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September 2007 Pastoral Letter

 

Dear “Scattered” Members and Friends of First Church,

Wherever you are now, you either already are or soon will be noticing the changing of the season, as summer turns to fall. Here in beautiful Southwest Florida we won’t see any change for another six weeks or more, as the usual “rainy season” of 90 degree highs and afternoon showers continues. We have been blessed so far by a non-eventful storm season, and are praying for another two months of calm!

I’m pleased to bring you a brief update on the life of First Presbyterian in Bonita Springs, your southern spiritual home. This past month of August we have had two “Family Worship Sundays.” On August 19 (the day before school started in Lee and Collier counties) we had a special dedication and prayer for all students and teachers. My message that morning was a reminder that “Learning Is for Life” – whether or not one is still involved in formal schooling. And on August 26 we celebrated Youth Sunday, during which two of our teens shared how Christ has come into their lives.

As we look ahead to September, we have a very special emphasis planned for Sunday, September 9, when we will focus on the faithful service of our local “first responders” (firefighters, police officers and paramedics). This has become an annual tradition in our church; we call it our “Community Servants Recognition Day.” On the Sunday closest to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it seems most fitting to honor those who stand ready to serve us in times of emergency and need. We have invited local fire departments and law enforcement agencies to come – in uniform – and be part of our special worship service on that day. We are also organizing a “Cookie Shower” – inviting church members to bake cookies or other goodies which will be delivered by our Deacons to the local fire houses and sheriff’s offices as a token of our appreciation.

One other news item: The Session of our church has created a new position on our staff for a Director of Children’s Ministries. We are prayerfully seeking a person with gifts and skills in education to join us in this part-time role, working under Dan Oedy’s direction in supervising our children’s Sunday school, after-school and Vacation Bible School programs, and also working with young parents. If you know someone who might be interested in this position, please encourage them to contact me.

Finally, a quick reminder: You can keep in touch with all the news from First Church by visiting our website (http://www.fpcbonita.org) and reading recent sermons. The fall issue of our newsletter, The Epistle, was recently published and is now available on the church website (in pdf format). This issue provides a sneak peek at our upcoming season of activities and recaps some of this past summer’s events.

If you have any special needs that you would like us to be praying for, please don’t hesitate to call the church (239-992-3233). I look forward to seeing you on your return to Southwest Florida!

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Doug Pratt