July/August 2010

Dear friends in Christ,

            Sharlet Fuller, Larry Crear and I recently returned from an Annual Conference Session in Syracuse. We met there for the first time with clergy and laity from three other Conferences to officially form the Upper New York Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. It is our new conference. We encountered people we had never seen before...from places we had never even heard of before! But...all of them are brothers and sisters in Christ and now part of the same conference. How natural it was to look for our friends and acquaintances from the Western New York Conference instead of taking time to meet folks from elsewhere. For most of us, it is always much easier to talk with people we already know.

            By the time you read this article, we’ll be beyond the starting gate of our summer schedule...Adult Sunday School at 8:45 and worship for all of us together at 9:45. Yes we’ll watch for the folks who are usually with us in worship...either at 8:30 or 11:00. But I hope we’ll also go further and make new friends or renew acquaintances with people we may not see regularly. Before and after worship, and during our Greeting Time, let’s make the effort to greet people we don’t know...as well as those we do. Some of them, no doubt, are usually regulars at the opposite worship service. But others will be persons who are visiting with us on a given Sunday.

            Speaking of visitors, you have noticed that we have done something new in the last couple of Sundays. I have asked if anyone is visiting with us. The purpose of that is threefold. First, we want them to know they are welcome. Second, our Outreach Team gives visitor bags to people who join us for the first time. Sometimes it is hard for them to see where they are. Third, it’s important that if we know people are visiting, we who are in their part of the sanctuary make the effort to greet and welcome them. So, my question, “Do we have anyone visiting with us today?” is an alert to all of us. We are a friendly congregation. Let’s be friendly to everyone who joins us in worship!

            I hope you have a wonderful summer. I also expect to see you as regularly as you can in worship. Lifting praise to God together with others assembled for the same purpose renews our spirits for the week ahead. It gives our spiritual batteries —and sometimes our emotional batteries as well— a recharge for the future.

 

See you in worship!

Pastor Jerry