Dear Sisters and Brothers of St. James,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ.

These are trying times for our world, our nation, and each of us individually.  When such times of trial come upon us we naturally are drawn to each other and the practice of our faith.  We remember how full the churches were in the weeks following the September 11^th terrorist attacks.  This time, however, our churches have been closed and we are told to avoid being together in person.  This means much of what we are drawn to do in a crisis is not possible.

God, of course, remains close to us.  Jesus is still knocking on our doors. It is important to remember that, and to take intentional time for prayer and faith growth.  The Sabbath remains the Sabbath, even if the doors to St. James have been locked.  Remember on Sunday mornings to take time for Sabbath keeping.  Tim will be sending a copy of the bulletin for each Sunday and the Holy Week services to all email addresses.  Take time to pray through that service.  Even sing the hymns.  You can be loud and off key.  It won’t matter.  You can also use the web, Facebook, radio, and the television to join in many wonderfully presented services.  If we all do this, St. James will be bonded spiritually each Sabbath day, even if we are separated physically.  It is also a good idea for us all to pray for each other and give each other a phone call.

We remain available for pastoral emergencies.  The current orders from our Governor insist that only life threatening situations and private funerals allow us to be physically present with anyone. We are, however, always available by phone.  We are continually keeping you all in our prayers.

We do encourage you, as you are able, to continue to remember St. James with your tithes and offerings. That will help the congregation’s ongoing expenses.  It will also serve to connect you to the congregation.  It is a simple truth that we feel most connected to that which we support.  Of, course many people are finding their incomes decreased or threatened by the economic shut down of our nation.  If that is you, please do not feel in any way obligated to make an offering.  Faith is never judged and prayer is never offered based on the contents of the offering plate.

Our bishop’s assistant had posted an interesting thought.  The first Easter morning was not observed with flowers, organs, and full churches.  On that morning the disciples were huddled alone and frightened in their houses, just like we will be on this coming Easter morning.  God was acting in surprising ways on the first Easter, and God is doing the same this time as well.  We may not know exactly what that means, but it is true.  God remains God, and we remain in the hands of this loving and creating God.

We look forward to that time when we can all gather together again at the church.  Until that time let us pray for each other and keep the faith.

In Christ, Pastors Carol and Scott Custead