September 1, 2020

I was thinking about the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, “try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh, so mellow”. It seems so long ago but actually it was last year, 2019. I had just received and accepted a call to serve as Interim Pastor here at Memorial Presbyterian Church. I was trying to learn the names of 18 Elders and how to serve communion with all of them assisting.

September 2020 has a few more concerns. We’re trying to understand how to worship virtually. We’re looking into ways in which we can safely return to worship in the sanctuary. We’re developing ways to care for our seniors, our children, our parents and ourselves. We’re establishing a presence in the community despite the inability to gather in large groups.

What has kept us from drowning in self-pity and despair is our abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean that we have sailed through these last several months without uncertainty. We have all had our moments. But I believe that we have landed on the truth that brought us through all the years before 2020. No, we’ve never seen anything like Covid-19, but we have seen God bring us through illness and loss and loneliness and fear. We are living witnesses to the power and to the sovereignty of God.

So, our September 2020 is different from Septembers long ago. But we look with confidence and hope to the future that God has planned for us.

On September 13, you will elect a Pastor Nominating Committee to begin the process of calling an installed pastor. A few of you have asked “When will we get a “real” pastor?” The process has begun.

It is a difficult time but we can be assured that even though life may not be “slow and oh, so mellow”,  we can rest assured that it is God’s time. God has prepared us for this time. God invites us to join God in the work of kingdom building this September and all of the Septembers to come.