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September-October 2009 Pastoral Letter

 
Dear Members and Friends of First Church:

Greetings to you again from your southern church home in beautiful Bonita Springs! We are now in the peak weeks of the annual hurricane season in Florida, and so far we have been protected from any storms (just the usual brief tropical downpours and thunderstorms that occur about every other day and have filled up our lakes and water table quite adequately). Our economy continues to limp along, with hopeful signs (increased home sales, car sales, etc.) diluted by various store and restaurant closings and the personal struggles being felt by many (who have lost jobs or had a cutback of hours). This same scenario seems to be playing out almost everywhere across the country. With the beginning of fall, many people are being caught up with America’s great spectator sports: football and politics. This football season in Florida has lots of people excited about the #1-ranked Florida Gators (and their star quarterback, who is a very vocal Christian). The political season seems to be heating up with debates and maneuverings on health care reform — and this is one “sport” where ultimately we will all be “participants,” not “spectators,” if change occurs in our own access to medical care, for good or for bad).

I trust that your summer has been an enjoyable one. My summer brought a few opportunities for travel, some wonderful golfing and beach-walking here in Florida, and some valuable study and preparation time for me. I also had the opportunity in August to visit my father who lives in Southern California. While I was there we witnessed the outbreak of the terrible wild fires that have ravaged the mountains north of his home in suburban LA. My family is busy planning an 80^th birthday celebration for my father next May.

Now for an update on the news from First Church. Our renovations on McClure Hall are continuing. The new facilities will be beautiful. We still don’t know exactly when the work will be completed (minor delays here and there seem to add weeks to the project). I am assuming that Murphy’s Law of Construction will hold: that everything will cost more and take longer than anyone expects. If we have occupancy of McClure before Thanksgiving we will all have an extra reason to give thanks. A few other projects going on at our church are notable.

We have replaced the sound board that operates the speaker system in the Sanctuary. Some of you recall the difficulties we had for the first several years in the new Sanctuary trying to get the acoustics right. We think this new system will make a great difference, not only for Sunday mornings but also for concerts and other events.

The “carillon” that was originally installed in the sanctuary (which plays beautiful bell tones of Christian songs across our parking lot and community) broke down last spring, after attempts to keep it patched together. The Session has decided to purchase a new carillon this fall, and to dedicate it to the memory of Ken Blyth (who passed away this summer). Ken’s two great loves were (1) the Lord, and (2) sharing music with our community (he was the chairman of our Concert Series for many years). All memorial gifts received in Ken’s name will be devoted to this project.

Since we are all hearing great concern being raised about the possibility of a deadly flu season across the country this fall and winter, we have decided to purchase and install a number of additional “hand sanitizer” dispensers all around the church facility. We will be encouraging people to use these all the time that they are at church — for worship as well as for other activities — to keep their hands germ-free and cut down on the spreading of any viruses.

Since many of you will soon be traveling back to Southwest Florida to enjoy the beautiful fall and winter weather, let me close this letter with a short highlight of some of the upcoming events at the church. We will be starting on October 18 the early-morning casual worship service on Sunday mornings at 8:00 AM. These services are brief (about 40 minutes long), casual dress, and will be held in the Sanctuary. I will be presenting the same message as will be given at the later service, and there will be a soloist rather than the Chancel Choir. If you are an early riser, you are welcome to come for this 8 AM service that we call “First Light.”

Once you are back at our church, you will discover that a number of exciting events and opportunities are awaiting you. Our annual Concert Series and Bonita Christian Forum will all resume. The Men’s Ministry is planning a golf outing, a road trip and a banquet. The Women’s Ministry is planning a retreat with a guest speaker. The Wednesday night Pastor’s Study will resume on October 21. Watch The Epistle to the Bonitians newsletter and the weekly bulletins for more details, or visit our website.

Speaking of our website, you may wish to keep connected to First Church by visiting there and either listening to or reading recent sermons. I preached a two-part series in August on the great eighth chapter of Romans in the New Testament. The messages were entitled God’s Megaphone and Can I Trust Him? On Sunday, September 13, the day we celebrate our Community Servants (firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement), I’ll be speaking on the timely topic Are We a Christian Nation? and I invite you to read or listen to that as soon as it is posted online.

I would love to hear from you, especially if you have any special prayer concerns that we can pass on to our prayer team here at the church. And I look forward to seeing you soon in person!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Doug Pratt