A WORD FROM THE PASTOR….. “They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common…They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. Every day their number grew as God added to those who were saved.” Acts 2 selected verses
Dear Friends in Christ,
As I write to you on this first day of February I am, once again, watching the snow accumulate outside my window. This storm is projected to be an old-fashioned hum-dinger with more snow expected in many places along the east coast than at any time in the last decade. I hope that you are each safe, well and warm as I pray for the safety of all those who are affected.
When I was a child and we visited my grandparents in Indiana, my grandmother always had two magazines in the house – Reader’s Digest and (surprisingly) Yankee Magazine. Most of you from around my generation will remember Reader’s Digest and many might be familiar with Yankee. I was always interested to know why my mid-western grandparents liked Yankee but later I discovered they enjoyed reading about the region and, especially, liked to try to recipes and look for “finds” in junk shops (the word antique came in to use later – as the prices went up!). I also came to enjoy Yankee, and even though New York State isn’t officially “New England” there are, as you know, a lot of similarities.
One section that appeared each month became a favorite, especially as I grew older. Called, “The View from Mary’s Farm”, the author, Edie Clark, wrote an brief essay of her life on this beautiful farm in New Hampshire, featuring the animals, the gardens, the changing of the seasons, and other reflections on her life there. Edie, who had been married to a man she wrote, “loved her completely as she needed to be loved” was a young widow when the love of her life died at the age of 39. She eventually bought this farm and lived alone as she gradually overcame her sense of isolation to cherish her independence and her solitude. However, that didn’t mean that Edie existed in a bubble. Many of my favorite articles tell of her gatherings at the farm and the at least monthly potluck dinners she held there for friends and neighbors. I recall her stories of sledding runs down pasture hills with adults and children all sharing in the fun followed by laughter and food and hot cocoa in the kitchen near a warm fire. In the summer there were lawn chairs and firefly watching and story-sharing as the sun would set over the rounded hills. These times filled Edie’s life, and those who shared them with her, with joy. In all honesty, one of my regrets about this time of Covid is that I had hoped to follow in Edie’s example when I retired and was looking forward to similar times with friends and neighbors here on the hill in Franklin. I hope that once this pandemic is under better control there will be a chance to do some of those things again.
Still, as I focus on what we’re all experiencing due to social distancing and remote connections, I think now is the time to reflect on what it really means to be “church”. From Sunday school on we know that the church is not the building, the church is the people. However, in some ways it has become easy to think of “church” as merely the worship time we share together on Sunday morning, which allows us to schedule our time together in the same way we schedule other activities, programs and events in our lives. If we read the above section from the Book of Acts, we are reminded that in the early church, people spent a lot of time together in ways that are closer to Edie Clark’s potluck gatherings than we might expect. When they gathered daily they worshiped, shared fellowship around the table, told stories, prayed and sang – and very likely also laughed and had fun! I don’t expect that we will live in exactly the same way as those first Christians, but the way they built their churches as they built relationships is a lesson for us to follow. That’s one reason we’ll be forming small groups in our congregation, starting during Lent, and hopefully continuing after. While we are staying distanced we can still build our relationships and connect by phone or other technology. Later, I pray that we will find other ways to be together with one another for support and for prayer and for fun! And I hope that others will see our bonds of love and joy – and want to be part of it!
Updates on how this will work will be coming out soon. I hope you’ll support this ministry with your prayers and by joining the fellowship of your group while enjoying the connections that can be formed, nurtured and strengthened there. In this way, we will worship, pray, remember God’s care for us, offer thanks to God and “be still” as we wait to see what God does next.
In the meantime, stay safe! You remain in my prayers….and remember, I love you and I need you to survive!
Peace,
Pastor Betsy
Pastor Ott is presently at half-time hours which means in the office on average two times a week, usually on days when there are meetings. Friday is the regular day for recording the Sunday worship service.
Pastor’s Office hours this week: Lenten Worship Planning and working from home, Friday 2/5 (recording session for Sunday worship)
The office is open 9am to 3 pm Monday through Friday, weather permitting. Please call ahead if you have questions or need assistance.
We welcome updates on church ministries and timely reports for our weekly update. This information must be in not later than Friday afternoon or at the start of office hours on Monday to be included on that day.
