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May 2008 Pastoral Letter

 

Dear Members and Friends of First Church,

As the month of May begins, we see the annual changes all around us. Many of you who are currently in northern climates are watching the trees turn green, the flowers blossom, and warmth returning to the cold landscape. In the communities of Southwest Florida we witness the “de-congesting” (if that’s a word) of our roads, restaurants, golf courses, beaches, etc. For those who remain here, the change is delightful; the biggest disappointment of this time, however, is that so many of our dear friends have scattered to other places to spend their summer months. At First Church we are beginning the shift to our off-season worship schedule of a single service at 10:00 AM each Sunday. And the programs and activities are slowing down a bit as well. It’s a good time for me and the rest of the staff to catch our collective breaths and begin our planning for the next fall/winter season.

An exciting event in the life of our church later this month is the graduation of Pastor Paul Fahnestock with his Doctor of Ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary on May 22. Paul has worked very hard to complete this challenging course of study, and his doctoral dissertation was recently approved by the faculty. We all rejoice with Paul in this significant accomplishment—which has taken about 5 years to finish, as he has had to work part-time on the degree while carrying on full-time pastoral ministry. This milestone is not only significant for Paul and Linda, but for our church as well. It is rare for a congregation to be blessed with two pastors who have earned doctorates.

Paul’s graduation takes place on Thursday, May 22, at 7:00 PM at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church in the eastern portion of Pittsburgh (located at the corner of Penn and Highland Avenues). Any of you who are in western Pennsylvania in May are welcome to attend this moving ceremony. I will be traveling there to celebrate with Paul and Linda. Then our congregation in Bonita will have the opportunity to join in the celebration on Sunday, June 8. The Fahnestocks’ children and grandchildren will be visiting them, and all church members are invited to a special reception at Spanish Wells Country Club that afternoon. More information will be available in our bulletin and on our website in the next couple weeks, for those who would like to attend.

The Renovations Committee, which was appointed by Session in January and given the charge to carry out a number of interior improvements of our existing facilities, has made some important decisions lately. An architect and general contractor have been chosen, and the process of developing construction documents, cost estimates and permitting applications is moving forward rapidly. I’ll be keeping you updated as we get closer to the beginning of the construction. The first phase of the work will include the transformation of our current “Youth Room” into a two-room Nursery and the relocation of all children’s programming to the current Preschool wing. At the same time, the current library will be expanded and given greater access and visibility. Renovations to McClure Hall and other areas will follow. I hope to be able to share a detailed timetable with you by sometime this summer.

Speaking of our summer experiences: Don’t forget the Summer Reading Challenge for this year. We are encouraging everyone who is part of our First Church fellowship to pick up a copy of the new book by John Ortberg entitled When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box (available at bookstores and online distributors). This book is a delightful read: It is humorous, insightful, spiritually challenging and practical. Ortberg (a Presbyterian minister in California) helps us understand the rules of the game of life and how we can all be winners. Those who are in Southwest Florida in June can participate in a pot-luck dinner and discussion of the book on June 11. For those who cannot be here for the general discussion, we do hope to share with you, via the church website, some thoughts and questions for your personal consideration.

As always, we want to keep in touch with you and would love to hear back from you about your summer activities, your family events and changes, and especially any prayer concerns or needs that may arise in the coming months. Feel free to email the church at any time. I also want to encourage you to visit our church website regularly. You will find there not only continuous updates of church news, but also the weekly messages in print form—for you to read or download. This spring I have been working on a series of messages on the life of Abraham (which began Sunday, April 27, with the message “Trying to Help God Along”), and I commend those to you. We are also looking into the possibility of “audio streaming” of the sermons so that you can listen in on your computer; I’ll bring you an update on that new possibility in my June letter to you.

May God’s blessings be with and your loved ones during this Summer 2008, and may He bring you back to us at First Church safely (and soon)!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Doug Pratt