Hello Messiah Members and Friends!

I struggled thinking about what message I would like to share with you all this week from the Council, until I had the opportunity to be at Messiah on Sunday and was moved by the experience, the message, and the sense of community. This past week’s gospel lesson had to do with calming the sea, what could be more perfect than that after the year we have had!

If you are like my family, we have been weathering the storm of the pandemic, we have had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. For us, that was the birth of our first child and the loss of my mother and my wife’s grandmother as well as trying to juggle working from home, grieving, and how to care for a new member of the family.

Meanwhile at Messiah, we have been weathering this storm as well. How will we celebrate and worship with no one in the building? What is faith formation going to look like after Traci and Savannah? How the heck are we all going to be in the same building again and feel safe?

All along this journey we have kept the faith that a calm was coming and that we would get to the other side of the sea. The good news is, just like the disciples, we can see that shoreline coming! If you haven’t had the chance to come and worship in Messiah again, please sign up and do so. The joy and love of being able to worship together in person, while masked, is worth it and I never realized how much I missed it until I was back in Messiah.

Additionally, the Call Committee for a new Associate Pastor of Faith Formation has been blessed and will start meeting next week. Please cover them in prayer, participate when given the chance, and help welcome the new pastor when the time comes. I also know there is a group of parents and others from Messiah who are starting to plan what the next year of faith formation may look like for our youth. Be on the lookout for opportunities for our children to be re-engaged with Messiah. This is truly exciting times for the future of our congregation.

I hope you are all safe, well and excited to be back in worship together at Messiah. As the refrain from the Song of the Day this week says “It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul”. 

Blessings to all,

Dan Fergueson, Council Member