"Re-Marks" from Pastor Mark

Greetings friends! I don’t know about you, but these last fourteen weeks have just flown
by. By the time you read this I will have finished my fourteenth and final Sunday at
Head of Christiana Presbyterian Church. It has been a real pleasure to get to know you
and serve as your pastor during this time. I’ve enjoyed my time here and it was exciting
to be in the same pulpit every Sunday for fourteen weeks. It made sermon planning a
lot easier. I will be forever grateful for the call to serve as your Bridge Pastor.

As I mentioned in my sermon on the 16th, Head of Christiana is involved with a program sponsored by the
Presbytery called Vital Congregations. The Presbytery has designated me as the Facilitator for Head of Christiana so I’m
excited to be able to continue to work with you in that capacity. We’ve already met three times with our fourth meeting
set for July 24. Vital Congregations is a program whose purpose is to work alongside “leaders of congregations, in a
process which seeks to assess, discern, and live into transformative actions with the goal of increasing the vitality of the
congregation over time.”
Vital Congregations identifies seven practices that can revitalize congregations, inspiring an openness to the
power of the Holy Spirit to transform and change the way we do things. Those practices are: Spiritual Growth; Life-long
Intentional Loving; an Active, Outward Focus; Shared Gifts and Power; Spirit-inspired Worship; Genuinely Caring
Relationships; and Healthy Accountability. Like the Sower in the Parable of the Sower, we need to reach into our bag of
seeds and keep sowing seeds, knowing that some will land on “good soil” and produce an abundant yield.
We celebrate the return of Pastor Hilary, who will be back on Monday July 24. One would think that things would
return to “normal.” But nothing could be further from the truth.
There have been two sabbaticals over the last fourteen weeks. The obvious one is Pastor Hilary’s. Pastor Hilary
has been traveling, reading, praying, resting and will return soon renewed, refreshed and recharged. I am sure you will
be anxious to hear about her travels and any insights she has gained during her time away.
The less obvious one is the church’s sabbatical. You, the members of this congregation, have also had time to
rest, refresh and renew. While these past fourteen weeks went by quickly, a lot has changed. Neither you, nor Pastor
Hilary are the same people you were back in April when all this started. Consider this an opportunity for a fresh start as
you both move forward and discern God’s plan for this church.
I will keep Head of Christiana in my prayers and wish God’s blessings for all of you.
Peace,