Pastor’s Corner – November 2011

During my first Thanksgiving with Marsha and her family in Maysville, KY in 1979, I ate my first and last of oyster dressing.  It is similar to a lot of traditional dressings one has at Thanksgiving, but it was not part of my experience growing up.  It was wonderful.  It was my last taste because before the next Thanksgiving I had discovered my severe allergy to shellfish.  When the whole family gathers, there is still oyster dressing, but I eat the regular dressing.

We all encounter differences in the food that is “traditional” in one family and completely different in another.  Change means tasting new dishes, and experiencing new ways to give thanks.  It can become a real blessing to allow for our traditions to grow and change.

This November, we will celebrate our church family’s Thanksgiving fellowship dinner in our remodeled Fellowship Hall.  This will be our first regularly scheduled fellowship time in the renewed facility, and will be a time of remembering and giving thanks.

This November there will be many families in Warner Robins, who may get little for their Thanksgiving dinners.  There are many in Warner Robins who will be hungry on Thanksgiving Day.  Hunger is a major problem, not only in places like Africa and Asia, but also in our neighborhoods, in our backyards, or across our streets.  We need to give Thanks for our blessings, but we also need to be a blessing to others!

Therefore, this Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner will be a different ”tradition.”  We need to remember to be thankful for all of the gifts God has provided, even the simple gifts.  The dinner this November will be a soup and corn bread meal.  Beth Bickley and Ann Von Almen will be sharing information on how you can help with the meal and what to bring.  But there is something we should all bring, food for others!

During the month of November, bring in canned goods, bring in the fixings for your favorite dish, bring in your “traditional” Thanksgiving foods and we will get it to the food pantries in town.  A basket will be in front of the Communion table for the month, and it will be brought down to the Fellowship Hall on the night of the dinner.  We can give thanks for all that our church family does to help each other in our church, community and beyond.  We can also celebrate the opportunity to make sure that other families will have something for which to give thanks.

It will be different.  Rather than stuffing ourselves with turkey and dressing on a Sunday night, we will give thanks for different soups and corn bread and fixings.  We will rejoice that we are blessed and that we can be a blessing to others.  Make plans to attend the Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner and start sharing the thankfulness.

Shalom,  Darrell

Pastor’s Corner – October 2011

After what seems to have been years, the Fellowship Hall is nearly ready to be used.  We sacrificed some storage space for a room large enough to hold everyone for events like our Homecoming, and other large gatherings.  Our kitchen can hold more than three people without being crowded and it is possible to wash dishes and still get to the sink for water as there are now two sinks.  We have two refrigerators in the kitchen as well as a stove with an oven and a double oven.  Food can be kept cold, reheated or cooked all at the same time.

No more trying to find counter space to prepare plates of food, counters run around all four walls, plus the new pass through window to the fellowship hall saves having to run into each other coming and going from the kitchen.  There are also two large windows over each sink to let in light and when the kitchen gets too hot, the windows open can be opened.

New flooring in the main room looks fantastic and will be easy to clean.  New lighting will allow us to have a brightly lit space for events.  Everything looks clean and nice.  New chairs and tables will allow us to be creative in seating arrangements so as to provide for greater fellowship and better function for meetings.

We owe a large thanks to the work of the 2010 team for developing the plan for the renovation and overseeing the design and work.  Take time to thank David Von Almen, Denny McReynolds, Charlie Hebenstreit, Mike & Gidget Hurlbert and all the people who helped with color selection and design details.  They have done very well!!

Now at about this point, most people would anticipate some sort of statement about the need to keep this facility in pristine order for years to come.  This is the first renovation done on this building since it ceased to be the sanctuary for this congregation.  We should care for it with regular cleaning and service, but I hope that we wear it out from repeated use through our fellowship events, programs, and special gatherings as a congregation.  I also hope that we can add to the wear by continuing to allow outside groups to use this space for meetings.

The Fellowship Hall is one of the first places that many people will encounter our church family.  We need to treat it as God’s kitchen and dining room, but also remember that according to the Bible, God wants us to welcome ALL into God’s spaces.  We have a place to welcome and feel and fellowship and share the unique character of this congregation.  We have a space that truly reflects our understanding of identity of “Come and Be Embraced.”

May this space be a place for feeding, for fellowship, for growing families, for service, and for welcoming others in God’s name for decades to come.  May this space be a blessing to all who enter and find the love and presence of God.

Shalom, Darrell