all of us. I know he longs for the day when he can meet and greet you all in person and experience the musical talents of this congregation. You can reach Austin by email: [email protected].

 

In the sermon this past weekend, I encouraged you all to “Let yourselves be built into living stones, a holy people, a royal priesthood” (I Peter 2:5, 9). As a way of doing that, let me ask each of you, if you are able, to send me a photo of yourself or whoever you are with during this sequestration, however you look (no makeup or fancy clothes required). I would love to put these photos together into a slide show that we can send out, so we can all be praying for each other and seeing how we, Christ’s living stones, are continuing to be built into a Spiritual house. You can send the photo by email ([email protected]). Or look in your directory, get my cell phone number, and send it to my phone. Next week, I’ll have the slide show ready for the newsletter!

 

One final note: this idea for centering prayer comes from Martha Lynn, Director of the 787 Collective (of which we are a partner congregation) at Austin Seminary. She writes:
This is a simple and straightforward tool to re-center your body and mind in the midst of a stressful moment. The tool is called box breathing:
-Breathe in for four counts
-Hold breath in for four counts
-Breathe out for four counts
-Keep lungs empty for four counts
If that feels too complicated, simply breathe in for 8 counts, then out for 8 counts on a repetitive cycle for one to two minutes at a time.
Consider praying a mantra on your breath cycle. Here are some ideas: 
-Healthy Family Back Together 
-Every Day is Full of Wonder
-Hope and Joy are New Each Morning
-Watching Love Grow All Around Me

 

Thanks, Martha Lynn, for the suggestion!

 

Peace be with you all this week,

 

Pastor Jack

 

 

 

Friends,

 

Your Session has affirmed that our church building will remain closed to in-person gatherings for the foreseeable future – at least through the month of May and perhaps into June.

 

We will continue to worship virtually, with worship services broadcast on our website (www.pclt.faith/webcast) and on our Facebook page. We will continue to meet for Sunday School and Women’s Bible study using the Zoom platform. We will continue to pray with and for one another from our homes.

 

Elsewhere in this newsletter, you will meet our new Music Coordinator, Austin Bradley, who begins his ministry with us this Sunday! I look forward to what he will bring to our congregation, and sometime soon we will welcome him in person with all the warm hospitality this congregation is known for.

 

Let me take this chance to thank Helen and Priscilla and Faye and Lynn for all that they have done in the past eight weeks to bring their musical talents to our virtual worship services! It has meant so much to all of us, and we look forward to their on-going contributions in the weeks ahead.

 

If you have not been out of the house much in the last 8 weeks, I encourage you to grab your mask and hand sanitizer, drive over to the church, and spend a few minutes walking the Labyrinth or sitting on one of the benches and enjoying the scenery. Larry Neumann has been working hard (and alone) to clear much of the scrub brush around that area, and it is looking very pleasant. NOTE – If someone else is there when you arrive, stay in your car and wait for them to leave. We want to maintain physical and social distance from each other. AND PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE CHURCH BUILDING.

 

We will get through this; we will be together again soon. We are an Easter People!

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack

 

***

 

Friends,

 

It has been seven weeks since we made the decision to shutter operations at the church building. In those seven weeks, much has happened. COVID 19 cases in the United States has topped more than 1 million infections, and this disease has claimed more American lives in three months than were lost during the course of the decade long Vietnam War. We are all tired of staying at home, and nobody knows what the future holds in the search for a vaccine or a treatment for this disease. States and municipalities are beginning to relax restrictions so some people can get back to work, while many rural locations are just beginning to feel the effects of this crisis.

 

Our Session will meet again this weekend to discuss our on-going response and the ways in which we will move forward into the foreseeable future – the next six-eight weeks. We all miss being able to gather in the sanctuary for worship and the face-to-face interaction of Sunday School, Bible Study, committee meetings, fellowship after worship. But the Session’s primary concern will be to determine when it is SAFE for us to engage in these activities again, taking into account what we are hearing and learning from every source of information.

 

I suspect we will not be meeting in person for at least another month. So I want to ask you a favor. If you have been participating in our online worship broadcasts over the past seven weeks, watching them through the Zoom link on our website, or watching on our Facebook page, will you send me an email and let me know two things:

 

1. What element of these online experiences seems most resonant for you? What do you want to make sure we keep including?
2. What part of worship do you miss the most? What are you longing to have included in these worship experiences if possible?

Take a moment and send your response to [email protected]. This will help me and our Worship team in planning for the weeks ahead.

 

I miss you all and look forward to the day when we can say to one another, face to face, “Peace be with you!”

