This weekend we will celebrate the Ordination and Installation of our new officers!
This marks a new beginning for us as a church family. And though this fresh start comes every year, much like New Year’s Day in the secular calendar, it still offers us the opportunity to look the future with renewed hope.
Now, you may be wondering, with the world seemingly erupting into chaos around us, is all this exuberant expectation merely a pipe dream?
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I can tell you with absolute and utter assurance it is not. Whatever else may happen, our God is the same as God was yesterday, and God will be the same tomorrow. What is more is that just as God has always been with us, and is still with us, so God goes before us into the future.
I know there are many worrisome and even some very frightening things happening these days. But I also know this to be certainly true: there is nothing in all creation that will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
Good things are happening in our midst… While many other churches have had to close, we have been open nearly twelve whole months straight now, including through Christmas.
We are already scheduling special events for this coming November and December with community groups and the Presbytery coming to visit, including the Altoona Brass Collective.
And we have two new ruling elders being ordained on Sunday, both of whom have children in our Christian Education programs, and both of whom bring unique professional backgrounds that will add to our Session’s already diverse collection of expertise.
None of us can know precisely what the future will hold. Nevertheless, we can trust that dawn is on the horizon and God goes before us.
We’ll see you in worship!
Blessings, Pastor Janie
First Welcoming All 