Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to have been called as your new Pastor, and have very much appreciated your kindness and enthusiasm in welcoming both myself and my husband to the congregation! Our passion is building compassionate community, and we are already impressed to see that you all share this passion with us. Our journey together will be Jesus-modeled and inspired by the fruit of the Spirit, and we can’t wait to see how God mightily uses our congregation to bring more love and care of our neighbors into the larger community here in Independence and beyond!
As we begin this new shared journey together, my plan is to listen and get to know each of you! Whether you attend regularly, or haven’t attended recently, I will be contacting each of you to schedule a time to sit down, listen, and get to know you and your families. This past weekend, I was honored to meet with Dorothy Burt, along with John and Judy Houston, and it was lovely to get to know them better! As we meet, I would like to know what you love about this congregation and larger community, what you think could be improved upon, and most importantly what you hope to see happen going forward into the future. I would love to learn about your personal journeys, your gifts and talents, and how you would like to get more involved in our shared work of showing Christ’s love to our neighbors! If you would like to come see me before I’ve had a chance to reach out to you, my church office hours will be Monday-Thursday 8:30 am-12:30 pm, with my Sabbath day (day off) being Fridays.
As an update on my committee activities thus far, I met with the mission committee. I am looking forward to meeting with all of our other committees to learn about current activities and plans for the future.
For the month of August, each of our Sunday worship services will be centered on the ministry and teachings of Jesus Christ, and inline with the lectionary year, I will be teaching from the Gospel of Luke. For my first Sunday, August 3rd, I will start with Luke 4:14-21, where Jesus declared his ministry by reading from the prophetic Isaiah scrolls. I look forward to seeing everyone following worship on August 3rd for a shared meal lovingly prepared by Judy Crumrine! Please RSVP with Alberta or Judy if you will be able to attend.
And in closing, I offer up gratitude for Pastor Charles and Julia for their contributions and service to the community, and their support during this time of transition! We hold them in prayer for wonderful new ministry opportunities and a smooth transition to wherever God next calls them.
May the peace of Christ be with each of you.
Pastor Amie