 

Peace be with you,
Pastor Jack

 

 

 

 

Friends,

 

As we go deeper into our sixth week of stay-at-home existence, with probably at least six more weeks ahead of us, it becomes more and more difficult to keep anxiety and stress at manageable levels. Even though we are in the season of Easter, it seems like Resurrection hope is elusive from day to day. I hope that our webcast worship services are helping you a bit, and that you are finding other suggestions for contemplation, spiritual nourishment, connection with loved ones, and time simply for rest.

 

I have a couple of resources that nurture my spirit when I feel overwhelmed. One resource is the 787 Collective and its director, Martha Lynn, at Austin Seminary. She has been sending out emails twice a week with all sorts of links to inspirational poems, videos, and essays, and making some suggestions of her own as to how to stay grounded and calm during this time. Many of those I pass on to you.

 

Another resource is a group of 15 pastor colleagues I have met with for a week in January every year for the past twenty years. We have a group text going right now, and that is a place to ask each other questions, keep in touch, encourage one another, and send nurturing thoughts when we run across them. Last week, two songs were shared in that group, and I want to pass them along to you today.

 

The first is by a singer named Carrie Newcomer, and is titled, “You can do this hard thing.” I doubt she was thinking of self-isolating for 12 weeks during a global pandemic, but the song still speaks to our current situation. You can listen to that song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGnftH_g4I

 

The second is by a singer named Aly Halpert, and it is called “Loosen, Loosen.” It talks about letting go of the stress of trying to carry things that aren’t ours to carry – like the weight of all the grief and sickness and loss of jobs being experienced by people in our community, and indeed all over the world. You can listen to that song here: https://soundcloud.com/aly-halpert/loosen-loosen

 

Finally, I want to take a moment to thank Scott publicly for all of the hard work, passion, energy, and vision he brought to the Hudson Bend Mission Project over the past three-plus years. It was his idea to start making lunches and taking them to the kids in the Hudson Bend RV parks, and it has been his stamina and passion that has encouraged so many in our congregation and in the partner congregations of I AM LT to get involved in this ever-expanding mission. God has been doing great things through Scott, and he has shared that passion and enthusiasm with the rest of us. Plans for continuing this mission appear elsewhere in this newsletter. Please consider prayerfully how you might support this mission.

 

Peace,

Pastor Jack

 

 

Friends,

 

Well, we made it through Holy Week and Easter! I hope you were able to join us for our virtual worship services by watching online at www.pclt.faith/webcast. On Maundy Thursday, we recalled Jesus’ last supper with his friends, and we shared the sacrament of communion. On Good Friday, we recalled the crucifixion and chose hope in the face of despair and grief. And then, on Easter morning, while we stayed at home, behind closed doors, we marked the morning the women went to the garden, found the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty! Our services were halting and imperfect, full of technical mistakes and fumblings as we tried to overcome the distance, and yet, our Easter Hope was real and tangible, and brought me joy!

 

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who helped to make those worship broadcasts happen – on screen: Lynn, Helen, Priscilla, and Kimbol; and JR, Debi, Nancy V, (and various family members of the on-screen participants!) behind the scenes.

 

Those three services are recorded and still available on our website, so if you did not manage to join us, or if you just want to watch them again, please go to www.pclt.faith/webcast to find our Holy Week worship services. You can also find them posted on our church’s Facebook page!

 

Moving forward, for the next several weeks, the intent is to have our worship broadcast in the same manner. You should be able to navigate to our website (www.pclt.faith/webcast ) and find the worship broadcast at the appointed time. You will not be able to be seen or heard by anyone else watching, but you will be able to watch along with others and participate at home in whatever way feels best to you. This upcoming Sunday, April 19, we will again celebrate the sacrament of Communion, so remember to have your bread and juice or wine available when you sit down for worship at 11:00 a.m!

 

Thank you for staying home, staying safe, and staying healthy! I miss you all, and I look forward to the day when we can all gather once again in our sanctuary and lift our voices together in prayer and songs of praise and thanksgiving.

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack

 

 

Friends,

 

It is Holy Week, and we still are in “stay at home” mode, trying to stop the rampant spread of the coronavirus and the illness it causes. We have been worshipping “virtually” for four weeks already, and it looks like we will do so for at least another 4-8 weeks. Thank you for your patience with me as I learn how to use social media to keep us connected. Thank you for your bravery in trying and learning new technology that feels uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Thank you for staying home, staying safe, and staying healthy! I know this is frustrating to all of us, but the alternative to this frustration is illness and, possibly, death. So, take a deep breath, try to find ways to relax into the beautiful spring days, and let God find you where you are!

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack