WSCC has one more month of worship and then we close for the months of July and August. I love the fact that the churches in town come together to worship at second Baptist during the month of July. I am extra excited this summer because I get to preach for the first two weeks.
June is a busy month for us at West Suffield; we will have our lively Children’s Sunday on June 8 at our 10 a.m. service. It happened to fall on Pentecost this year, so we expect an overflowing of the Holy Spirit, as well as copious amounts of laughter and song.
On June 29, which will be our final day of worship, we will gather at Sunrise Park at 10 a.m. to celebrate our faith. We will be welcoming new members as we watch the birds skim over the lake and the kayakers paddling around. We’ll end with a picnic/potluck.
This has been an amazing year for us: we saw the renovation of our sanctuary, welcomed 10 new members, and we baptized three beautiful babies! Most importantly, we lived in our faith. The Missions Board worked with two different shelters to help fill their needs. We welcomed two wonderful new Deacons. The sanctuary was always busy on Sundays. It was my honor to witness many acts of kindness and compassion within the congregation as we lived into Jesus’ message of justice, inclusion and love.
On a personal note, I was at the receiving end of much of this goodness. My husband, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, unfortunately had to go into a facility this year. It was an incredibly difficult time in my life, and to say that I was scattered for a while would be something of an understatement. I forgot meetings, gave a couple of sermons that even I had trouble making sense of, and generally struggled with distress of it all. Throughout this period my congregation supported me. They showed unfailing, good humor and patience. Whether or not they realized it, they carried me. I am so blessed to be at this special church. I can’t wait to see what the coming year will bring.
I hope you have a blessed summer.