Pastors’ Corner

Dear HoC members and friends, Happy Fall, y’all! It’s time for cooler weather, cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice everything, and…stewardship season! It’s a great time to remember all the blessings God has given each of us, as well as our church over the past year. We’re continuing to put the COVID-19 [...]

The session gathered in August for a half-day retreat where we did some prayer, discernment and discussion around the theme, “What Next?” We used a resource published by the denomination which helped us do brainstorming and discussion looking at where we’ve come as a church during the pandemic period, as [...]

This summer, we’ve been looking at the book of Acts – the story of how the early community of Christ’s followers lived out their faith in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. We read in Acts how the Holy Spirit came down upon those gathered at Pentecost in [...]

We’ve all gone to the doctor and had our vital signs taken. The doctor checks our heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, height, weight, etc. These tests are done to develop a baseline for our health. If the numbers are in a normal range for our age and circumstances, our body [...]

As we’re finally emerging from the global COVID-19 pandemic (hopefully for real this time), we may be asking, “So, now what?” While some things are returning to “normal” (the way they were before the pandemic), the reality is that we’re never fully going to go back to what things were [...]

Thank you to all who participated in our sabbatical Zoom call with Connectional Presbyter Cindy Kohlmann and participated in our sabbatical coffee hour. I found the conversation encouraging and energizing. I appreciated the authenticity of the discussion, and I loved all the creative ideas that came out of those events. [...]

This month, we observe Holy Week - the highlight of the Church year. This week commemorates the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Holy week can be challenging to observe, particularly the days that focus on Christ’s betrayal and suffering on the cross. But, if we commit [...]

Sabbatical Plans Our denomination values the long-term health and well-being of congregations and the pastors who serve them. To this end, the denomination recommends that pastors take a sabbatical after a certain number of years of full-time service. A sabbatical is simply an extended time of rest and renewal for [...]

As we enter the month of November, it will soon be time to celebrate Thanksgiving. As Christians, we are called to be a people of gratitude and thanksgiving, remembering all of God’s good gifts to us. Though it has been a tough 18 months or so with the ongoing pandemic, [...]

It’s hard to believe we’re in October already! We’ve come a long way since last October. Last year at this time, we were worshipping virtually due to COVID-19. There were no vaccines available, and we had no idea how much longer we were going to be in lockdown. Since that [...]