Pastoral Letter for a Distributed Church November 20, 2020

 

Dear friends,

It’s been two months since my last letter and we’re finishing up our sermon series on “Misused Stories of the Bible.”  We’ve looked at Cain, Rahab, Gideon, Samson, David, Naaman, Daniel, Judas, The Lord’s Supper, the Adulterous Woman, The Rich Fool, and Rev. Wang will finish up with Zacchaeus.  I hope it’s helped you to see the real point of these stories. Thanksgiving will soon be past and we’re going to do a short Advent series entitled, “Unexpected Joy: A Christmas with Jonah.” I expect this series will be a little different. And in 2021 we’ll be opening up Joshua and Philippians with a couple of topical series just to mix things up.

We’re also nearing the end of our Sunday School class on “The Story of the Bible: Origins and Objections.” We’ve looked at Inspiration, Inerrancy, Authority, Sufficiency, Jesus’ View of Scripture, History of the Bible and the Reformation, Historical Mistakes, Contradictions, Miracles & Science, and we’ll be finishing up with classes on Why So Many Translations? Then concluding with Why So Many Different Interpretations?  I hope this series has built your trust in the Scriptures. And you can find the notes for each class on Realm. What’s next? Well, in December (after our Annual Meeting on December 6th to vote on my call and present the budget) we’ll do a short study on the Book of Titus. And then in January we’re going to swallow hard and dive into the Book of Revelation. That should be a fascinating study!

More good news — we’re back in the auditorium this week. With the new seats.  Which means I have an odd request of you.  Please --- no posts, tweets, or photos of the new seats! Seriously! Why? Because a few churches haven’t been allowed to use the auditoriums in other schools after they got new seats.  So, let’s keep this low key and hope for the best.

Speaking of sitting in the auditorium, let’s be honest, okay? We all have our places in the auditorium where we like to sit on Sunday morning, right?  Sure, we know they're not really our seats, but certain chairs might as well have our name plates on them because Sunday after Sunday morning, that's where we can be found.  But what if there was a ministry opportunity that was available and all you had to do was be a little more flexible and maybe change your seating preferences?  Would you be willing to minister to others in this way?

Due to the restricted number of seats due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re starting to develop a seating problem. We are having more folks come on Sunday mornings and sometimes they’re having trouble finding a place to sit.  Sometimes visitors, and often families with kids, show up just before the service begins, because they have trouble getting the kids ready and out the door (at least that’s what they say ;-) . This is why their usual place to sit is in the rear of the sanctuary, especially right near the doors in the back.

When they show up and a group of empty seats is not easily accessible, it can make things a little awkward. They don't want to stick out, and the last thing they want to do in the time of covid is to have to climb over other folks to find a seat. So, here are two ways you can serve and minister to our visitors and our families:

1.   Move Up — Okay, we all know that Presbyterians hate sitting in the front, but do you realize how much more room we could have if we just filled the empty seats that are always open in the front sections of the sanctuary? So, come on down. The pastors make sure to brush their teeth on Sunday morning. We promise!

2.   Move Over — Don't want to sit up front? Okay, here's a compromise.  If you have to sit in the back, pick your row and then take the inside seats.  You know, the ones farthest from the aisle. This will leave the first seats in the row open for visitors or anyone else that comes after you. And if someone you don’t know sits next to you, be sure to talk to them after the service!

As always, we want to skip rows (those will be taped off) and keep two seats between families so we can practice social distancing. Wearing masks and using hand sanitizer is still the norm.

And if you need to sit on the aisle for reasons of health or age, that’s fine! Just try to find a row where people have already moved over … and have left the aisle seat open just for you!

We know asking these things of you may make your Sunday morning a little less convenient, but it’s a small price to pay for being a welcoming church by helping everyone to feel at home!

Thanks in advance,

DV,

Dr. David V. Silvernail, Jr., Senior Pastor

Potomac Hills Presbyterian Church