NEW WAYS OF CELEBRATING OUR NEW LIFE
Pastor Glen Austin addresses the Aims Community Church drive-in Easter service.
Pastor Seth Lewis is leading landscaping upgrades at Carver Community Church while the church doors are closed for a while.
Pastor Robert Klukas has started blogging again. As with many of our InFaith: Northwest Oregon Fellowship churches, Robert’s Columbia Bible Church in Rainier has suspended its regular meetings because of the Covid-19 crisis. But adversity has brought out creativity. Since late March, Robert’s congregation has been receiving daily encouragement from their pastor via the blog, Robert’s personal Facebook account and the church’s Facebook page. The sudden flurry of communication activity may have surprised a few. On his personal FB page Robert (who is a painter by trade) wrote: Some of you might not know that I am a pastor and might wonder why I have been posting so much as if I have suddenly “found religion.” No, friend, Robert has just rediscovered a creative way to lead God’s church in a difficult time. So has pastor Seth Lewis, who has been shepherding Carver Church for just over a year. In lieu of Sunday meetings, Seth has begun podcasting weekly messages on the church website, and has found the time to pull together small teams to continue to make improvements in the church facility and grounds – like brush clearing, tree trimming and landscaping needed to prepare for a new men’s ministry (when the lockdown is lifted). Aims Community Church pastor Glenn Austin has been sending out “Morning Goodness” via Facebook and mailchi.mp as well as conducting Zoom discussions with his congregation since the restrictions began. Easter Sunday, the Aims church coordinated a “drive in” service that allowed the congregation to greet one another from the safe social distance in the parking lot, while the outdoor music and message was broadcast to their car radios. Dover Community Church did a similar thing in a congregant’s pasture, which Pastor Bob Droullard said was prettier than his church parking lot. Pastor Dan Wentworth of Mountain Home Church also used Zoom to conduct an intimate Easter service with his small congregation near Colton. Dan writes, “I am convinced that God uses adversity to bring the body of Christ together on a deeper spiritual level.” Woodland Park Chapel’s pastors Brad Gentry and Mark Helmberger conducted a “hybrid” Resurrection service yesterday, with a limited number of people allowed in the church, and others connected by the internet. And, we have also heard from Pastor Merle and Peggy Davis (2019 recipients of the Bartruff Servant-Leader Award). The Davis’ decided the lockdown was a perfect time to reach out to folks in their own back yard. So they made custom Easter cards and made sure all of their neighbors heard that the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead.
These are just a few examples of the creative ministry of the InFaith fellowships here in Northwest Oregon. I thank God for all of your faithful service to Him, and I pray for the day when we can join together again, in person.
Join the InFaith: Northwest Oregon Zoom Conversation, Wednesday, APRIL 15 at 9 a.m.
Since we cannot have our monthly pastor’s breakfast this week, Pastor Glenn Austin has set up a Zoom conference where we can meet “face-to-face” or “screen-to-screen” from wherever we are. We would love to hear your stories, share your words of thanksgiving, praise and petitions for your church. (There also may be one or two people there who can talk you through some of the technical aspects of simple electronic communications in ministry.) Grab a cup of coffee and your computer, phone or laptop, and join in the conversation. If you already have Zoom downloaded, all you need is this link https://zoom.us/j/730846750 or this meeting ID: 730 846 750 . For more detailed instructions, or if you have never used Zoom before, drop me an email for detailed instructions.
And the monthly Pastors’ Prayer Meeting is still on Thursday, APRIL 16 at 10 a.m.
As of this writing, we are still meeting at Woodland Park Chapel, as the group is small and we have the ability to maintain safe social distance. If there are any changes, I will send out another message.
May the same Lord who brought us New Life, keep us safe and committed to spreading His love to the very confused world around us.
Tom Hiscox, Area Missionary
thiscox@infaith.org