2020 Focus - October

10/26/2020

Tangling with Technology

This month has been one adventure after another in live streaming technology. If you’ve watched the services online at any point, no doubt you’ve seen the video stutter or even stop streaming altogether, and probably you’ve had trouble hearing everything clearly at times. We’re working on solving these problems in two ways: 1) we’ve ordered some additional microphones, so that we can capture the sound better, though we are still figuring out how to use them to our best advantage; and 2) we are talking with a new Internet provider to get a higher speed and more reliable connection at the church. It’s a process, but hopefully the end result will be a better streaming experience for the people worshiping with us from home. Obviously the ideal is to have all of us back together again in the sanctuary, but between those who are most at risk and others who have to self-quarantine and those who just don’t get out easily, it is likely that online streaming will continue to be part of the future of our church. Thanks for your patience as we brave the new challenges of this new frontier of online services!

Ministry Events

CWU’s annual Chicken Noodle Supper was a great success in spite of health restrictions. We had more carry out orders than ever, and our eight single-family tables were usually occupied. The youth group joined the Friends Church youth for a lock-in this month, playing games, doing lessons, and sleeping very little or not at all. Kudos to Caleb and Sydney for sacrificing their sleep to love our youth.

D.Min. Update

I’ve finished my field work for my Doctor of Ministry project, and I am now sorting through all my pages of interviews, questionnaires, and meeting notes to figure out what actually helps people deepen their love for God. Three chapters of my thesis paper are written with two to go! The conclusions are still to come, much less the years of applications. One immediate application of this study, though, is our new sermon series called Memory Verses. I know many people have an aversion to doing the hard work of trying to commit scripture to memory, but our research group found it so helpful that I decided to give us a jump start on Sunday mornings. Every week until Christmas, we will be committing one verse of scripture to memory during the sermon on Sunday mornings. We’re off to a great start so far, and there are plenty of rich verses to come!

Looking Ahead

Next Saturday is Halloween, and we will be hosting Trick-or-Treating at the church as usual. This year we are looking for volunteers to take turns handing out candy along the sidewalk in front of the church, not to mention admire all the adorable costumes (and the creepy ones, too). If you can’t help with handing out candy, you can still bring candy to share. Halloween has some dark and sometimes disturbing associations, but what better time to be a presence of light and love in the community?

Next month, of course, we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day, but I want to take this opportunity to encourage you to make a whole Thanksgiving Month. What can you thank God for in the month ahead? As Christians, we have many unswerving reasons to thank God, including his unconditional love, his Spirit dwelling in us, the forgiveness of sins through the blood of his Son, and the hope of eternal life with him. Just a kickstart for your Thanksgiving season!

Hopefully I will get another letter to you next month. Until then, God bless you and keep you.

Yours in Christ,