Pastor Sterling Severns remembers old friends and those who have left us in one way or another.
I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
– 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
Who comes to mind when you remember those in the church who are no longer with us?
A brief summary (pulled from the article) is provided here:
The novel coronavirus is not just something for leaders to “get through” for a few days or weeks. Instead, we need to treat COVID-19 as an economic and cultural blizzard, winter, and beginning of a “little ice age” — a once-in-a-lifetime change that is likely to affect our lives and organizations for years.
Due to the complex and interconnected nature of our society and economy, the majority of businesses and nonprofits are “effectively out of business” as of today, in that the underlying assumptions that sustained their organization are no longer true.
The priority of leaders must be to set aside confidence in their current playbook as quickly as possible, write a new one that honors their mission and the communities they serve, and make the most of their organization’s assets — their people, financial capital, and social capital, leaning on relationship and trust.
The creative potential for hope and vision is unparalleled right now — but paradoxically this creativity will only be fully available to us if we also make space for grief and lament.
We write this out of love for Christian organizational leaders and their work, with humility in a time of considerable uncertainty, and a prayerful hope that we are proven wrong by God, in his gracious providence, working miraculously through human ingenuity in this season.
After reading or listening to this article, what do you think it has to say to the current state of our church? Is it correct in its assertions?
What have you learned between March (when this article was written) and now?
Missed the zoom at the end of today’s Gathering? This video was created for you and/or your loved ones should you want to move through the Remembrance of baptism ritual. All are welcome!
Our Pastor, Rev. Sterling W. Severns, offers one last update for 2020, the year that none of us asked for but all of us got….the year we were given an opportunity to pause and prepare to BEGIN AGAIN.
This coming Saturday morning, Tabernacle will be providing over 150 families a full traditional holiday meal that they can prepare at home. These “Christmas Baskets” are an annual emphasis, and we are excited to be able to provide such a large number of meals this year. There is a possibility that this will cause a back up in the alley or on Granby St. Please bear with us. We have scheduled households to come throughout the morning and will be working hard to keep all areas clear for traffic passage. Please feel free to ask a volunteer if you need assistance. Due to the pandemic, the need for food in our community has greatly increased. Prior to March, our food pantry and clothing ministry was only open once a month, serving around 80 households. At this point, we are seeing as many as 130 households in one week! Each month we are giving away over 5,000 pounds of food. We are grateful to be able to provide food to neighbors in our community.
Maybe at this point, you are interested how you can get involved? While much of our food comes from FeedMore, the increased need has meant supplemental food must be purchased or donated to provide balanced meals. As winter is upon us, we are also regularly asked for coats, hats, gloves, mens jeans and boots. If you’re headed to the grocery store, consider purchasing shelf stable items to add to the pantry. If you are cleaning out your lightly used winter gear, consider donating it to our clothing closet. These can be dropped off on Saturday mornings from 8-11am, we’d love to say “thank you” in person. We would also welcome you to join us in a number of volunteer roles. Finally, if you would like to financially support the work that we are doing to feed local households, checks can be written to Tabernacle Baptist Church, with Community Ministry in the notes.
Please stop by and say hi on a Saturday morning. The volunteers see so many of you out walking dogs that treats have been purchased to share. Merry Christmas!
Receiving Sustenance through the breaking of Bread. Remembering a promise and keeping a promise.
A day of worship. A day of reunion. An adventure with purpose.
On September 6, we will gather for a brief Communion service at 9:30AM before being sent out to worship with sister churches (mostly virtually) and participate in our Sunday School classes. There will be another brief Communion service at 4PM. A page with the hyperlinks will be available in the coming days.
Please do your best to dive into the data from our church-wide survey and also re-famaliarize yourself with our experimental hospitality covenant from this summer…..prior to our time together.
You also have the option of viewing a recorded slide presentation (20 minutes). The presentation gives an overview of the survey results, including a breakdown of responses from age groups, comments made by the church family, and a quick overview of the experimental hospitality covenant.
(All of the links can be found below)
OBJECTIVE:
We’re not all on the same page as it relates to our tolerance for risk and common understanding of what to expect when we participate in church events in the same physical space. We need to be vulnerable and honest with one another in laying out a basic understanding of what someone should expect when they show up to a church event. Whereas, no decisions will be made at this meeting, we do hope to walk away from the meeting with a better understanding of where folks are on the subject and determine if we think a consensus might be possible in the near future.
The Church-at-Large will need to discern how to proceed with a covenant, related to our physical gatherings this fall, before we launch fall programming.
