Dear Rose Park,
I’m getting settled into my office. Picture frames are being organized and put into place. Books are being alphabetized and placed on shelves. Old folders and notes are being filed away for later use. My putter has found its’ home in the corner and my baseball sits quietly on my desk. And my coffee mug with Simon’s picture on it has already left a ring next to my computer. I’m definitely starting to feel at home.
But there’s one thing missing: a bulletin board. When I first arrived I noticed four small bulletin boards hung around the office. I’ve since taken them down and now I’m trying to find some Velcro to put them back up as one larger board. You’re probably wondering, “what’s so important about a bulletin board?” Fair question. It’s not a board for announcements but rather snapshots of my life. It’s a board that houses pictures and keepsakes that hold tremendous value. For example, it will be the place that holds a picture of my brothers and I from my wedding. It will be the place that holds a picture of Sam and I when we first started dating. It will be the place that will hold the ultrasound picture of both Simon and our future daughter. Needless to say, this bulletin board will have tremendous value. But I also hope it’s a place where you can get to know me a bit better.
As your pastor it’s my hope to share life with you; to have a relationship with you beyond the sixty-minutes of a Sunday morning service. To be honest, I don’t know how to pastor any other way. Being in relationship with the community of believers is at the heartbeat of who we are as a family and who I am as a pastor. To help begin this relationship, it’s our hope at the beginning of August to host coffee times at the church on Saturday mornings as an opportunity for us to get to know one another. Sam, Simon, and I look forward to sharing stories, pictures, laughs, and decent coffee with you.
But as I mentioned in my last letter, maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve been invited to be a part of the church. Whether it’s because of past difficulties, current struggles, or even future worries of the church please consider this letter as your invitation. We’d love to get to know you and your loved ones, to spend time with one another, and to share life together.
Keep an eye out for those Saturday morning coffee times in August, but in the meantime you’re more than welcome to swing by the office to say, to join me for a walk or run with our dog Rudy, to meet me for lunch around town, to join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:00am, or even swing by the church in the middle of the week to check out my office bulletin board.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark